Sequences are multi-step automated emails that fire over days or weeks per enrolled contact.
Examples
- Donor onboarding — welcome (Day 0), impact story (Day 3), invite to next event (Day 14), recurring gift ask (Day 30).
- Lead nurture — intro (Day 0), case study (Day 5), pricing (Day 10), book a call (Day 14).
- Volunteer onboarding — welcome (Day 0), training info (Day 2), first shift signup (Day 7).
Building a sequence
/marketing > Sequences > + New Sequence. Add steps:
- Email step — pick a template, set the delay (days/hours after enrollment or after the previous step).
- Wait step — explicit pause without an email (useful between two emails).
- Condition step — branch based on contact behavior. "Did they click the previous email's link?" If yes, go to step 4; if no, go to step 5.
- Action step — non-email actions: add a tag, change lifecycle stage, create a task.
Enrollment
Three ways to enroll contacts:
- Manual — pick contacts from a list and click "Enroll in Sequence".
- Automation — a workflow rule triggers enrollment ("when a new contact is added with lifecycle = Lead, enroll in Lead Nurture Sequence").
- API — programmatic enrollment via the public API.
Stopping enrollment
A contact stops the sequence automatically when:
- They unsubscribe.
- They reply to a sequence email (someone replied — likely needs a human).
- They complete the goal action you defined (booked a call, made a donation).
- They reach the last step.