Free checklist · Nonprofit
The nonprofit automation checklist.
Your donors give money to fund your mission — not to pay for manual data entry.
40%
admin reduction — industry average
38
Hrs/week at stake
$69,160
Annual waste, total
The checklist · 12 tasks
Tick every task your team still does by hand.
Hours and costs assume one person
at typical nonprofit wage rates.
/ 01 — Automate first — highest payback
Grant compliance reporting assembled by hand
FixBuild an n8n workflow that pulls outcome data, financial info, and milestones into auto-generated grant compliance reports.
5 hrs/wk · $9,100/yr
Donor acknowledgment letters mailed one by one
FixUse Zapier to auto-send personalized thank-you emails with tax receipts instantly when a donation is received.
4 hrs/wk · $7,280/yr
Monthly donor reports compiled manually
FixConnect your CRM to a reporting dashboard via Make.com that auto-generates and emails monthly donor reports.
4 hrs/wk · $7,280/yr
Grant deadline tracking in shared calendar
FixBuild an Airtable grant tracker with Make.com automations that send deadline reminders 30, 14, and 7 days before due dates.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Volunteer scheduling via email threads
FixUse a scheduling tool connected via Zapier where volunteers self-select shifts and receive automated confirmations.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Donation receipts generated by hand
FixSet up Zapier to auto-generate PDF donation receipts and email them to donors within minutes of each gift.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Program outcome data on paper
FixDigitize outcome tracking with mobile forms connected via n8n to a central database for real-time program dashboards.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
/ 02 — Automate next — steady gains
Event registration in spreadsheet
FixReplace spreadsheets with an event registration form connected via Zapier to auto-confirm attendees and send reminders.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
New volunteer onboarding in person only
FixBuild an automated welcome sequence in Make.com that sends orientation materials, collects forms, and assigns first shifts.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Fundraising campaign tracking manually
FixUse Airtable with Zapier to auto-track donations against campaign goals and generate progress reports for stakeholders.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Board meeting minutes distributed manually
FixUse AI transcription with n8n to auto-generate meeting minutes and distribute them to board members via email.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
Sponsor thank-you emails one at a time
FixCreate a Zapier workflow that auto-sends personalized sponsor thank-you emails with impact metrics after each event.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
/ Total estimated waste
38 hrs/wk · $69,160/yr
3 quick wins
Build these first.
24 hrs/week recovered
across the set.
8 hrs/wk
Donor Acknowledgment Automation
Instant personalized thank-you + annual tax receipt.
Ask us to build this →6 hrs/wk
Volunteer Onboarding Flow
Automated welcome sequence, form collection, schedule assignment.
Ask us to build this →10 hrs/wk
Grant Tracking System
Deadline alerts, outcome data collection, report generation.
Ask us to build this →Keep exploring
/ Recommended services for nonprofit
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Where we go from here
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