How We Automated 1,000+ Monthly Book Deliveries for a Faith-Based Nonprofit
If you’re running a mission-driven organization that juggles online donations, physical product fulfillment, and a growing donor base, this story is for you. One faith-based nonprofit came to us with a clear challenge: simplify how they deliver books to supporters, without overwhelming their team or switching systems. What we built for them might be exactly what you need next.
Juggling Donations, Orders, and Book Campaigns with a Small Team
Our client, let’s call her Kelly, was working with a church-affiliated nonprofit managing everything from fundraising to book distribution. They sold physical and digital books on WooCommerce and ran donor campaigns through GiveButter. Every donation or purchase triggered a book delivery, some one-offs, others bundled and recurring.
But the system behind it? Totally manual. Orders were tracked by email. Shipping data was updated by hand. Inventory was a guessing game. And the API from their print-on-demand provider, BookBaby, wasn’t public. As their campaigns grew, so did the complexity, and the stress.
From Chaos to Smart Automation in Just Weeks
Here’s what we built to transform Kelly’s workflow:
- Triggered Workflows: New WooCommerce orders or GiveButter donations now auto-trigger book printing via BookBaby.
- Real-Time Status Updates: Shipping numbers and order statuses are pulled in and sent to customers automatically.
- Inventory Management: Airtable became a central source of truth, tracking what’s in stock, what’s been shipped, and what donors already received.
- Bundle Creation: With Airtable’s relational fields, Kelly could easily assign multiple books to a single campaign without rework.
- Recurring Campaigns: Monthly donor gifts are now sent like clockwork, automatically and without duplicates.
“They were perpetual testers, careful with every step. But once they saw the automation in action, they were beyond happy and asked for even more,” said the developer.
What Changed for Kelly: Less Stress, More Impact
- Over 1,000 monthly recurring donations processed seamlessly
- Zero manual data entry for new or existing orders
- No more duplicate book shipments to donors
- Flexible enough to support one-off, bundled, or recurring campaign types
- Clear visibility of donor history and book inventory
In the End, It All Just Worked
Kelly’s team went from chasing emails to launching new campaigns with confidence. Their fulfillment flow now runs automatically, updating donors and syncing inventory in real-time. What once took hours now happens in seconds—freeing them to focus on what really matters: the mission.
Need support setting this up? We can help!
Transform your donation and fulfillment operations with seamless integration between WooCommerce, Givebutter, and Airtable. Let our experts help you build an automated system that handles thousands of orders effortlessly—book a call with us today!
