Episode 291: What to Automate First When Your Nonprofits To-Do List Is 3 Miles Long

Does your nonprofit to-do list feel endless?

Many nonprofit leaders are told to “just automate,” but when your task list keeps growing and everything feels urgent, automation itself can start to feel overwhelming. Instead of saving time, it becomes another project that never quite gets started.

In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly explains how to cut through the overwhelm and choose the right place to begin with automation.

The most common mistake nonprofit leaders make is trying to automate everything at once: the entire donor journey, the full event process, or every internal workflow. The result is stalled projects and even more frustration.

Tom shares a much simpler rule: automate the most repeated, low-value task first. Not the most strategic task — the most draining one.

Automation isn’t just about saving hours. It’s about reducing mental load. When your brain stops tracking repetitive tasks, clarity returns and your team has the energy to focus on strategy and impact.

Through a real example, Tom explains how one nonprofit team eliminated hours of repetitive work by automating simple donation confirmation emails they were previously typing dozens of times every week. The result was more time, improved morale, and a team that could finally focus on meaningful growth.

You’ll also learn another easy automation win: reporting. Instead of manually compiling weekly updates, leaders can automate simple summaries that provide clear insights without the copy-and-paste chaos.

If your organization feels buried under repetitive work, this episode will help you identify the simplest automation that can immediately reduce stress and create momentum for smarter systems.

📚 Grab your copy of Tom Kelly's book, The Million Dollar Nonprofit: https://ip.charityauctions.com/free-book-podcast