Automations
Set it up.
Let it run.
Automations are Hustle’s built-in way to respond to or initiate conversation with your contacts automatically. The moment something happens, Hustle can text people, tag them, move them along, or end their journey, with no one at the keyboard.
Build a journey, one step at a time
- Start an automation when a keyword is texted in, a tag is applied, or when someone is added to a Group or Audience.
- Apply filters so only the right people continue. Use tags or Audience fields like role, event date, or registration status.
- Each step can send a message, add or remove tags, move people in or out of Groups, or update opt-out status.
- Initiate subsequent steps in your automation right away, after a delay, on a calendar date, or based on an Audience field.
- Exit criteria pulls people out the moment a condition is true, like when a contact is no longer active in a Group or a tag like “Already Donated” is applied.
Put your Audiences to work
- Kick off an automation the moment someone joins an Audience, several Audiences, or an entire Audience Category, including audiences you add later.
- Filter on Audience details, so only contacts whose role is “Team Captain” move past the first step.
- Branch or wait on an Audience field further down the automation, for example when a status changes.
- Schedule a step from a date on someone’s Audience record, like a reminder two days before their own event.
- Remove people automatically when they leave an Audience or their details no longer match.
Automate text-to-join, event reminders, GOTV, and year-end thank-yous
- Text-to-join: a “VOLUNTEER” keyword applies a tag, adds them to a Group, and sends your welcome script. Learn how to use Keywords and Automations for P2P texting
- Event reminders: welcome everyone who joins your Spring 5K audience with their personal fundraising link, then remind them two days before their event
- Multi-event programs: point one automation at your whole “2026 Walk/Run Events” Audience Category instead of rebuilding it for each walk or run
- Get out the vote: reminders at 8 weeks, 4 weeks, and 1 day out, each with the contact’s own polling place, that stop when you record their vote. From Hustle’s 2026 Text Out the Vote Guide
- Year-end fundraising: a personalized thank-you the moment you record a gift, while donors who gave already drop out of every remaining ask. From Hustle’s 2026 End-of-Year Fundraising Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
- Yes. In Hustle, you build journeys with Automations. Start one when a keyword is texted in, a tag is applied, or someone joins a Group or Audience, then add filters, timed steps, and exit criteria. Hustle runs it for every contact who qualifies.
- A keyword texted in, a tag being applied, a contact being added to a Group, or a contact joining an Audience or Audience Category. Read more in Introducing Hustle Audiences and Automations.
- Yes. List several audiences on its trigger, or point it at an entire Audience Category so it also covers any audience added to that category later.
- No. Joining an Audience or an Audience Category is its own way to start an automation, and it doesn’t need a keyword or Group alongside it.
- The Automation reacts right away. It can branch a later step on the new value, recalculate a wait time tied to that field, or apply exit criteria and remove them, without waiting for the next scheduled check.
- No. Automations are event-triggered journeys that run continuously in the background. Broadcast and Dialer Goals are separate, campaign-style sends you launch yourself.
- Add a new automation, choose what starts it, add optional filters, build out the steps and any wait times, set exit criteria, then publish it to the phone numbers you want it to run on. For step-by-step instructions, see How do I use Keywords and Automations? and How do I use Audiences? in the Hustle Help Center or contact your Client Success Manager.
Get Results
Hustle gets it done.
See how organizations of every kind, from big brands and universities to unions and advocacy groups, drive results with Hustle.
Jennifer Saldana
Lead Digital Organizer
SEIU-UHW
“I like that I can easily set up campaigns on Hustle and know who sent what when.”
Read their story
Adrienne Lever
Director of Public Engagement Unit
Mayor’s People Engagement Unit New York City
“Peer-to-peer texting allowed us to efficiently scale outreach while providing personalized support that connected more New Yorkers to services.”
Read their stories
Taylor Beard
Associate Director of Direct Response Fundraising
KQED
“We've used Hustle successfully to start personalized conversations for both fundraising campaigns and general audience engagement.”
Read their story
Lauren Griffith
Director of Engagement and Annual Philanthropy
Jacksonville University, Advancement Office
“People couldn't believe how thoughtful we were to reach out by texting.”
Read their story
Lauren Smith
Senior Associate Director, Marketing & Participation
Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences & Engineering
“Hustle allows us to provide more of a VIP experience for the alum.”
Read their story
Bryan Wendell
Director of Communications
USA Fencing
“The texting channel gave us a level of directness and urgency that email couldn't match, and it required a fraction of the production time our email builds do.”
Read their story
Jordan Day
Campaign Manager
Xay for Rhode Island
“I love a company that sets realistic expectations, communicates them, and then exceeds them. Keep up the amazing work.”
Read their story