Connect Zapier to create and update ThirdSectorBee records from other apps, and to start Zaps when something happens in ThirdSectorBee. Nothing is sent to Zapier until an administrator chooses which events it may send. For everything a Zap can do, see Zapier triggers and actions.
Before you start
- Zapier must be switched to Enabled on the Integrations overview. See enable a service first.
- The Zapier pages in ThirdSectorBee need
zapier:settings:change. Without it you’ll see “Permission needed”. - The person who connects Zapier needs
zapier:hooks:manageso that Zapier can switch Zaps on and off, plus the read and write permissions for the records their Zaps use. - A Zapier account.
Zapier adds no touchpoint types, payment methods or custom fields to your beehive.
Connect
The Connect tab summarises these steps.
- In Zapier, add the ThirdSectorBee app to a Zap and choose Sign in.
- ThirdSectorBee opens. Sign in if asked, choose the beehive Zapier may use, and choose Approve. The consent page lists the permissions Zapier will get in that beehive: only ones you hold yourself.
- Come back to the Events tab and turn on the events your Zaps need.
Zapier acts as you. A Zap can only read and change what you’re allowed to read and change in that beehive, and your permissions are checked again on every request, so changing your role changes what your Zaps can do straight away. If Zapier says the connection failed, check you hold zapier:hooks:manage.
To disconnect, remove the connection in Zapier, or ask an administrator to revoke it.
Choose which events Zapier can use
Open the Events tab and turn on the events your Zaps need, then choose Save changes (or Discard to undo). All events are off at first. The first time you turn one on you’re asked to confirm, in Before you send data to Zapier, that your organisation may share this data with Zapier and the services you connect in your Zaps. Choose I understand, save to continue.
ThirdSectorBee tells Zapier only that something happened: the record’s ID and which fields changed. Zapier then fetches the record using the access of the person who connected it, so a Zap never sees a record that person couldn’t open.
- Pause all sending stops every event without changing your choices. The page header shows Paused.
- Ignore events from imports and form submissions (on by default) stops a large import from starting thousands of Zaps. It also skips contacts created by Engage forms; turn it off if you want those.
- Turning off an event that live Zaps use asks you to confirm in Stop sending to live Zaps?, because those Zaps stop running.
Check your Zaps
The Zaps tab lists every Zap switched on and listening for ThirdSectorBee events: the Event, the Zap address, a Status of Active or Failing, and the Last delivery with the response Zapier gave. A Zap on an event you’ve turned off is marked “This event is turned off, so this Zap receives nothing.” Switch Zaps on and off in Zapier itself.
Things to know
- Changes are applied a moment after they’re accepted. A Zap that creates a record and updates it in the next step may need to wait a few seconds. Update and delete actions retry for you, but add a Delay step if a later step reports the record can’t be found.
- Delete means different things for different records. Memberships are cancelled, cases closed, programmes and membership types archived, and Gift Aid declarations cancelled, and the action is labelled that way.
- Gift Aid declarations need the donor’s name, address and consent evidence. Nothing is filled in for you.
- Children and deceased people are never reported. No contact event is sent to Zapier for a contact marked as a child or as deceased, including their deletion and tag changes. Contacts changed by an import aren’t reported either, because an import doesn’t record that information.
- The connection lasts until it’s revoked or unused for 90 days. Zapier renews it for you; if renewal fails, Zapier asks you to reconnect.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| “Permission needed” on the Zapier pages | You need zapier:settings:change |
| A Zap won’t turn on and says the event “has not been enabled for Zapier” | Turn the event on in Events |
| A Zap won’t turn on and says you don’t have permission | The person who connected Zapier needs the read permission for that kind of record |
| A Zap shows Failing on the Zaps tab | Check the Zap’s history in Zapier; the Last delivery shows the response it gave |
| A Zap stopped working | The connection may have been revoked or expired: reconnect in Zapier |
| A Zap doesn’t run for some records | The person who connected Zapier may not be allowed to read them; those events are skipped |
| No Zaps run after an import | Ignore events from imports and form submissions is on |