The Automation module in Cornerstone offers two distinct categories of triggers:

1. Simple triggers

Simple triggers activate in response to modifications within the Cornerstone environment. These are immediate reactions to events and changes occurring with various objects.

Examples of simple triggers:

• Fundraising

  • Change in level of a recurring donation agreement
  • Gift received
  • Gift received from a recurring agreement
  • Gift registered manually
  • One-time gift received
  • Signup for recurring gift

• Learning

  • Course finished
  • Instructor assigned
  • Student enrolls in course
  • Test answered
  • Test passed or failed

• Membership

  • Membership registered

• Message

  • Inbound SMS

These triggers are initiated instantaneously when the corresponding event occurs in Cornerstone. However, it should be noted that object changes triggered by external sources might not be immediate. For instance, the Inbound SMS trigger: an SMS sent by a person first reaches an external gateway before being redirected to Cornerstone, which could introduce a delay of up to 30 seconds. Once Cornerstone receives the SMS, the trigger is immediately activated.

2. Calculated triggers

Calculated triggers are a bit more complex as they depend on events that necessitate additional calculations or are time-based.

Examples of calculated triggers:

• Fundraising

  • Failed recurring gift

• Learning

  • Course opens
  • Course stalled

• Membership

  • Membership ends in n days

• People

  • Birthday in n days

These events are analyzed daily for each room, usually at the start of the day.