Workflows just got an automation upgrade! You can now use Workflows to automate emails to be sent out when a Card is moved into a specific Workflow Step.
Some common use cases would be:
Send a welcome email to a new visitor after they submit a connect form.
Send a confirmation to a volunteer applicant when their application is received.
Send a reminder when a Card lands in a follow-up Step.
How email automation works
Your Dashboard User account needs either the Workflows Manager or the Administrator role to be able to create and edit email automation on a Workflow
You write the email once and save it on a Workflow Step. When a Card enters that Step, the system sends the email automatically. A Card can enter a Step in two ways:
Manually, when a staff member moves the Card from one Step to another on the Kanban board.
Automatically, when a new Card lands in a Step (e.g. from a form submission).
In both cases, the email goes out immediately to the configured recipient.
Set up an email automation on a Workflow Step
Each Step can only have one email automation. Make sure your desired Workflow Step already exists before you begin! Learn how to create a Step in our Workflows article.
Navigate to Workflows > All workflows and open the Workflow you want to edit.
Open the edit menu for the Step you want to add email automation to. You can open the Step settings in two ways:
Quick edit: On the Kanban board, click the pencil icon on the Step to open the edit modal for that single Step.
Full edit: Click Edit Workflow in the top right corner to make the whole Workflow editable, then click the Step you want to configure.
Scroll down to the Automations section at the bottom of the Step settings and click Add email automation.
Configure the email.
To: Choose the recipient of the email by selecting either the Key Person on the Card or the Default Assignee. Automated emails always send to the primary email address listed on the recipient's profile.
From: Set the sender name and email address that your recipient sees in their inbox.
Reply to: Designate the specific email address that receives any direct replies.
Subject: Write a clear, engaging subject line for your message.
Body: Craft your core message using text, images, buttons, and personalization tokens (e.g., the recipient's first name).
Click Continue to Preview to see how your email will look when it sends. If any required fields are missing, the system will flag them for you to fill in.
Click Enable automation (starts immediately).
Viewing automated emails in the Card timeline
Every time the system sends an automated email from a Step, it logs an entry in the Card's timeline so your team always stays up to date. To view sent emails:
Navigate to the Workflow and click the Card you want to review.
Scroll down to the Activity section.
Look for Workflow Automation entries to see which Step triggered the email and when it was sent. Hover over the entry to see the exact timestamp.
Click the email entry to open a preview window showing the full message, recipient, subject line, and body text.
FAQs
What email address is this going to for the recipient?
What email address is this going to for the recipient?
The system sends automated emails to the primary email on the recipient's profile. To change which email the system uses, update the primary email on that profile.
Can recipients unsubscribe from these emails?
Can recipients unsubscribe from these emails?
Yes. Every automated email includes an unsubscribe link. When a recipient clicks it, they confirm the unsubscribe and stop receiving future automated emails.
Can I delay an automated email from sending out?
Can I delay an automated email from sending out?
While there is not currently any way to add a time delay to the automated email sending out, there is a workaround to help with scenarios where you wouldn't want the email to send immediately.
For the example, you have a Connect Card form where you don't want it to seem like a generic automated email fires off the second the user submits the form. So you would set up your Workflow so that when the Connect Card is submitted, the Workflow card goes into Step 1 which does not have an automation set up. Then on Monday morning, someone goes in and manually moves all those Cards to Step 2 to trigger the Welcome Email Automation that feels a bit more personalized.
Why is the system not sending out an automated email to the recipient on the card?
Why is the system not sending out an automated email to the recipient on the card?
The system does not send automated emails in these cases:
The Workflow is archived. Cards on archived Workflows do not trigger emails.
The recipient's profile is archived. No email goes out.
The Card has already triggered this email once. If a Card enters the same Step a second time (e.g., because you moved it back to that Step), the system does not re-send the email.
The recipient has unsubscribed. They will not receive any more automated emails.
Why can't I remove the footer of the email?
Why can't I remove the footer of the email?
In compliance with CAN-SPAM regulations, every email must have an address in the footer. The system defaults to the org address used when the account was set up. However, if there is no available org address, then you can set this up manually when setting up the email automation. If you want the address to be there automatically, then an Admin needs to add a new Location in your Dashboard Settings. Then this location will be the default in the email footer.