In monday crm, am using a mirrored column from Donations to Donors for the Date of Last Donation. I am using a formula to calculate the days since last donation and assigning the donor to be “active”, “lapsed” or “inactive” based on the date since last donation. I would like to to email me or some type of alert when this changes so I can contact the donor. For example, when a donor moves from “active” to “lapsed” I would like to know. Because of the mirrored column and the formula, I can’t figure out a way to automate this.
Any suggestions? How do others keep track of donor status when mirroring from donations? I feel like this should be a built in function - Donation is entered and linked to a donor. Donor status changes based on the last donation date. Alert is given.
Hi, I’m new to Monday and use the free nonprofit CRM as well. I could be totally wrong, but if the automation is “when this date changes to X, change status to lapsed”, then you would create an additional automation just watching that status column on the donors board that would say “when status changes, notify me”. So the first automation has to run based on the formula date, and the second automation is only based on the status column in your donors board. Would that work?
You’re not doing anything wrong. This is a known limitation in monday.
Automations can’t trigger from Mirror or Formula columns, even when the logic updates correctly. That’s why the status change isn’t firing an alert.
The usual workaround is to add a helper Status column on the Donors board for Active Lapsed Inactive. Keep the formula for reference, but update the Status using something monday can listen to.
Two simple options:
When a donation is added or linked, update a regular Date column on the Donors board for Last Donation Date and drive the Status from that.
Or use Make or Zapier to update the Status directly when thresholds are crossed. Once the Status changes, notifications work as expected.
It should be native, but until then this pattern is what most CRM teams use.
Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Monday Wizard
Hello @LauraHTF
You’re very close, and the logic is solid. The only catch is that monday automations can’t trigger directly from formula or mirror columns.
What usually works is adding one extra step. Use a scheduled automation to write the formula result into a real Status column on the Donors board. Then your second automation “when status changes, notify me” will work exactly as you described.
So yes, conceptually you’re right. It just needs that handoff from formula to status first.
Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Monday Wizard
There isn’t a built in way to directly schedule a formula to write into a Status column. The usual options are using a recurring automation like “every day” to set the status based on date logic, or handling it with an integration or external automation tool if the rules are more complex.
If this is just a simple Active to Lapsed rule, a daily automation can work. If you have multiple thresholds, exceptions, or want it fully hands off, it usually needs a deeper setup.
If you’d like, this is something our team helps nonprofits with all the time. It might be easiest to hop on a quick call and look at your boards together so we can recommend the cleanest approach for your setup. You can schedule a seession with us here Calendly
Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Monday Wizard