How to thank 1st time donors using Workflows

1. Create a 1st Time Donor group.  From the Navigation Menu, click Groups & Events > Create, and work through the steps to set up a group.  You'll use this group to collect donors and launch the workflow.
2. Create a 1st Time Donor report. Save it. 
   • Go to Reports > New > Add people to group (under the People section)
   • Filter by Contributions: default to families and then to do this task weekly, put in last Monday through last Sunday as the "First contribution date" range.  This will help you include online giving throughout the week.  
   • Click the "Add to Saved Report" button. Give the report a name and choose "Last X weeks" and select 1.  Then Save.  If you plan to do it less frequently, make the adjustment to that frequency during this step.
   • When you run the report each time, you'll see the option to select the 1st Time Donor group.  When you do this and run it, the system will put these folks in the group automatically.
3. Create a 1st Time Donor workflow. 
   • First, map the workflow by deciding whether you want to send an email, text, gift, or a note to a staff member to write a handwritten note, or a combination of these.
   • Second, resource the workflow by creating the text or email template (under Communicate button in black Navigation bar) if you are using either of these.  Be sure to use the tag to personalize them. You could include a link in either of these to take the donor to a resource page or to claim a gift.
   • Third, build the workflow by using the 1st Time Donor as your enrollment group. Then add in the email, text, or "Schedule follow-up" assignments.
   • Note: Use the "Schedule follow-up" assignments to notify the staff who will write the handwritten notes or mail a gift.  The assignment will show up in the Notes section of the donor's member profile page.
   • Optional: to keep the 1st Donor group fresh, you can end the workflow by adding an option to remove people from that group after several months, perhaps 180 days.  Or, make a note to do this manually at the start of each year, half-year, or quarter.  This would equate the number of group members with number of 1st time donors in that given period of time.

Once you have this set up, all the staff person has to do to recognize the generous heart of your first-time donors is click on saved Reports, then choose "1st Time Donor" from the list and run the report.  They then choose to put the new donors in the "1st Time Donor" group and click run again.  That's it.  From there the system takes over making sure that the email or text is sent automatically or that the handwritten note or gift assignments are made.