How to map one workflow before you automate it
By Ben Serunyigo, co-founder of Nimara · Updated October 2026
Every Monday, your volunteer coordinator copies sign-ups from a form into a spreadsheet and then emails reminders one by one. Someone says, "We should automate this," and maybe you should, but if you automate a messy process you just get the mess faster. This guide shows you how to map the work first, in one meeting, with a free canvas you can fill in right here.
Before you automate any workflow at your nonprofit or charity, map it. Write down where it starts and ends, every step, who does it, which tool they use and what information they touch. Mark where people retype information, wait on someone else or handle personal details, and fix the obvious problems first. Then automate only the boring, repeatable steps, and keep a person in charge of every decision about a person.
- 1Why map before you automate
- 2The five parts of a map
- 3Map it in one meeting
- 4A worked example
- 5The free canvas
- 6What comes after the map
Why map before you automate
There are three reasons, and all three come up again and again with nonprofits and charities.
- You'll automate the wrong thing. The work people describe in a meeting is rarely the work they actually do, and a map shows the real steps, including the workarounds nobody wrote down.
- You'll know where personal information goes. Volunteer forms, client intake and donor lists all carry personal details, and the rules for checking how you use them depend on where you are. If you're in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says you must do a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) when your use of personal data is likely to be high risk. Its sample DPIA template asks you to describe how the data flows (ICO). If you're in the US, there's no general rule like this for nonprofits, but some state privacy laws, such as Oregon's, call for an assessment when the processing is high risk. The voluntary NIST Privacy Framework is a good place to start (NIST).
- You'll keep a person where it matters. Automated tools make mistakes. In a test published in July 2025, AI safety institutes from several countries, including the UK, gave two AI helpers about 1,400 tasks each across nine languages. Even in its best language, the stronger helper handled only about 57% of the tasks safely (International Network testing report). A map shows exactly where a person needs to say yes.
The five parts of a map
A useful map answers five questions, and that's all it needs to do.
1Where does it start and end?
Name the trigger ("a new volunteer fills in the form") and the finish line ("the volunteer shows up to their first shift"). Fuzzy edges make a map impossible to automate.
2What are the steps?
List every step in order: who does it, which tool they use, and what information they touch. Include the small ones, like "copy the email address into the spreadsheet."
3Where does work wait?
Mark every handoff, every approval and every "waiting to hear back" moment, since that's where most of the time disappears.
4What are the exceptions?
What happens when someone signs up twice, needs a background check or wants information in another language? Write down the cases that don't fit the normal path. Automation struggles with these, so a person usually keeps them.
5Where does personal information go?
Trace each piece of personal information from the moment you collect it to wherever it ends up. If it lands in someone's personal email or a free tool you haven't approved, fix that before anything else.
Map it in one meeting
You need the person who does the work, one other colleague, and a whiteboard or the canvas below.
- Watch it happen. Ask the person who does the work to walk through one real example from start to finish on their own screens, and map what they really do instead of what the policy says.
- Write every step. Give each step one line that says who does it, which tool they use and what information they touch, then count how long the whole thing takes and how often it happens.
- Mark it up. Put a mark next to every step where someone retypes information, copies and pastes, waits, sends a reminder, or touches personal details.
- Fix the obvious first. Before you automate anything, remove the steps that don't need to exist, since the biggest win is often deleting a step altogether.
A worked example: volunteer sign-ups
Here's what a map looks like for Harbor Community Hub, a fictional nonprofit we use as a teaching example.
| # | Step | Who | Tool | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volunteer fills in the sign-up form | Volunteer | Online form | PERSONAL INFO |
| 2 | Copy each sign-up into the volunteer spreadsheet | Coordinator | Spreadsheet | RETYPEDPERSONAL INFO |
| 3 | Check if a background check is needed | Coordinator | Policy doc | PERSON DECIDES |
| 4 | Email a welcome and orientation date | Coordinator | Personal email | COPY-PASTEWRONG PLACE |
| 5 | Wait for the volunteer to confirm | Volunteer | WAITING | |
| 6 | Send a reminder the day before | Coordinator | REMINDER |
This fictional workflow takes about 3 hours a week today.
What the map shows: step 2 can be automated (the form can send sign-ups straight to the spreadsheet), step 4 needs to move out of a personal email account, and step 6 is a simple scheduled reminder. Step 3 stays with a person because it's a decision about a person.
The free Workflow Mapping Canvas
Fill it in during your meeting, and load the example first if you'd like to see how it works. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere, and when you're done you can print it or save it as a PDF.
Tip: check the boxes under each step. Steps marked Retyped, Copy-paste or Reminder are usually the best ones to automate.
What to automate, and what to keep
- Copying form entries into a list or database
- Reminders and confirmations
- Status updates ("received," "scheduled")
- Moving files to the right folder
- A first draft for a person to check
- Decisions about who gets help, a role or money
- Anything sensitive, like safety or health concerns
- Exceptions and complaints
- Anything sent to the public without a check
Before you switch anything on, write down three things: who owns the automation, how to turn it off, and how you'll know if it stops working. Then measure the time it takes after a month, and compare it with your map.
What comes after the map
A map is the first step on a ladder, and you only climb to the next step when the one you're on is working.
Many nonprofits and charities stay at step 2 or 3 for a while, and that's fine. Connected, tidy information saves time on its own, and it's what makes automation and AI work later. If you're not sure where you are, try our readiness self-check.
Sources worth your time
- UK · Information Commissioner's OfficeData protection impact assessments →
Explains when you must do a DPIA and includes a sample template that asks you to describe how the data flows.
- US · National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNIST Privacy Framework →
A voluntary tool for managing privacy risk. Version 1.0 is the current one, and version 1.1 is still a draft.
- US · National Institute of Standards and Technology · 2023AI Risk Management Framework →
A voluntary framework for managing AI risk, with a separate profile that lists 12 risks that come with generative AI.
- UK · National Cyber Security CentreAI and cyber security: what you need to know →
Guidance written for boards and senior managers who need to understand the security side of AI.
- Nimara · free guideIs your nonprofit ready for AI? →
A 12-question self-check across rules, data, systems and people.
Questions people ask
What is a workflow map?
A simple written picture of how one piece of work gets done: where it starts and ends, each step, who does it, which tool they use and what information they touch. It can be a table, a whiteboard or our free canvas.
Which workflow should we map first?
Pick one that happens often, follows the same steps each time, and annoys the people who do it. Volunteer sign-ups, event registrations and intake forms are common first choices.
Do we need special software to map a workflow?
You don't. A whiteboard, a spreadsheet or our free canvas is enough, and the value comes from watching the real work and writing it down.
What's the difference between automation and AI?
Automation follows fixed rules, like "when a form comes in, add it to the spreadsheet," while AI makes a guess, like drafting a reply. Start with automation for the repeatable steps and add AI later, with a person checking its work.
Should we automate everything we can?
No, just the boring, repeatable steps. Keep decisions about people, sensitive situations and exceptions with a person, and make sure every automation has an owner and an off switch.
How do we know if automating it worked?
Write down how long the work takes before you start, then check again after a month. If it isn't saving time or it's causing new mistakes, change it or switch it off.
Want help with the map, or what comes next?
We help nonprofits and charities map one workflow, connect the tools they already use and automate the boring parts, with a person in charge of every decision about a person. Now, or when you're ready.
Book a Call →See Connected Systems
If you're starting on your own, write your AI rules first and then map one workflow with the canvas above.
Map it and fix it, then automate it.
Updated October 2026. All examples are fictional, and this guide is general information. It was written with AI assistance and reviewed by a person.
