We all know non-profit organizations are all about doing good for the community. But let’s be real – managing all the paperwork, fundraising, and events can be a real headache. And don’t even get us started on scheduling volunteers – it’s like herding cats! But fear not because automation is here to save the day. By automating processes like data entry, donor management, and volunteer scheduling, non-profits can finally focus on what really matters. So let’s ditch the spreadsheets and embrace the power of automation.
We will explore the benefits of automation for a non-profit organization we recently worked with. This will give an idea of what opportunities are out there for your organization to seize.
“And don’t even get us started on scheduling volunteers – it’s like herding cats!“
The Case
An association of fraternal non-profits that work together to put on events were running into a good problem. After Covid restrictions lifted, they quickly became busier than ever before. This highlighted a new key issue they were experiencing – scheduling conflicts.
There is an agreement that each organization would not double book dates so that members would not have conflicts. Each group has times during the month that they have their business meetings, put on events for their members, as well as scheduled social events. They quickly found that this was something that needed to be managed, but by who?
Non-Profits especially have resource constraints for finances and time. Who would manage this? How much would it cost? It was impossible to find volunteers since all would rather spend time doing the main aim of the association, rather than this tedious job. And there was no financial ability to pay someone to handle it.
These questions outline the team’s requirements: the solution must actively intake events from numerous people while remaining platform-agnostic, post events to the website, the group’s social media page, and send emails to an established distribution list with a single click – all without requiring active management from anyone.
This posed a problem for most providers that try to solve this sort of situation. Many checked some boxes, but none worked with established systems completely without custom developer work, something this group could not afford or support afterwards. So after much deliberation, we found a no-code solution.
A Solution that fits the Bill
We started with identifying a workflow automation tool that would be the heart of the process. Zapier was an obvious choice for the work with its thousands of apps and support that would allow us to connect all the things we needed.
We then created a Google account for the group, and connected a Zapier Zap to the Google Calendar. This allowed us two things – we could take a Google Form with pertinent event information and add it to the calendar, and then have Wix, who was the website provider for the association, easily show the calendar embedded in the website page. Two parts solved.
The Calendar is connected to another zap that handles the Email Distribution with Mailchimp and the social media group posting in Facebook. This all happens in just moments, with the event posting in all the pertinent locations, all from one entry and submission click on an Event Intake Form.
Since its implementation in early 2022, the association has seen a drop to near 0 double booked events. Prior to this, a volunteer would spend several hours a month to do all this manually. They are now able to focus on their more important task which the organizations is actually there to solve.
If you are interested in this solution for your organization, reach out here for a consultation and let’s see how we can help your organization get back to what matters – making a difference in the world.