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NationBuilder Zapier integrationAutomate NationBuilder with Zapier.

The NationBuilder Zapier integration gives you 11 triggers, 16 actions and 5 searches around people, donations, events, paths and memberships. Every trigger is checked on a timer, NationBuilder is not a premium app, and most actions want an ID.

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Overview

What the NationBuilder Zapier integration covers

The NationBuilder Zapier integration ties your NationBuilder nation to the rest of your tools. Zapier watches for new donations, people, events, RSVPs, tags and path changes, and it can create or update people, donations, events, memberships, notes and tags. Five searches find what already exists.

A donation log that keeps itself. New Donation and Updated Donation can feed a spreadsheet, one row per gift and a fresh row when one changes, so nobody waits for an export.

People who arrive from elsewhere. A form answer in another tool becomes a NationBuilder record through Create/Update Person. If the person already exists, the same action updates them instead of making a duplicate.

Tags your team hears about. New Tag Added to Person can post a message in your team chat tool each time a tag goes on a record, so nobody has to watch NationBuilder for it.

One habit to take from the first Zap: nearly every action asks for a Person ID, not an email. Search Person finds the record by email and hands it to the next step; check at the test that the Person ID is in what comes back.

What Zapier does not do here: no trigger fires instantly, since all eleven wait for the next check. There is no find-or-create option on the searches, and no action deletes a person, a donation or an event; the only removal is a tag. To weigh Zapier against other tools, see our n8n vs Zapier comparison.

Vocabulary

Zapier words in one minute

Eight terms come back across this page. Here they are once, in plain words.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time that event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it, here a donation, a person or an RSVP.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes, sends or changes something for you, like tagging a person.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. The number on your plan counts only those.
Polling trigger
A trigger Zapier checks on a timer: it asks the app for new items at a fixed interval and keeps only what it has not seen yet.
Instant trigger
A trigger the app reports itself, the moment the event happens. NationBuilder has none on Zapier: all eleven are polled.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when what arrived meets a condition you set, and stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists in an app, so the following steps can use what it found, like a Person ID.
Cost

What a NationBuilder Zap costs you

Zapier bills tasks, and only one thing counts as a task: an action that went through.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps, two steps each
  • Premium appNo, NationBuilder works on the free plan
  • Trigger checksFree, never billed
  • Failed actionNot counted

The trigger never costs anything, and neither do the checks Zapier runs on NationBuilder, however often they happen. Each successful action counts once, so a Zap that tags a person and then adds them to a list uses two. An action that fails is not counted. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and as many Zaps as you like, but each one stops at two steps. Add a filter, a second action or a search, the step that finds a person when you only have an email, and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. The grid shows how often the eleven polling triggers get checked.

Connect

Connect NationBuilder to Zapier in 3 steps

  1. 01

    Open the connection dialog

    Go to the Apps page of your Zapier account and click + Add connection. A dialog opens with a search box where every app Zapier supports can be found by name.

  2. 02

    Pick NationBuilder and add it

    Type NationBuilder in the search box, select it, then click Add connection. A new tab opens where you sign in to NationBuilder with the account that runs the nation you want to automate.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Give Zapier access to the account in that tab. You need a NationBuilder account, plus read or write access on anything you do not own yourself and want the Zap to touch. Every NationBuilder step then reuses this connection.

First Zap

Your first NationBuilder Zap

GoalWhen a tag is added to a person, tell your team in your chat tool, but only for the tag you care about.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    Start a new Zap, pick NationBuilder as the app that starts it and New Tag Added to Person as the event, then choose your NationBuilder connection.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent items of the account, so you can see which fields arrive and map them on a real one.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Click the plus icon, add Filter, then set the field, the rule and the value. A filter makes the Zap multi-step, so this step needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add the action

    Add your team chat tool as the action and map the fields that came from the trigger into the message. On the free plan, leave the filter out.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Run each step once and read what came back. When it looks right, click Publish. Tags added before that moment are not picked up.

Triggers

NationBuilder triggers

11 events start a Zap when something happens in NationBuilder. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

New Donation

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new donation is made.”

Starts your Zap each time a donation is made in your nation, with the donation details ready for the next steps.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
every gift should land in a spreadsheet without anyone exporting a report.
Watch out
changes to an existing donation are what Updated Donation is for. Check at the test which of the two fits your Zap.
2

New Event

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new event is created.”

Fires when a new event is created in NationBuilder, so whatever announces or lists your events elsewhere can pick it up.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
new events should appear in a shared calendar sheet or be posted to your team chat.
Watch out
an optional Include Page Details box adds the full site page attached to the event. Tick it only if a later step needs that page.
3

New Event RSVP

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new event RSVP is created.”

Reacts to each new RSVP to one of your events, which is the moment to confirm, count or follow up with the person.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
attendance lists kept in another tool should grow as people reply.
Watch out
two optional boxes, Include Event Page Details and Include Signup Details, add the event page and the person who replied. Tick them if the next step needs those fields.
4

New Page

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new page is created.”

Picks up each new page created on your NationBuilder site, so your content sheet or your team chat hears about it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a new page should be logged in a content sheet or announced in your team chat.
Watch out
check at the test step which page fields arrive before you build a message around them.
5

New Person

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new person or organization is added to the database.”

Despite its name, it covers both people and organizations: it fires when either is added to your database.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
each new person should be copied to your email tool or a tracking sheet.
Watch out
organizations come through too. If the next step only makes sense for people, add a filter, which needs a paid plan.
6

New Suggestion

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new suggestion is created.”

Fires when someone creates a new suggestion in NationBuilder, so ideas do not sit unread in a corner of your site.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
new suggestions should reach the team chat channel where someone reviews them.
Watch out
look at a real suggestion at the test step to see which fields you can pass on.
7

New Tag Added to Person

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new tag is added to a person or organization in NationBuilder.”

Starts a Zap when a tag is put on a person or an organization. Whatever a tag means in your nation, it becomes a starting point.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a given tag should lead to a message in your team chat or a row in a tracking sheet.
Watch out
it fires for every tag. To react to one tag only, add a filter, which needs a paid plan.
8

Search Events

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Finds events by their ID, name, page id or event id.”

An odd one in the trigger list: it carries a search name, and its official description only talks about finding events by ID, name, page ID or event ID. It says nothing about what makes it start a Zap.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
only once a test shows that what it brings back fits your Zap. For events as they are created, New Event is the trigger built for that.
Watch out
a search with the same name exists too. Check which one you picked, and verify at the test what it returns.
9

Updated Donation

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a donation has been updated (based on the updated_at timestamp in the donation).”

Watches for donations that have been changed, going by the update date NationBuilder stores on each donation.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
changes made to a donation should reach your spreadsheet too, not only its first version.
Watch out
it reacts to any change of that date. Check at the test what changed before you write anything back.
10

Updated Path Journey

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there is a change to a Path Journey (path step movement, etc.).”

Follows a person's journey along a path: when something changes, such as moving to another step, the Zap starts.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
your team chat should hear when a person moves along a path.
Watch out
the Path ID is required, and the trigger watches that one path only. Find the ID in NationBuilder before you start.
11

Updated Person

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a person or organization has been updated (based on the updated_at timestamp in the record).”

Reacts when a person or an organization has been updated, based on the update date stored on the record.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
another tool keeps a copy of your contacts and needs to follow changes made in NationBuilder.
Watch out
any update counts, whatever the field. A filter can narrow it down, on a paid plan.
Actions

NationBuilder actions

NationBuilder gives you 16 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add Person to List

Action

In Zapier“Adds people or organizations to a specified list.”

Puts a person or an organization on one of your lists.

When to use it
people who meet a condition in another tool should land on the list your team works from.
Watch out
List ID and Person ID are required. Search List can find the list ID by name.
2

Add Person to a Path

Action

In Zapier“Adds a person to a specific path.”

Starts a person on one of your paths, the paths you set up in NationBuilder.

When to use it
a tag, a form answer or a donation should open a follow-up journey for that person.
Watch out
Person ID and Path ID are both required.
3

Award Social Capital

Action

In Zapier“Awards social capital to a specified signup.”

Credits social capital to a person, using the amount you set.

When to use it
actions taken outside NationBuilder, like sharing or volunteering elsewhere, should still be credited.
Watch out
Person ID and Awarded Amount are required. The amount is a number, such as 10.
4

Enroll in Automation

Action

In Zapier“Enrolls a person in a specified automation.”

Enrolls a person in one of your NationBuilder automations, picked from a list.

When to use it
an event outside NationBuilder should start the sequence you already built inside it.
Watch out
the list shows each automation's status in brackets next to its name. Check it before you pick one.
5

Create Donation

Action

In Zapier“Create a new donation in your database.”

Records a new donation in your database, with the donor's name and the amount.

When to use it
gifts collected in a payment tool outside NationBuilder should still be logged there.
Watch out
six fields are required, including Private Donation, Payment Type Name and Send Donor Receipt. The amount takes cents, like 10.25.
6

Create Event

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new event in NationBuilder.”

Builds a new event on one of your NationBuilder sites, page and contact details included.

When to use it
events planned in a sheet should be published in NationBuilder without retyping them.
Watch out
eleven fields are required, from Site ID and Slug to start and end times and a contact email. Map them all before testing.
7

Create/Update Event RSVP

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new RSVP for an event in NationBuilder.”

Adds an RSVP to one of your events for a given person, with their name and email.

When to use it
people sign up for your event through a form elsewhere and should show up on the NationBuilder attendee list.
Watch out
Event Page ID, Email, First Name, Last Name and Attendee are required.
8

Create Logged Contact

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new logged contact in NationBuilder.”

Writes a contact into a person's history: who reached them, how, and with what result.

When to use it
calls or emails made in another tool should be visible on the NationBuilder profile.
Watch out
Person ID, Sender ID, Contact Status and Contact Method are all required. The sender is a person too, with an ID.
9

Add/Update Person Membership

Action

In Zapier“Adds a new membership type to a person in NationBuilder. If the person already has a membership of this type, it will update the existing membership.”

Gives a person a membership of a given type, or updates the one they already hold of that type.

When to use it
payments taken in another tool should start or renew memberships in NationBuilder.
Watch out
Membership Type ID, Person ID, Started At and Status are required. The start date uses a format like 2024-01-01T00:00:00-05:00.
10

Create Petition Signature

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new petition signature.”

Signs a petition on behalf of a person already in your database.

When to use it
signatures gathered outside NationBuilder should count on the petition there.
Watch out
Petition ID and Person ID are required and must be whole numbers. Two optional boxes decide privacy and autoresponses.
11

Create Private Note

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new private note for a person in NationBuilder.”

Adds a private note to a person's profile, signed by an author you choose.

When to use it
context gathered elsewhere, like a form comment, should sit on the record where your team will read it.
Watch out
Person ID, Author ID and Note Content are required.
12

Create/Update Person

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new person or organization in NationBuilder. If the person already exists, it will update the existing person.”

Creates a person or an organization from an email address. If that record already exists, it updates it instead.

When to use it
a form in another tool brings in supporters and you do not want duplicates.
Watch out
Email and Type are required. Type takes Person or Organization, written out or as 0 and 1.
13

Add Tag to Person

Action

In Zapier“Add a tag to a person or organization.”

Tags a person or an organization, so the rest of your NationBuilder setup can react to that tag.

When to use it
something that happened in another app should mark the record, for instance a purchase or an RSVP elsewhere.
Watch out
the Signup ID, the record's ID, is required.
14

Delete Tag From Person

Action

In Zapier“Delete a tag on the person or organization profile using the Person ID and Tag ID.”

Removes a tag from a person or organization profile. It is the only removal this integration offers.

When to use it
a status ended elsewhere and its tag should come off the record.
Watch out
both Person ID and Tag ID are required. Search Person Taggings can give you the tag ID.
15

Update Membership

Action

In Zapier“Updates an existing membership in NationBuilder.”

Changes an existing membership, identified by its own ID rather than by the person's.

When to use it
a membership already exists and its details should follow a change made elsewhere.
Watch out
the Membership ID is required. It is not the Person ID, so make sure the right one is mapped.
16

Update Path Journey

Action

In Zapier“Updates information about a Path Journey (status, step, etc.).”

Updates a person's journey on a path, such as their status or the step they are at.

When to use it
progress tracked in another tool should move the person along the path in NationBuilder.
Watch out
Person ID and Path ID are required. Search Path Participants can list who is on the path.
Searches

NationBuilder searches

5 search steps look for data that already exists in NationBuilder, so a later step can use it.

A search step finds something that already exists so the next steps can use it. With NationBuilder, that is mostly how you get the IDs the actions ask for. In the editor, searches sit at the bottom of the action-event list, under the SEARCH heading. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not clean.

1

Search Events

Search

In Zapier“Finds events by their ID, name, page id or event id.”

Finds an event by its ID, its name, its page ID or its event ID, and passes it on.

When to use it
a later step needs an event you only know by name. Check at the test which IDs come back with it.
Watch out
a trigger carries the same name. This one is the search, found under SEARCH in the action list.
2

Search List

Search

In Zapier“Searches for lists by name or ID and returns detailed list information. Partial name matching is supported.”

Looks up a list by name or ID and returns its details. Part of the name is enough.

When to use it
Add Person to List needs a List ID and you only know the list's name.
Watch out
partial matching can return several lists. Check the multiple-results setting.
3

Search Path Participants

Search

In Zapier“Search for all participants on a specific path.”

Returns the participants of a given path, for steps that need to know who is on it.

When to use it
before Update Path Journey, to work with people already on the path.
Watch out
the Path ID is required, and many results can come back at once.
4

Search Person

Search

In Zapier“Search for a person or organization by email address”

Finds a person or organization by email address and hands their record to the next steps. Check at the test that the Person ID is part of it.

When to use it
the step before only knows an email, and the action after it wants a Person ID.
Watch out
it searches by email only. Without an email in an earlier step, there is nothing to look for.
5

Search Person Taggings

Search

In Zapier“Search for person or organization tags by signup ID and/or tag ID.”

Finds the tags on a person or organization, by signup ID, by tag ID, or both.

When to use it
you need a Tag ID before Delete Tag From Person can remove it.
Watch out
check at the test what comes back when a person carries several tags.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap there and the dependent steps are skipped. Switched on, the Zap carries on without a result.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    On apps that offer it, ticking it turns the search into a find-or-create. None of the NationBuilder searches offers that variant in the editor.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several items match: keep the first one, which is the default, stop the Zap, or hand all of them on at once.
When it breaks

When a NationBuilder Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to NationBuilder, so the cases below are the general limits every Zap runs into.

Four cases are worth knowing before you publish. If a Zap stops doing what you expect, our Zapier troubleshooting guide is the place to start.

  • Past records are not picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you switch it on. People, donations and RSVPs from before stay where they are, and moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • A Zap that sets itself off

    A Zap that writes into the same place its own trigger watches can start itself again and again, and burn through your task count fast.

  • A sudden flood of records

    If a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after a bulk import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold the run back.

  • The same record, only once

    Zapier keeps track of what it has already seen on a polling trigger, so the same donation or person does not start the Zap twice.
Need help

Need help automating NationBuilder with Zapier?

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FAQ

NationBuilder Zapier integration: common questions

01Is the NationBuilder Zapier integration free?
Partly. NationBuilder is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan, which gives you 100 tasks a month and an unlimited number of Zaps. But each free Zap stops at two steps. New Donation into a spreadsheet fits. Most NationBuilder actions, though, want a Person ID, and when the earlier step only knows an email, getting it means a Search Person step first, which makes the Zap multi-step and needs a paid plan. So the five searches are never part of a free Zap.
02How many tasks does a NationBuilder Zap use?
One per action that succeeds, nothing for the trigger. Zapier can check NationBuilder for new donations or people as often as your plan allows, and none of those checks is billed. When the Zap runs, each action that completes counts once: tagging a person and adding them to a list is two tasks. An action that fails is not counted against your plan. The more actions a Zap carries, the faster the monthly count goes down, so count every action when you estimate your use.
03Does NationBuilder trigger Zaps in real time?
No. All eleven NationBuilder triggers are polling triggers: Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan. That is every 15 minutes on Free, every 2 on Professional, and every minute on Team and Enterprise. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor. There is no instant trigger for NationBuilder on Zapier, whichever event you pick. Zapier also keeps track of what it has already seen, so the same record does not start a Zap twice.
04What does it take to connect NationBuilder to Zapier?
A NationBuilder account, plus read or write access on anything you do not own yourself and want the Zap to touch. You add the connection from the Apps page of Zapier, sign in to NationBuilder in the tab that opens, then grant access. The connection itself asks for nothing else, but the actions do: have the IDs of your lists, paths and membership types at hand, or plan the searches that find them.
05Where does the Person ID come from in a NationBuilder Zap?
From an earlier step. Almost every action, from Add Person to List to Create Private Note, requires a Person ID rather than an email. If the Zap starts from a NationBuilder trigger such as New Person or New Tag Added to Person, check at the test step whether the ID travels with it. If it starts from another app that only knows an email, put Search Person before the action to find the record and pass the ID along.
06What if the NationBuilder operation you need is not there?
Then this integration does not offer it today. The NationBuilder app page on Zapier shows the current list of triggers, actions and searches, the same one you get in the editor. Some gaps stand out: no action deletes a person, a donation or an event, and no search has a find-or-create option. Before you plan a Zap, check that page, then build around the thirty-two operations that are really there, with a search wherever an action needs an ID.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for NationBuilder?
Choose on criteria, not on a ranking. Zapier's strengths here are breadth and guidance: thirty-two visible operations across people, donations, events, paths and memberships, and a guided connection. Its costs show up fast: polling only, and since most actions need a Person ID found by a search, many useful Zaps need a paid plan. For Make and n8n, ask whether they cover the NationBuilder operations you need and how they count each run.
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