Automations handle the follow-through the moment something changes in your hiring pipeline. When an applicant applies, is assigned, or changes stage or status, Campminder can assign a team member, notify your team, or email or text the applicant.

You manage every automation on one page, whether you start from Staff Placement or from a pipeline.

Find Your Automations

Every automation lives on one page, so you can see what's running at a glance.

Navigate to Staff > Hiring > Staff Placement or Applicant Tracking System > and select the Automations button.

📋Note: You can additionally configure automations from a specific pipeline in the ATS

Review your list. Each rule shows its name, its number of triggers and actions, and an on/off toggle.
Use the buttons at the top right: Activity, Templates, Email Log, and + Add automation.

💡 Tip: Give each automation a clear name, such as "Interview Invite Email." The name is what you'll see in your list and in Activity.

Create an Automation

An automation has three parts: "When" something happens, "If" conditions are met, "Then" an action runs.

Click + Add automation.
Enter a Name. Add a Description to explain the rule to your team.

📋 Note: Rule is enabled is on by default. Switch it off if you want to build the rule now and turn it on later.
Under When, choose one trigger: Applicant Assigned, Applicant Unassigned, Applicant Applied, Applicant Stage Changed, or Applicant Status Changed.
Under If, click Add condition to limit when the rule runs, such as a specific pipeline or stage.
Under Then, click Add action (covered in the next section).
Click Create automation.

📋 Note: If a new automation conflicts with an existing one on the same stage, you'll see a warning that one may override the other. The earlier rule wins. You can save anyway, but check your existing automations first.

📋 Note: If you start from a stage inside a pipeline, the pipeline and stage are pre-filled for you. From the Automations page, nothing is pre-filled, so add conditions yourself.

🎯Try it now: Go to Staff Placement (ATS) > Automations, click + Add automation, and build a rule with the Applicant Stage Changed trigger. Come back once it's created.

Choose an Action

Under Then, click Add action and choose one: Assign User to Applicant, Send Email, Notify Users, or Send Text Message.

For Assign User to Applicant, select the team member to assign when the rule runs.
For Notify Users, select who receives the notification.

📋 Note: Notifications appear in the notification bell inside your Staff Hiring tools, not in the main CM Homepage notifications bell icon.
For Send Email or Send Text Message, choose a template and your recipients (covered in the next sections).
Add more actions to the same rule if you need them.

💡 Tip: Pair actions to save steps, such as assigning a user and notifying them in the same rule.

Templates

Templates are shared across your whole camp. Write a message once and reuse it in as many automations as you like.

Click the Templates link at the top right of the Automations page.
From this page, use the search box to find a template by name, or use the channel dropdown to show All channels, Email, or Text.
Click +Create template.

To create an email template:

Under Channel, choose Email.
Expand Sender details and complete them. [VERIFY: sender fields.]
Enter a Template Name and a Subject. Both are required.
Write your message in the Body. Use the toolbar for bold, italic, underline, and lists.

💡Tip: click on the gif below to enlarge
Add merge fields by clicking and dragging the chips under the body, or type {{ to pick one.
Click Create template.

Available merge fields: Recipient First Name, Last Name, and Email; Applicant First Name, Last Name, and Email; Pipeline Name; Stage Name; Status Name; and Assigned User First Name, Last Name, and Email.

💡 Tip: Name templates by purpose, such as "Interview Invite" or "Offer Follow-Up," so your team can find the right one quickly.

📋 Note: Editing a template changes every automation that uses it, starting with the next send. If two people edit the same template, the last save wins.

📋 Note: You can't delete a template while an automation uses it. Remove it from those automations first.

Text Messages

Automated texts are sent only to applicants who have opted in to texting on your application or interest form and have a valid mobile number.

Texts are available for U.S. and Canadian numbers only. The automation skips anyone who hasn't opted in, doesn't have a mobile number, or has a number that can't receive texts.

💡Tip: To reach more applicants by text, make sure your application or interest form includes the texting opt-in.

📋 Note: Every text ends with "Reply STOP to unsubscribe." Campminder adds this line automatically.

On the Templates page, click Create template and choose Sms as the channel.
Write your message and add merge fields for First Name and Last Name.

💡 Tip: Keep texts under 160 characters. The editor warns you when a message runs long.
In your automation, add a Send Text Message action and select the template.

📋 Note: Texting is a subscription feature. If your camp isn't set up for texting, Send Text Message appears in the action list but is unavailable. To turn it on, contact Campminder Support.
Choose your recipients.

📋 Note: Team members can't receive automated texts. To reach your team, use Send Email or Notify Users.
Click Create Template.

📋 Note: Replies don't come back to Campminder, so let applicants know how else to reach you, such as a phone number or email address in your text.

🎯Try it now: Go to Templates, create a short text template for applicants entering your Interview stage, and add it to an automation. Come back once it's saved.

Pause or Delete a Rule

📋 Note: Duplicating a pipeline copies its stages and statuses, not its automations. Rebuild your automations on the copy.

Find the rule in your Automations list.
Switch the toggle off to pause it, or on to resume it.
To remove a rule for good, click the trash icon.

💡 Tip: Pause rules instead of deleting them in the off season. You keep the setup and can turn it back on next year.

Activity

Activity records every time a rule fires.

Click Activity at the top right of the Automations page.
Use Status, Rule, and the From and To dates to narrow the list.
Review the columns: Rule, Status, What happened, and When.
Click on the status to open up a window with additional information.

💡Tip: click on the gif below to enlarge

📋 Note: A rule that ran shows Ran, with a summary of what it did, such as the number of recipients it texted or emailed. A rule that fired but took no action shows Skipped.

Email Log

The Email Log is a record of every automated email sent from your camp.

Click Email Log at the top right of the Automations page.
Type a recipient name, email address, or subject in the search bar.
Review the columns: Sent, Recipient, Subject, Template, Rule, Status, and Opened.

💡Tip: click on the image below to enlarge

🎯Try it now: Open Activity and find the last time your rule ran. Then open the Email Log and find the email it sent. Come back once you've found both.

🏕️ Camps in Action

A hiring coordinator built an automation that emailed and texted applicants the moment they entered the Interview stage.

A week later, an applicant said they never saw the email. She searched the Email Log for their address, saw the message listed as delivered, and replied with a quick note to check spam.

Before you move on, check yourself:

Can you explain what When, If, and Then each control in an automation?
Do you know how to create an email or text template and reuse it?
Could you use Activity and the Email Log to confirm what happened for one applicant?

Ready for the next step?

Applicant Tracking System: Build Pipelines, Move Applicants, and Prep for Placement build the pipelines and stages your automations run on
Staff Placement: Assign Positions, Place Staff, and Hire place and hire once applicants are ready

Staff Hiring Automations: Assign, Notify, Email, and Text as Applicants Move