This webinar was part of a series hosted by Bloomerang, a Sidekick Solutions partner.

The connection of Bloomerang to Zapier, an automation platform, enables additional integrations that can be customized to meet your organization’s use case. By automating tasks and the flow of data between apps your organization uses day to day, you can save time, resources, energy, and more.

Instead of spending hours each month manually entering data between two or more systems or running tedious spreadsheet imports, let Zapier automation do the work for you. Zapier is an automation platform that connects to 5,000+ other apps and offers an all-in-one integration platform for automating your day to day workflows.

During this webinar, you will learn:

• How Bloomerang and Zapier make integration with any app possible
• How to use Bloomerang triggers, actions, and searches in Zapier
• How to get started with Bloomerang and Zapier

Click here to download the webinar slides.

Webinar transcript (not including Q&A):

Good afternoon, and welcome to Bloomerang Academy! Thank you for joining us. My name is Diana Otero, and I am the Product Marketing Manager at Bloomerang. You might recognize me from attending Bloomerang Academy classes or listening to our release and help videos.

Today, we’re exploring Bloomerang Automations: Zapier 101.

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I’d like to introduce our presenter today, Jessie Gilchrist. Jessie is a Zapier Certified Expert and Bloomerang Integrations Consultant at Sidekick Solutions.

Sidekick Solutions is a Bloomerang Partner, specializing in system automations for Bloomerang. Sidekick Solutions has been a Bloomerang user since 2013 and most recently was part of the Bloomerang team that launched the Bloomerang Zapier app.

We’re excited to have Jessie here today to share her expertise and explore Bloomerang integrations.

Thank you Diana. Hello everyone! It’s great to be here.

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This webinar is the second in a series that will complete an incremental dive into Zapier integrations for Bloomerang.

If you were not able to attend our webinar last month that explored common automation opportunities for nonprofits, you can watch the recording in Bloomerang’s Academy or on its YouTube channel.

Later this month, you can join us for Zapier 201, which will focus on utilities in Zapier that can be leveraged to customize your integration.

And in August, we’re offering an Ask Me Anything style webinar where you can submit your questions about Zapier integrations and get a response from a Bloomerang and Zapier integration expert.

Our hope is that by the end of this webinar series, you’ll see how you can implement automations across your organization and attain outcomes that drive your mission and goals.

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Our webinar today provides an introduction to the Zapier automation platform and Bloomerang’s Zapier app.

• Intro to Zapier
• Zapier vs. native integrations
• Triggers, actions, and searches
• Getting started with Zapier

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Let’s take a quick poll to see how many have heard of Zapier before.

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Zapier is automation software. It sits in between your Bloomerang database and any other apps helping them to “talk” to each other. This can even come in the form of Bloomerang to Bloomerang automations to support operational tasks.

Bloomerang’s Zapier app extends the power of your database by enabling integrations with over 5,000 other apps in Zapier’s directory. And, Zapier was designed for anyone to build an integration. You don’t need to be a developer or know code to build an automation.

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Integrations are a key feature of your Bloomerang database and can take your fundraising efforts to the next level. Data should flow in and out of your Bloomerang database, connecting to other best in class tools your organization uses. By keeping Bloomerang as the central hub of your tech stack, you will create a global record of Constituent engagement with your organization and centralize reporting.

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When we talk about Bloomerang integrations, there are two types we should differentiate between: native and custom Zapier. If you attended our webinar last month that explored Bloomerang automation opportunities, this may be a review.

Native integrations, often called “direct” integrations, are built within your Bloomerang software. These are often the most user-friendly form of integration and offer a standardized, templated sync of data between two systems.

The other option is pursuing custom integrations using Zapier. Zapier allows you to build custom workflows that align with your organization’s use case. Make sure to check out the upcoming Zapier 201 webinar for a deeper dive into how you can customize your Zapier automations.

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Last webinar we were asked the question of when an organization should pursue a Zapier integration instead of a native integration. We thought this question was worth covering again.

Organizations pursue a custom Zapier integration when:

• No native integration exists
• Native integration does not align with organization’s use case
• High level of customization required
• Desired functionality is not provided in native integration
• Multi-app automations

It is a good practice to explore native integrations first, if one exists, and pursue a Zapier integration if a native one does not exist or does not align with your use case.

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Before we dive into the functionality of Bloomerang’s Zapier app, it is important to understand a few key concepts in Zapier first.

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Zapier is a builder that lets you design integrations using steps. Zapier integrations are like blocks, each block is a task in the integration workflow.

A single integration workflow is called a Zap. Zaps start with a trigger and then proceed to complete one or many actions.

Zaps are linear flowing based on an initial trigger and then a subsequent set of actions.

Zaps can be simple or expanded to include:

• Multiple steps and multiple apps
• Filters, paths, and conditional logic
• Data transformation and formatting

We won’t dive into these features today, but it is important to note that the basics we are covering today can be enhanced to customize a Zap for your organization’s use case. Make sure to attend the Zapier 201 webinar last this month as we’ll dive into these features.

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A trigger is an event in Bloomerang.

When the event happens, the trigger starts a Zap. Each trigger event starts a Zap to run and complete a subsequent set of actions.

Integrations from Bloomerang can start a Zap based on the following Bloomerang events:

• New Constituent
• Updated Constituent
• New Transaction
• New Transaction Payment
• New Interaction

If I enter three New Constituents in Bloomerang and I use the New Constituent trigger, my Zap will run three times, once for each New Constituent.

The time it takes for a trigger to run in Zapier based on a trigger event in Bloomerang will depend on your Zapier plan, but generally your Zap will trigger to run in less than 15 minutes from the time of the event in Bloomerang.

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An action is an event a Zap performs after it is triggered.

It can be helpful to think of an action like a task. If you were to complete the steps of the Zap manually, each step in the Zap would be a task that you would be required to do.

Zapier is automating that process by completing those same manual steps in an automated way. Each task is an action completed by Zapier.

Generally speaking, when we are talking about actions, we are talking about writing data into Bloomerang. There are five options.

• Create Constituent
• Update Constituent
• Create Donation
• Create Interaction
• Create Task

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The Bloomerang Zapier app also includes a search step, which is essential to every Zap that creates Donations, creates Interactions, or updates Constituents.

A search in Zapier finds an existing record and, in some cases, may allow for the creation of a new record if none are found.

The Bloomerang Zapier app includes one search.
Find Constituent

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Let’s look at this in practice with a simple Zap.

Let’s say I want to notify my team in a Slack channel when a Constituent in Bloomerang has a transaction greater than $1,000.

In this scenario, the trigger is “a transaction from Bloomerang”. When that’s added to Bloomerang, this Zap will run. Once that Zap begins running, it’ll send a channel message in Slack for each transaction that meets our criteria.

Let’s hop into Zapier and show what this looks like in practice.

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Before we dive into how each component in the Bloomerang Zapier app works, we want to pause a moment for any questions.

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Now, let’s walk through the functionality and set up of each Bloomerang trigger.

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New Constituent is pretty straightforward. It’s going to trigger a Zap to run each time a new Constituent is created in Bloomerang. This trigger allows the user to define whether the Zap should run when an Individual, Organization, or both Individuals and Organizations are created.

In Zapier:

• Navigate to the My Zaps page
• Click Create Zap
• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang
• Select New Constituent as the trigger event
• If we only want to define the trigger parameters to only run for Individuals or Organizations, we can select a Type. If we leave this setting blank, the Zap will run when Individual and Organization Constituents are created in Bloomerang.
• Once you set up a trigger in Zapier, the next step is to generate sample data. When you click Test Trigger, Zapier will ping Bloomerang and pull in the three most recently created (or updated) records, based on the trigger. In this case, it will return the three most recently created Constituents in Bloomerang. These samples allow us to map the data from Bloomerang to the subsequent actions in our Zap.

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Updated Constituent works similarly to New Constituent. It will trigger a Zap to run when you update an existing Constituent and save it. This trigger can be set up to run when an Individual, Organization, or both Individuals and Organizations are updated.

In Zapier:

• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang as the app
• Select Updated Constituent as the trigger event
• If we only want to define the trigger parameters to only run for Individuals or Organizations, we can select a Type. If we leave this setting blank, the Zap will run when Individual and Organization Constituents are updated in Bloomerang.
• You can also set the trigger to bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary, which includes the Constituent’s 10-year giving history, average giving, lifetime giving, and first, last, and largest transactions and the Constituent’s Household information if the Constituent is in a Household. These additional data pulls allow more capability when building Zaps. You can leave them as False if you aren’t using them.
• Once you set up a trigger in Zapier, the next step is to generate sample data. When you click Test Trigger, Zapier will ping Bloomerang and pull in the three most recently created (or updated) records, based on the trigger. In this case, it will return the three most recently updated Constituents in Bloomerang. These samples allow us to map the data from Bloomerang to the subsequent actions in our Zap.

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New Transaction will trigger a Zap to run when you create a new Transaction and save it. You can filter this trigger to run for different types of transactions, including Donations, Pledges, Pledge Payments, Recurring Donations, and Recurring Donation Schedules.

You can also filter on the range of amount with a minimum and maximum amount and like Updated Constituent bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary or Household information.

In Zapier:

• Navigate to the My Zaps page
• Click Create Zap
• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang
• Select New Transaction as the trigger event
• You can filter this trigger to run for different types of transactions, including Donations, Pledges, Pledge Payments, Recurring Donations, and Recurring Donation Schedules
• You can also filter on the range of amount with a minimum and maximum amount
• Like Updated Constituent, you can also bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary or Household information.
• When testing the trigger, it will return the three most recently created transaction records that match the parameters defined in our trigger.

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New Transaction Payment will trigger a Zap to run when you create a new Transaction and save it, but only for Donation, Pledge Payment, and Recurring Donation Payments.

Unlike the New Transaction trigger which will trigger to run once when a transaction is created, the New Transaction Payment will trigger a Zap to run for each payment on a newly created transaction. Use this trigger when you need to run a Zap for each payment individually when a transaction has multiple split payments.

In Zapier:

• Navigate to the My Zaps page
• Click Create Zap
• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang
• Select New Transaction as the trigger event
• You can filter this trigger to run for different types of revenue transactions only (Donations, Pledge Payments, and Recurring Donation Payments)
• Like New Transaction, you can also d bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary or Household information.
• When testing the trigger, it will return the three most recently created transaction payment records that match the parameters defined in our trigger.

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Let’s take an example of the difference between New Transaction and New Transaction Payment.

If I were to enter a donation of $20, each trigger would run once.

If I were to enter a donation for $20 with two split payments, the New Transaction would trigger once and New Transaction Payment would trigger twice, once for each payment.

If it was the same $20 donation, but with three split payments, we would still only get one New Transaction trigger, but the New Transaction Payment trigger would run three times.

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New Interaction is a new trigger in the Bloomerang Zapier app! This component triggers when a new interaction is created in Bloomerang. You can filter this trigger to run for different types of interactions, using Channel and Purpose as criteria.

You can also bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary or Household information.

In Zapier:

• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang
• Select New Interaction as the trigger event
• You can filter this trigger to run for different types of Interactions using any combination of Channel and Purpose, or leave these filters blank to trigger for all interactions
• Like other triggers, you can also bring in additional data for the Constituent’s Giving Summary or Household information.
• When testing the trigger, it will return the three most recently created interaction records that match the parameters defined in our trigger.

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This component triggers when a new task is created in Bloomerang. You can filter this trigger to run for different types of interactions, using Channel, Purpose, Constituent, and User as criteria.

In Zapier:

• In the trigger, search and select Bloomerang
• Select New Task as the trigger event
• You can filter this trigger to run for different types of Tasks using any combination of Channel, Purpose, Constituent, and User. Or, leave these filters blank to trigger for all tasks.
• When testing the trigger, it will return the three most recently created task records that match the parameters defined in our trigger.

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Any questions about Bloomerang triggers?

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Now, let’s walk through the functionality and set up of each Bloomerang action.

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Create Constituent creates a new Constituent record. This action can write to both standard or custom fields, and can be used to create either Individual or Organization Constituent.

Create Constituent requires that you select a Constituent type of either Individual or Organization and allows the ability to map fields like name, contact information, preferences, and custom fields. These fields line up with the fields you’d enter them when creating a new Constituent in Bloomerang.

In Bloomerang, the fields mapped in Zapier will be written to the new Constituent profile.

There are two ways to complete a Zapier action. You can either hardcode a value by selecting it from a dropdown or typing it in. Or, you can dynamically map a field from the Zap trigger or any preceding action. To do this, click into the data field in the Zapier action and search/select the desired field. It has a feel similar to a mail merge.

Zapier allows you to manually “test” each action, just like we did with the trigger. When we map data from our trigger, or a preceding action, we can then test the Bloomerang step to confirm the data will sync successfully to Bloomerang. It is important to note that a successful test will write data to Bloomerang and may require clean-up or deletion after testing.

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Update Constituent can update the Constituent’s name, contact information, and custom fields for a specific Constituent.

This action can overwrite data of existing Constituents, so be careful with it.

Important to note that writing a new address, phone, or email will promote the new address, phone, or email to the primary but will not remove previous address, phone, or email data.

Additionally, blank fields in Zapier are ignored and DO NOT overwrite by nullifying existing data in Bloomerang.

When we look at the Zapier action for Update Constituent, you’ll notice at the top that we need to identify the related Constituent using the Constituent ID. We’ll talk a bit more about Constituent ID mapping when we look at the Bloomerang search component. For now, we can identify that we are identifying the Constituent that should be updated.

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Create Donation creates a new Donation record for a specific Constituent. Create Donation has the ability to create single Donations or Donations with split payments.

We’re not going to talk too much about split payments with the Create Donation action today as that has some advanced functionality commonly used in integrations for eCommerce stores. We will dive into this a little deeper in the upcoming Zapier 201 webinar, if it is of interest.

You’ll notice that we have the ability to write the donation to a specific Constituent based on the ID of that Constituent. Like Update Constituent, you will need to map a Constituent ID to append the donation to the Constituent.

Fields like date, method, amount, Fund/Campaign/Appeal, and custom fields are all available for mapping. Values in these fields reflect your instance in Bloomerang. Meaning, if you add a new Fund/Campaign/Appeal, custom field, or field value, the change is reflected in Zapier for use.

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Create Interaction creates a new Interaction record for a specific Constituent. The goal here is to create a non-financial activity on a Constituent’s timeline.

The configuration is similar to Create Donation.

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Create Task creates a new Task record for a specific User.

The configuration mirrors the entry of a task in Bloomerang. While identification of the User who the task should be assigned to, linking the task to a Bloomerang Constituent is optional. If you’d like to link the task to a Constituent, you’ll map the Constituent ID in the same manner you would for other Bloomerang actions.

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The Bloomerang Zapier app also includes a search step, which is essential to every Zap that creates donations, creates interactions, creates tasks, or updates existing constituents.

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Find Constituent completes a search for existing Constituent records based on a Name and contact information duplicate check. If none are found, you can optionally Create Constituent.

The search looks for a single match.

We recommend that you include as much information about the Constituent as is available from previous steps in the Zap or the trigger app. Adding multiple pieces of information will conduct a broad search for an existing constituent record. Bloomerang then makes a search based on the data you’d submitted.

If Bloomerang does not find an existing account, you can create one by selecting the checkbox in the Find Constituent action and mapping in information to create a constituent record. This is the same action as Create Constituent.

In most Zaps that write data into your Bloomerang, your Zap will have a Find or Create Constituent search followed by another Bloomerang action (ex: create donation, interaction, etc.). The output of the constituent search, or create, is the Constituent ID that we can use in later steps. Once we have tested our Find/Create Constituent search, we can map the constituent ID in the data returned by the search to our subsequent Bloomerang action.

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Now that you have a basic understanding of the functionality of the Bloomerang Zapier app, it is a great time to get started in Zapier.

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The first step is signing up for a Zapier account, if you don’t have one already. All Zapier accounts begin with a 14-day free trial of the Professional tier functionality. Following the free trial, your plan is converted to a Free plan until you choose to upgrade. Most organizations will need to upgrade to the Starter plan, at a minimum in order to build multi-step Zaps.

It is also important to remember that Zapier provides a 15% discount to nonprofits. If you sign up for a paid plan, make sure to apply for the discount.

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Once you sign up for Zapier, the first step is to connect your Bloomerang database.

After logging in:

1. Click My Apps on the left menu.
2. Click Add Connection.
3. Search for and select Bloomerang
4. Grant access using your Bloomerang login credentials.

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Then, it is time to explore.

1. Search available apps in Zapier’s marketplace
2. Look at Bloomerang Zap templates
3. Review Zapier resources on getting started with building Zaps
4. Begin building!

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If you have an interest in learning more about Bloomerang and Zapier integrations, keep your eyes open as these webinars are upcoming in July and August.

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Thank you for attending today. If you’d like to work with a consultant to set up Zaps or develop a custom Bloomerang integration to address a unique use case, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I will hand it off to Diana for a quick poll before we open up for more questions.

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Now, we’d like to open it up for questions.