To effectively engage your donors, it’s important to understand how they enter, progress through, and leave automations. This article explains the logic behind automations.
How Do Constituents Enter Automations?
Constituents enter automations automatically. You can’t manually add them to automations, but you can manually remove them.
Constituents enter an automation when all of the following are true:
Automation status: The automation is running (published).
Constituent type and status: Constituents are active individuals. Inactive constituents, deceased constituents, and organizations are excluded.
Automation setup: The automation applies to constituents based on how the entry source works. Each automation is based on an entry source you select.
Automation priority: The automation has priority, if it’s a donation automation.
Hold period: The 24-hour hold has expired, if it’s a donation automation.
Automations look forward, not backward. This means constituents enter automations based on what happens after you publish the automation.
Constituents enter automations based on the entry source you select. Use this table to understand the basic logic for each source:
Entry Source Category | Entry Source | Basic entry logic (Constituents enter the automation if…) |
Donor Lifecycle: Prospective Donors | Prospective Donors | They have no donations, no soft credits, and no household donations. More details |
" | First Ever Donation | They donate for the very first time. More details |
" | Initial Recurring Donation | They make the first payment on a recurring donation schedule. More details |
" | Initial Membership Payment | They make the first payment on a membership schedule. More details |
" | Next Donation | They make a donation that isn’t a first-ever donation or an initial payment on a schedule. More details |
" | Select a Group | They’re a member of the static group selected in the automation. More details |
Milestones | Happy Birthday | It’s their birthday. More details |
" | Donor Anniversary | It’s the anniversary of their first qualifying transaction. More details |
How Do Households Affect Automations?
Each constituent qualifies individually to enter an automation.
Examples:
Household member Chris makes an initial recurring donation payment and enters the Initial Recurring Donation automation. No one else in Chris’ household enters an automation for that payment.
Two members of a household each donate for the first time. Both individually enter the First Ever Donation automation.
For the Prospective Donors automation, a donation made by a household member exits all other household members. For example, Anne and her household members enter the Prospective Donors automation. If anyone in the household donates, all household members immediately exit the Prospective Donors automation. However, only the person who donated enters the First Ever Donation automation.
Can Constituents Be Within Multiple Automations?
Donor Lifecycle Automations
Journey Automation makes sure your constituents are always in the appropriate automation for their donor lifecycle stage.
Constituents can be within only one donor lifecycle automation at a time. If a donor gives again before completing a donation automation, the donor exits the automation and qualifies to enter a new automation.
The details:
If a constituent is within a donation automation and makes a different type of donation, they exit the original automation and enter a different type of donation automation, unless you don’t have that type of donation automation set up.
If a constituent is within a donation automation and makes the same type of donation again, they exit the original automation and enter the same type of automation at the first step.
For information about how account merges affect automation participation, read Review and Merge Duplicate Constituents.
Campaigns & Cultivation (Group-Based) Automations
Constituents can be within different Campaigns & Cultivation automations at the same time.
Constituents can be within Campaigns & Cultivation automations, milestone automatons, and a lifecycle automation at the same time. For example, Sam enters a Campaigns & Cultivation automation. While within that automation, Chris also enters an Initial Membership Payment automation.
Milestone Automations
Constituents can be within different milestone automations at the same time. For example, Anne is within the birthday and anniversary automations at the same time because her birthday and donorversary happen to be the same day.
Constituents can be in milestone automations and a donation automation at the same time. For example, Chris enters the Next Donation automation. While within that automation, Chris also enters a Happy Birthday automation.
How Do Constituents Complete Automations?
Completed means the constituents completed every step in the automation.
Some things can temporarily delay the constituent’s journey:
Assigned tasks — You require assigned tasks to be completed before the constituent moves forward in the automation.
Paused automation — If you pause the automation, constituents remain where they are in the automation. If you republish the automation, constituents can continue to move forward and complete the automation.
Why Do Constituents Exit Automations?
Exited means the constituent left the automation before completing it.
If you manually remove a constituent from an automation, they exit rather than complete the automation.
Transaction Changes That Exit Constituents
These transaction changes cause constituents to exit:
Another donation — If a constituent is already within a donation automation and donates again, they exit the original donation automation they were within.
New donation (group-based automations) — In Select a Group automations, you can select to exit constituents who make a donation or get soft credited so you don’t continue to solicit them.
Edited transaction — If you edit a transaction, and the edit causes the constituent to enter a donation automation for that transaction, the constituent exits any other donation automation they were in. If you edit the fund, campaign, appeal, or amount for a payment, and the constituent is within an automation because of that attribute, they exit.
Note: An update to the payment transaction date doesn’t cause a constituent to exit an automation.Refunded or deleted transaction — If you refund or delete the payment that qualified the constituent to enter the automation, the constituent exits.
Converted donation — If you convert a donation to a different type of donation, and the Next Donation automation the constituent is within doesn’t include that type of donation, the constituent exits. For example, you convert a donation to a pledge payment, but Pledge Payment isn’t a selected donation type in the Next Donation automation, so the constituent exits.
Imported donation — If you import a donation to a constituent who is currently within a First Ever Donation automation, Journey Automation re-evaluates whether the constituent should remain in that automation. If the imported donation predates the other donation, the constituent exits the First Ever Donation automation and re-enters the automation for the imported donation.
Account Changes That Exit Constituents
These account changes cause constituents to exit:
Account status change — If you mark a constituent as deceased, they exit the automation.
Duplicate accounts merged — If you merge constituent accounts, and one of the accounts was within an automation, Bloomerang CRM checks whether the constituent still qualifies to be in that automation. Read more about this.
Constituent account deleted — If you use the bulk delete tool to delete constituent accounts, the deleted constituents exit the automation. In the Constituents Exited list in the automation, the constituent name changes to Constituent Deleted.
If a Constituent Exits
If a constituent exits a donation automation for any reason:
The constituent never again enters any donation automation for that same transaction, even if you edit the transaction after the constituent exits.
If the constituent exits a First Ever Donation automation, the constituent's next donation doesn't qualify as a first-ever donation, but it can qualify for a different type of donation automation.
Can Constituents Re-Enter Automations?
Re-enter means a constituent enters an automation they previously entered, and they start at the first step in the automation.
Constituents can re-enter some types of automations.
Automation | Can constituents re-enter this automation? |
Prospective Donors | Yes, if you publish subsequent Prospective Donor automations. Constituents can qualify to enter each. |
First Ever Donation | No. Constituents enter this automation only once, for the first payment on their timeline. |
Initial Recurring Donation | Yes, but only if they create a new recurring donation schedule and make an initial payment on the new schedule.
If you refund or delete the initial recurring donation payment before the constituent completes the automation, and the constituent later makes another initial payment on the same schedule, they enter the automation again for that same schedule. |
Initial Membership Payment | Yes, but only if they create a new membership schedule and make an initial payment on the new schedule.
If you refund or delete the initial membership payment before the constituent completes the automation, and the constituent later makes another initial payment on the same schedule, they enter the automation again for that same schedule. |
Next Donation | Yes. Current donors re-enter this automation each time they make a next donation that isn’t the initial payment on a schedule. |
Select a Group | It depends:
If you remove a constituent from the static group selected in that automation, and you later add the constituent to the group again, the constituent can re-enter the same Select a Group automation. |
Happy Birthday | Yes, on their birthday each year |
Donor Anniversary | Yes, on the yearly anniversary of their first qualifying transaction |
How Do I View Automation Participants?
For each automation, you can view a list of everyone who entered, is within, exited, or completed each automation. Read more about automation analytics.