Create and Use Action Plans

Action Plans let you map out a workflow or process as a checklist of steps that need to be completed. They are useful for processes your organization follows regularly, such as onboarding a client, renewing a membership, following up with a donor, or managing a campaign.

You create the process once by defining each step, who is responsible for it, when it should happen, and any instructions staff need to follow.

When staff use the Action Plan, Sumac guides them through the process. They can check off steps as they complete them, helping everyone keep track of what has been done and what needs to happen next.

How Action Plans Work

Think of an Action Plan as a reusable checklist for a process.

For example, you might create an Action Plan for following up with a new, major donor:

Send a thank-you email.
Call the donor after 7 days.
Send information about upcoming programs.
Schedule another follow-up for 30 days later.

Or, if your organization provides services to clients, you could create an Action Plan for processing a new client's intake:

Review the client's intake information.
Confirm that all required documentation has been received.
Complete an eligibility or needs assessment.
Assign the client to the appropriate program or staff member.
Contact the client to confirm their services and next steps.

Instead of creating and tracking these tasks separately each time, you create the process once as an Action Plan. Staff can then apply the Action Plan whenever they need to complete that process for a particular contact.

An Action Plan has three main parts:

Action Plan: The reusable workflow or checklist you create.
Action Steps: The individual tasks that make up the process.
Reminder: Where staff use the Action Plan for a particular contact and track the completion of its steps.

Before you begin: You need permission to customize the database.

Create an Action Plan

Go to Utilities → Customize Database → Field Values → Reminders → Action Plans.
Select New.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter a short, recognizable name, such as New Client Intake or Major Donor Follow-up.
- Description: Explain when or why the plan should be used.
- Inactive: Select this if the plan is not ready for use or should no longer be available.
Click the Add button to create the steps in the Action Plan.

Add Steps to the Action Plan

Each Action Step represents something that needs to be completed as part of the process.

For example, in a New Client Intake Action Plan, Review intake information might be one step and Assign client to a program might be another.

Add the steps in the order you expect staff to complete them.

For each step, complete the fields that apply to your process.

Basic Step Information

Start with the fields that define what staff needs to do:

Step Description: Enter a short, recognizable name for the task, such as Call client to confirm services.
Actions Required: Enter instructions for the staff member completing the task. These instructions appear in Reminders created from the Action Plan.
User Responsible for this Task: Select the Sumac user who should be assigned the task automatically. Leave this blank if you do not want to assign the step to a specific user.
Duration (days): Enter the number of days to use when calculating when this step should be brought forward. For example, if a follow-up should occur 7 days after the previous step, enter 7.
Duration should exclude weekends: Select this if the duration should count weekdays only.

Additional Step Information

You can also provide additional information about the purpose and expected result of a step:

Objective: Describe what the step is intended to accomplish.
Desired Outcome: Describe what should have been achieved when the step is complete.
Is Child: Select this if the step is part of a larger sequence of related steps.
Inactive: Select this if you want to keep the step in the Action Plan but do not currently want it to be used.

Configure How the Process Moves Forward

Action Steps can also control what happens next as staff work through the process.

Next Action: Select the step that should follow this one. You must add the next step to the Action Plan before it will be available for selection.
Step completes when bring-forward date passes: Select this if the step should be eligible for completion after its bring-forward date has passed.

When a step is completed using Complete Steps, Sumac can use this configuration to move the process forward. Depending on how the Action Plan is configured, Sumac can:

Mark the current step as completed.
Move the Reminder to the step specified under Next Action.
Assign the user responsible for the next step.
Calculate the next bring-forward date based on the next step's duration.
Send a configured email and create a Communication record, if applicable.

This allows the Action Plan to guide staff from one part of the process to the next.

Optional: Send an Email When a Step Is Completed

You can configure an Action Step to send an email when it is completed.

For example, a client intake Action Plan could send a welcome email once a client has been assigned to receive services. A donor follow-up Action Plan could send a thank-you email when its first step is completed.

Depending on your organization's setup, configure the following:

Email recipient: Select either the Contact in the Reminder or a contact related to the Reminder contact. If sending to a related contact, select the appropriate relationship.
Email Account (Office): Select the account that should send the email.
Email Subject: Enter the default subject line.
Email Template (text or HTML): Select the email template to use.
Email Attachment: Select Choose to attach a file or Clear to remove an attachment.
Communication Type: Select the type of Communication record Sumac should create.
Unsubscribe Communication Type: Select the communication type Sumac should check to prevent an email from being sent to a contact who has unsubscribed.
Completion Notes: Enter any default notes that should be added when the step is completed.

Important: Review the email recipient, template, attachment, sending account, and unsubscribe settings carefully before using automated email functionality.

Select OK when you have finished configuring the step.

Repeat this process until you have added all the steps required for your workflow.

Arrange the Steps

The steps in an Action Plan should appear in the order in which staff are expected to perform them.

To change the order, select a step and use Move Up or Move Down. You may also be able to drag steps into the required order.

The following options are available when managing steps:

Add: Create a new step.
Delete: Remove the selected step.
Move Up/Move Down: Change the step's position in the list.
Duplicate: Create a copy of the selected step, if this option is available in your version of Sumac.

When you have finished setting up the Action Plan, select OK to save it.

Use an Action Plan in a Reminder

Once an Action Plan has been created, staff can use it when they need to carry out that process for a contact.

For example, when a new client is ready to begin the intake process, you can create a Reminder and apply the New Client Intake Action Plan. The Action Plan's checklist of steps will then appear in the Reminder.

To use an Action Plan:

Open Reminders and select New.
Select Use Action Plan.
Choose the Action Plan you want to use.
Select the contact associated with the Reminder.
Complete any other applicable Reminder details.
Save the Reminder.

The Action Plan's steps appear in the Reminder, allowing staff to work through the process.

From the Reminder, staff can:

Select a step's checkbox to mark it complete.
Select a step to view its Actions Required instructions.
Double-click a step to view its full details.
Change a recorded completion date when necessary.

As staff complete the checklist, Sumac records the completion of each step and uses the Action Plan's configuration to help move the process forward.

Complete Steps and Move the Process Forward

For Action Plans configured to use Next Action, processing an eligible Reminder using Complete Steps can do more than simply record that a task has been completed.

Depending on the Action Step's configuration, Sumac can:

Generate and send the configured email.
Create a Communication record for the contact.
Move the Reminder to the step specified under Next Action.
Assign the user responsible for the next step.
Calculate a new bring-forward date using the next step's duration.

This is what allows an Action Plan to guide staff through a workflow. As one task is completed, Sumac can prepare the next task and help keep the process moving.

Important: If your Action Plan sends emails when steps are completed, review the email templates, recipients, attachments, unsubscribe settings, and sending account before processing steps.

Update or Retire an Action Plan

To make changes to an existing Action Plan, go to:

Utilities → Customize Database → Field Values → Reminders → Action Plans

Select the Action Plan you want to update and make the required changes.

If an Action Plan or individual step should no longer be used, consider marking it Inactive instead of deleting it. This keeps the configuration available for reference while preventing it from being used for new work.