I spend a huge portion of my day in Slack, and I suspect many of you do too. It’s where we chat, collaborate, and share cat photos, but could we be using it more effectively? That’s why I was so thrilled to welcome Stephen Lavery to our latest TechSoup Connect Canada event, Create and Optimize Nonprofit Workflows in Slack. He showed us that Slack isn’t just for communication—it’s a powerful engine for automation that can save us time and reduce errors.
Whether you are a “Slack-head” or a total beginner, this session was packed with actionable lessons on how to mistake-proof your processes. We moved beyond theory and got into the nitty-gritty of building workflows that actually help mission-driven teams get work done.
If you missed the live session, don’t worry! You can watch the full replay here: https://youtu.be/4VNMc5-zBDE
You can also download the resources from this session to help you get started immediately:
Meet the Speaker
Stephen has dedicated his career to helping mission-driven teams leverage technology and data to drive impact. He brings nearly two decades of experience leading digital transformation in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, having held roles ranging from grantmaking and consulting to systems administration. Stephen specializes in making complex tech accessible to everyone on the team.
Top 7 Insights from Create and Optimize Nonprofit Workflows in Slack
Automation is About “Mistake-Proofing”
Automation isn’t just about speed; it is about using software to complete routine tasks so your team can focus on mission-critical work. By setting up workflows, you ensure that the correct rules are followed every single time, effectively “mistake-proofing” your operations. This eliminates the manual effort and potential for human error that often plagues administrative tasks.
Build Where Your Team Already Works
The best tool for automation is the one your team is already using, which makes Slack the perfect environment for adoption. By placing workflows directly in your shared channels, you promote transparency and prevent work from getting hidden in private inboxes or external apps. Furthermore, Slack’s Workflow Builder is low-code, meaning anyone on a paid plan can build solutions without needing a developer.
Design Before You Build
Before clicking “New Workflow,” Stephen recommends following a four-step process: Design, Build, Test, and Launch. It is vital to map out your goal, the trigger event, and the subsequent steps on paper to ensure clarity before you start configuring. Always test your workflow in a private channel with a colleague to ensure variables like dates and user names pass through correctly.
Replace Stand-Up Meetings with Scheduled Prompts
You can reclaim hours of productivity by replacing daily synchronous stand-up meetings with a scheduled Slack workflow. Set a trigger for a specific time (e.g., Monday at 9:00 AM) that prompts the team to answer three simple questions: What did you do? What are you doing? Do you have blockers? This keeps everyone aligned and highlights where help is needed without interrupting deep work.
Capture Storytelling Content with Emojis
Great stories and quotes for newsletters often get lost in the daily noise of channel chatter, but you can automate their capture using emoji triggers. By setting up a workflow that reacts to a specific emoji (like a megaphone), Slack can automatically copy that message to a dedicated “Comms” channel and log it in a Google Sheet. This creates an effortless story bank for your communications team without requiring staff to fill out complex forms.
Centralize Help Requests with a Ticketing System
Stop fielding IT or admin requests in your DMs by creating a centralized “Requests” channel with a workflow button. When a user clicks the button, they fill out a form with urgency levels and deadlines, which posts to the channel for the whole team to see. This prevents bottlenecks, as anyone with the right skills can jump in to help, and it creates a clear log of work completed.
Know When to Use Slack vs. Zapier
While Slack is incredible for internal team coordination, you should choose your tools based on the complexity of the task. Use Slack workflows for simple, self-contained processes and basic integrations like Google Sheets to keep costs down and access easy. Save more robust external tools like Zapier for complex, multi-step integrations that require logic across several different external software platforms.
Join Us at the Next Event!
We love bringing you practical, hands-on sessions that help you use technology for good. If you found these Slack tips helpful, you won’t want to miss what we have coming up next.
Register for our next event here: https://events.techsoup.org/techsoup-connect-canada-chapter/