You’re spending way more energy, time, and money than you need to, while still not making the progress you want. What if you could actually do less, but make faster progress?

You know you can. That’s why you’re here.

After decades of working with mission-driven entities, from solo providers to enterprise clients, we’ve noticed a troubling pattern:

Smart, dedicated humans are drowning in to-do lists, growing increasingly stressed by the very mission work they’re passionate about.

Automating your workflows can help.

But we’re not talking about automating small, simple tasks—like the “thank you” email someone gets after submitting your contact form.

We’re referring to automating entire workflows, so full sequences of work get done with hardly any human intervention.

Let’s explore how.

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Rule of Thumb: “Never have humans doing work computers can do well.”

The most efficient teams aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest tech budgets.

They’re the ones who first automate the work that will make the biggest, fastest difference.

The cost of humans doing busywork varies, depending on your size. But the result is the same:

More stress → lower productivity → lower job satisfaction → and higher employee turnover long-term.

Let’s run some real-world numbers:

The high cost of having humans do repetitive tasks…

…in a Mission-Driven Organization

Consider a Nonprofit Program Coordinator earning around $52,000 per year. How they use their time directly determines the impact you can make.

If they spend just eight hours a week on routine work—like compiling data for impact reports or scheduling volunteers—you’re spending over $10,000 a year on work you could automate.

But the real cost isn’t the wasted salary. It’s the lost opportunity.

That’s eight hours each week they can’t spend on relationship management, customer service, grant writing, or delivering services to your community.

…in a Mid-Sized Organization

Let’s consider a full-time mid-level employee, like an Operations Manager, who earns an average of $58,000/yr or $28 per hour.

If they spend just 10 hours per week on routine manual updates, for instance, you’re literally paying $14,560 per year for work a computer could handle in minutes.

Where else could you invest $14,000 that might better serve your organization, long-term?

…in a Small Firm or as a Solo Consultant

Let’s say you run a 1- or 2-person company and your billable rate averages $200 per hour.

If you spend just five hours per week on routine administrative work, like scheduling social media posts, chasing down invoice payments, or manually running your marketing reports… that’s five hours you can’t see clients.

That five hours equals $1,000 of lost revenue each week, or $52,000 per year your advisory firm can’t earn because the chief advisor–you–are stuck doing busywork.

First, let’s define our terms.

What is a workflow?

A workflow is simply the sequence of steps required to complete a set of specific, “rule-based,” and repetitive tasks.

Think of it as a recipe. You have inputs (ingredients), a sequence of actions (mixing, baking), and a final output (a cake). Every organization runs on hundreds of these recipes, whether they’re written down or not.

What is a “rule-based” task?

A “rule-based” task is a predictable thing that should always be done in response to another thing. Whether or not it’s done is based on hard and fast rules (logic). It does not require intuition, strategy, or opinion.

Example: When a new contractor finishes onboarding and signs their agreement, they’re confirmed for work. This should be reflected in the customer relationship management (CRM) system.

  • Rule: Onboarding process complete AND signature received.
  • Task: Mark contractor as “Ready for Work” in CRM.

What is workflow automation?

Workflow automation is when technology automatically does a sequence of tasks that, together, achieve a clear and specific goal. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with “business process automation (BPA),” but it’s not quite the same.

Key Point: A workflow is never just one task, (e.g., “marking their contact record as ‘Ready for Work’”). A workflow is a sequence of connected tasks that achieve a clear, specific goal.

How do we choose clear, specific goals for our custom automated workflows?

Just as in all other goal setting, each workflow should have a “S.M.A.R.T.” goal. The workflow should also be built around something that happens regularly in your organization.

Litmus test: A clear, specific workflow goal will solve a recurring pain point that requires several manual steps.

What are some pain points your team experiences often?

Examples might be:

  • Low work quality for new hires, requiring lots of hands-on support;
  • Prospects falling through cracks due to inconsistent follow-up;
  • Important client emails getting buried or missed;
  • Reports taking you hours to manually compile each month;
  • Client info scattered across multiple systems;
  • Manual data entry errors causing confusion and inefficiency;
  • etc.

Following our “Ready for Work” task example, maybe you recognize several pain points related to new hire work quality.

Your workflow is simply an outline of the steps that will solve the problem.

We just created a similar workflow for a nonprofit client. So here’s a real-world example.

In this client’s case, because the work is so simple and straightforward, no one had trained contractors on the nonprofit’s idea of “professional.” And since each contractor had a different idea of what was acceptable, the client had spent thousands of dollars but their project goals were still unmet.

So our job was to improve the impression contractors were making during the project, which we believed to be hurting its success. To do it, we first needed to standardize the work, then ensure every contractor was trained on those standards to be able to continue.

Sample Workflow Goal: “Confirm that new contractors are trained and ready for high-quality work.”

The simple workflow we proposed for our nonprofit client looked similar to this:

  1. When contractor is hired, they’re sent the video training.
    • Rule: Contractor CRM record is created, set to “Hired” stage.
    • Task: Email the video training.
  2. At the end of the recorded training, the contractor is shown the link to a pop quiz.
  3. The contractor takes the quiz and moves to next step.
    • If the contractor gets a passing grade, they’re sent the agreement to e-sign.
      • Rule: Contractor quiz grade >= 80%
      • Task: Email the agreement through e-sign service.
    • If the contractor gets a failing grade, they’re encouraged to re-test.
      • Rule: Contractor quiz grade <= 80%
      • Task 1: Contractor gets an email of results, encouraging them to study.
      • Task 2: Project Manager gets assigned a task to reach out to the contractor within 24 hours.
      • Task 3: After 48 hours, check for e-signature.
        • If no signed doc, Contractor gets another email reminding them to retest.
  4. When contractor signs onboarding agreement, they’re marked “Ready for Work” in CRM.
    • Rule: Signature received
    • Task: Mark contractor as “Ready for Work” in CRM

As you can see, we first outline the workflow steps, in sequence. We also take into account “if/then” situations. (Ex: If Scenario 1 happens, this needs to happen next. But if Scenario 2 happens, then something else should happen next.)

By the end of the outline, we have a sequence of tasks that will help achieve the specific goal of readying new contractors for high-quality work, including alerting the relevant team members along the way.

And our workflow is now ready to automate.

Make sense? (If not, no worries—we can help.)

What are some common types of workflows we can automate?

While the best options depend on your specific mission, goals, pain points, and so on, here are a few high-impact areas where you might start:

  • Marketing Automation: You might want to automatically nurture leads with email sequences and schedule social media posts, to ensure your message reaches your audience without manual effort.
  • Client/Customer Relationship Management: You may want to streamline the entire journey for your clients, donors, members, etc. This can span from appointment reminders and initial onboarding to post-project or post-hire follow-ups that boost satisfaction and retention.
  • Sales & Lead Generation: You might want to prequalify leads with AI, assign them to the right team member for action, then track follow-up so no potential lead ever falls through the cracks.
  • Administrative Automation: You can automate handling routine but critical internal tasks, like routing documents for approval, entering data into your CRM, or automatically compiling weekly reports.
  • Communication: You can ensure timely updates for everyone by automating the transcription and delivery of meeting summaries, notifying stakeholders of key project milestones, or even making recurring internal announcements.
  • Financial & Billing: You can automate billing, payment processing, and follow-up reminders to maintain healthy cash flow easier, and reduce time spent chasing revenue.

How do I choose the right workflow automation solution?

When you start exploring, you’ll see terms like “workflow automation software” and “robotic process automation.” They aren’t the same thing, and knowing the difference will help you choose the right path.

  • A workflow automation platform typically connects different applications behind the scenes, using their APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). This is what we’ve been discussing: one system tells another system what to do. Examples are IFTTT, n8n, Zapier, Make, and even ClickUp.

    These platforms can be good for streamlining processes like marketing, sales, and client onboarding, where your apps can talk directly to each other.

  • Robotic process automation (RPA) is different. It uses software “bots” to act like a human using a computer. A robotic process literally mimics your clicks, keystrokes, and mouse movements to get work done inside an application’s user interface. Examples are ZeroWork, UiPath, and MS Power Automate.

    RPA is good for automating tasks in older, legacy systems that don’t have modern APIs for an automation solution to connect to. It’s also great for creating workflows across websites, particularly where you don’t have access to their API.

For many mission-driven organizations, a standard automation platform like n8n may be the most efficient place to start. RPA, like ZeroWork, is generally better suited for more complex or enterprise-level challenges.

Are most workflow automation solutions complex?

The good news is that most modern automation platforms are considered “low-code” or “no-code.” That means you don’t need to know how to write computer code to build powerful automations. Rather than writing code from scratch, you use visual, drag-and-drop tools—no professional developers required.

However, “no-code” doesn’t mean “no-effort.” The tool is only as good as the process you design.

A workflow with disorganized or complicated steps will still be challenging to build, even with a simple tool interface. That’s why the most critical part happens before you ever open the software: mapping out every step of your process in advance.

Knowing exactly what you need the system to do is the key to building an automation—quickly, with less errors—that actually works.

When does it make sense to hire a specialist?

While building your own automations can be empowering, the “do-it-yourself” route isn’t always the most strategic path. Your time is valuable, and learning the nuances of multiple platforms can take you away from the mission-critical work only you can do.

Hiring an expert isn’t just about outsourcing the technical setup. A workflow automation specialist brings a strategic eye to your operations. They can help you untangle complex, inefficient processes, identify the highest-impact opportunities you might have missed, and design a system that truly serves your long-term goals.

If your challenge feels less like “How do I connect these two apps?” and more like “How do we streamline/overhaul our entire broken process?”, then workflow automation consulting is likely your best next step.

What are the best workflows we should automate? A simple framework to spot opportunities.

We’re big advocates of choosing the highest-impact activities, always. In this case, that means automating things that will give you the biggest, fastest return on your investment, from the least amount of resources used.

The best workflows to automate first will often include tasks that are:

  • repetitive and high-volume (ex: weekly reporting),
  • rules-based (ex: sending every client intake forms),
  • prone to human error (ex: data entry), and
  • time-sensitive (ex: replying to a new lead).

A daily 15-minute task with a severe consequence of getting it wrong is better to automate before a low-risk task you only do quarterly.

To decide, you can start by listing a few tasks or workflows you know are causing challenges. Then, the severity of each against these four criteria:

  • Frequency: How often do we do this? (Daily? Weekly? Yearly?)
  • Time: How much time does it take from start to finish? (15 minutes? 2 hours?)
  • Pain: How much do we hate doing this thing? (1: We don’t; 10: It’s agonizing.)
  • Risk: What happens if someone messes it up or forgets? (A lost lead? An angry client? A compliance issue?)

Finally, give each task a rating, 1 (mild) through 10 (severe). Tracking these ratings before and after you automate gives you clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your success. The list items with the highest ratings should probably be incorporated into workflows and automated ASAP.

10 Workflow Automation Examples to Try ASAP to Save Time and Speed Progress

By now, you know that the goal of workflow automation isn’t necessarily to replace your humans. It’s to increase team happiness, boost productivity, save money, reduce errors, and get more done.

Here are some high-impact workflow automation examples mission-driven organizations can use to do just that:

Onboarding Workflow for New Donors

  1. When a donation is received, send a thank you email.
  2. Add the donor to the CRM with their donor tier (Supporter $25-$99, Advocate $100-$499, Champion $500+).
  3. Add donor to appropriate mailing list for ongoing impact updates related to their donation area.
  4. Send most recent impact report from Google Drive.
  5. If Champion-level donor ($500+), schedule Development Director call reminder for 2 weeks later for personal thank you call.

Volunteer Recruitment Workflow

  1. When volunteer application is submitted, send confirmation email.
  2. Add volunteer to CRM with skills/interests noted (Event Support, Admin, Outreach, etc.).
  3. Send volunteer handbook and training schedule.
  4. Add volunteer to appropriate team mailing list based on their selected interests.

LinkedIn Lead Sourcing & Outreach Workflow

  1. When target criteria is set, search LinkedIn for prospects matching profile.
  2. Send connection request with personalized message.
  3. When connection accepts, send follow-up message within 24 hours.
  4. Add prospect to CRM, setting “Source” as “LinkedIn.”
  5. Schedule follow-up task on calendar for 1 week later if no response.

New Customer/Member Onboarding Workflow

  1. When membership payment is received, send welcome email with login credentials.
  2. Add member to CRM with membership tier (Basic $50, Premium $150, Corporate $500).
  3. Send latest member resource packet from Google Drive.
  4. Add member to monthly newsletter.
  5. Schedule check-in call reminder on Member Success Manager’s calendar for 30 days later.

Impact Reporting Workflow

  1. When monthly data is collected, compile KPIs in a reporting template.
  2. Auto-generate summary email with key metrics from template.
  3. Send report to Board of Directors mailing list.
  4. Post public version on website.
  5. Schedule website version to social media platforms at optimal posting times.

Partnership Research Assistance Workflow

  1. Compile list of prospective partners from predetermined criteria, using AI.
  2. Research contact information and background using AI.
  3. Compile all into an intelligence brief.
  4. Send brief to Project Manager for human review and enrichment.

Website Lead Qualification Workflow

  1. When contact form is submitted, AI scores lead based on budget/timeline responses.
  2. High-scoring leads get immediate consultation booking link sent via email (from template).
  3. Medium-scoring leads are added to 3-day autoresponder sequence to deliver resource guide and more info.
  4. Low-scoring leads get added to newsletter and quarterly check-in autoresponder sequence.

Client Onboarding Workflow

  1. When contract is signed, send client questionnaire and asset collection form.
  2. Add client to project management system; assign to Operations team member.
  3. Create Google Drive folder for client.
  4. Share with client email, sending access to client.

Content Creation & Distribution Workflow

  1. When blog post is published, add to spreadsheet.
  2. Create announcement social media post from title and meta description.
  3. Schedule social posts across platforms at pre-established optimal times to post.
  4. Set reminder to review performance metrics in 30 days.
  5. Wait two weeks.
  6. Republish blog post on syndication platform of choice.

Referral Request Workflow

  1. When project is completed, send satisfaction survey to client.
  2. If satisfaction score is 9-10, send referral request email immediately.
  3. Add client to “Happy Clients” mailing list for case study requests.
  4. Schedule quarterly check-in reminder for relationship maintenance.

Answering Common Concerns

While workflow automation is strongly recommended for every organization, there are some challenges to consider. We’ve tried to cover all the common ones here.

“We don’t have time to learn new workflow management tools.”

And you shouldn’t have to.

True, building custom workflows often involves adding new tools and technologies. And busy people hate learning new systems. (We get it. We do too.)

The key is to avoid:

  1. lots of changes at once, and
  2. adding lots of complexity.

At Excellent Presence, we typically help you start with just one workflow that solves your biggest pain point. Oftentimes, that’s user, task, or project management-related—like your CRM or task management tool—since these systems touch everything else. (Or should.)

And we provide clear, concise training on the basics your team needs to succeed—in organized video format, so even future team members can self-train easily. Your learning curve becomes virtually nil when we show you exactly which features matter for your specific use case, and which you can ignore.

Many organizations see time savings within the first week of automating their workflows. By the end of Month 1, you’ll probably wonder how you ever functioned with just spreadsheets and forms.

“We already tried workflow automation tools and they didn’t work.”

That’s frustrating. But we find that past challenges usually come from three places:

  1. choosing the wrong tool,
  2. making too many changes at once, or
  3. focusing on flashy features that “might” help in future, instead of focusing on your needs today.

Our approach focuses on making you more efficient first. We’re not trying to make you look high-tech. We’re trying to help you ditch the dungeon work™, so you can do mission work.

“I’m not sure if we can spare the time/energy/budget to automate right now.”

Question: How many hours per week do you use on “grunt work” instead of client projects or business development?

Literally: Take 10 seconds to think about it now.

You may want to read, “What’s the ROI of Workflow Automation? How to Find the Budget to Simplify Your Work.“

Remember, we did some math earlier:

  • Mid- to large-size organizations can lose an average of $14,560 per year per employee.
  • Small firms and solo practitioners can face $52,000/yr in lost revenue.

But the true cost isn’t just financial.

When you lose grant opportunities or clients because of slow, disorganized processes, the damage goes far beyond the immediate revenue. You’re also burning professional credibility.

Manual errors make an organization look disorganized to the very clients, donors, and partners you need to impress. Automation, on the other hand, builds trust by delivering a smooth, professional experience every time.

It also creates objective, data-backed records, which are invaluable for proving your efficiency in board reports and grant applications.

Bonus: Workflow automation can also help you maintain compliance.

In today’s environment, mission-driven organizations need clear, documented processes that demonstrate transparent, merit-based operations.

If you’ve made decisions manually, they can be questioned as subjective or inconsistent.

But workflow automation creates automatic documentation.

This is where automation gives you a serious advantage.

When you create automated workflows for things like hiring, onboarding, marketing, or vendor selection, you establish documented, uniform business processes. Each human goes through the exact same steps, in the same order.

Using automation helps create an objective, defensible record that shows your decisions are based on role-based criteria, not personal bias. It’s a powerful way to reduce risk while staying true to your mission. (This is a complex topic, which we cover in full in our DEI Compliance Guide.)

The Reveal: Smart workflow automation is crucial to helping you make faster progress without burnout.

When you let software handle repetitive work, you free your time to focus on The Real Work™ that will help you reach your goals faster. That includes cutting down on costly mistakes, building trust with clients, and getting the clear data you need to make sharper decisions.

If you’re ready to trade busywork for better results, consider a workflow automation consultation. We’ll help create and automate workflows for your organization that will spark the biggest, fastest results with the least amount of resources.