---
schema_version: "1"
id: b54b761f81cfa1f390bf9cb4f40683b6a40b2b77419c178e28a305baab4db017
title: Phone and Email Workflow Rules
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/sfdo/264-0-0/npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 92bc6a4ab4e43b667645a4b5b71462dbe31752042f9a74775aae80bec1ce7df9
description: This article provides more information about the phone and email workflow rules that come with the Nonprofit Success Pack.
products:
  - Nonprofit
release: "264"
---
# Phone and Email Workflow Rules

This article provides more information about the phone and email workflow rules that come with the Nonprofit Success Pack.

- **[Overview](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    In Salesforce, a workflow rule causes certain actions to happen, when certain criteria are met. For example, the Contact.EmailChanged\_Work workflow rules tells Salesforce to fill in the Work Email field with the value in the standard email field, every time you change or enter a standard email for a new or existing Contact. The Nonprofit Success Pack comes with a number of workflow rules, which you can adjust or disable to your liking.
- **[Where to Find Workflow Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Find NPSP email workflow rules in Setup.
- **[Email and Phone Fields and Workflow Rules for NPSP](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    If your organization uses the custom NPSP phone and email fields, these workflow rules enforce your organization's business rules and help you to maintain consistent data.
- **[Workflow Rule Considerations](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Things to keep in mind when using NPSP email and phone workflow rules.

## Overview

In Salesforce, a workflow rule causes certain actions to happen, when certain criteria are met. For example, the Contact.EmailChanged\_Work workflow rules tells Salesforce to fill in the Work Email field with the value in the standard email field, every time you change or enter a standard email for a new or existing Contact. The Nonprofit Success Pack comes with a number of workflow rules, which you can adjust or disable to your liking.

## Where to Find Workflow Rules

Find NPSP email workflow rules in Setup.

1. Click ![Setup](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-sfdo-nonprofit_success_pack-264-0-0-production-enus/bd2879e2-2bdc-4012-aa32-dc0c697c4538/resources-product/images/setup.png), then click **Setup**.
2. From Setup, enter Workflow Rules in the Quick Find box, then select **Workflow Rules**.
3. Read the "What is Workflow" page if you haven't ever done that before!
4. Click **Continue**. You will see a list of all workflow rules in your Salesforce org.
5. Click on the rule name to see the rule detail and related workflow actions.

For more information about workflow rules, see [Workflow](https://help.salesforce.com/apex/htviewhelpdoc?id=customize_wf.htm&language=en_US) and [Create a Workflow Rule](https://help.salesforce.com/apex/htviewhelpdoc?id=workflow_rules_new.htm&language=en_US) in the Salesforce Help & Training.

## Email and Phone Fields and Workflow Rules for NPSP

If your organization uses the custom NPSP phone and email fields, these workflow rules enforce your organization's business rules and help you to maintain consistent data.

- **[NPSP Custom Fields Used in Workflow Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Learn about the NPSP fields that are used in workflow rules.
- **[Email Workflow Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Learn about the NPSP workflow rules for managing email addresses.
- **[Phone Workflow Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.npsp_phone_and_email_workflow_rules.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Learn about the NPSP workflow rules for managing phone numbers.

### NPSP Custom Fields Used in Workflow Rules

Learn about the NPSP fields that are used in workflow rules.

- **Preferred Phone** - Picklist field used to identify the phone number preferred by this Contact; home, work, mobile or other. The standard Phone field is updated with the preferred phone number.
- **Home Phone** - Phone number field for the Contact's home phone number.
- **Work Phone** - Phone number field for the Contact's work phone number.
- **Mobile Phone** - Phone number field for the Contact's mobile phone number.
- **Other Phone** - Phone number field for an additional phone number for the Contact.
- **Preferred Email** - Picklist field used to identify the email address preferred by this Contact; personal, work, or alternate.
- **Personal Email** - Email field for the Contact's personal email address.
- **Work Email** - Email field for the Contact's work email address.
- **Alternate Email** - Email field for an additional email address for this Contact.

### Email Workflow Rules

Learn about the NPSP workflow rules for managing email addresses.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
            <colgroup>
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
            </colgroup>
            <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
              <tr class="">
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e293">
                  <strong>Workflow Rule</strong>
                </th>
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e299">
                  <strong>Description</strong>
                </th>
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e305">
                  <strong>When Run/Evaluated</strong>
                </th>
              </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e293 ">Contact.EmailChanged_Alternate</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e299 ">If the standard Email field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Email picklist is set to Alternate THEN <span id="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-8cace8a7-17af-4f2a-b3d5-d78df033a6be"><a name="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-8cace8a7-17af-4f2a-b3d5-d78df033a6be"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Alternate Email field with the email address entered in the standard Email field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e305 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e293 ">Contact.EmailChanged_Personal</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e299 ">If the standard Email field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Email picklist is set to Personal or Home THEN <span id="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-d953c21b-4889-44db-a7d1-2286350d47f5"><a name="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-d953c21b-4889-44db-a7d1-2286350d47f5"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Personal Email field with the email address entered in the standard Email field</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e305 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e293 ">Contact.EmailChanged_Work</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e299 ">If the standard Email field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Email picklist is set to Work THEN <span id="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-97d1fd5e-050b-4c9c-8596-10e087d579eb"><a name="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-97d1fd5e-050b-4c9c-8596-10e087d579eb"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Work Email field with the email address entered in the standard Email field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e305 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e293 ">Contact.Preferred_Email__c</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e299 ">This workflow OVERWRITES the existing value in the standard Email field based on the Preferred Email field value, and on which custom email fields are populated.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e305 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e293 ">Email only: Paste to Work</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e299 ">If there is a value in the standard Email field AND no values in any <span id="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-d5efb476-9679-471f-9360-74d48973b76c"><a name="npsp_email_workflow_rules__guid-d5efb476-9679-471f-9360-74d48973b76c"><!-- --></a>NPSP</span> email fields (Personal, Work or Alternate) AND there is no value selected in the Preferred Email picklist, this Workflow updates two fields: Work Email is updated with the email address in the standard Email field and Preferred Email is set to Work.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e305 ">Evaluate the rule when a contact is created, and any time it's edited to subsequently meet the criteria.</td>

              </tr>
            </tbody>
          </table>

### Phone Workflow Rules

Learn about the NPSP workflow rules for managing phone numbers.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
            <colgroup>
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
              <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
            </colgroup>
            <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
              <tr class="">
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e426">
                  <strong>Workflow Rule</strong>
                </th>
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e432">
                  <strong>Description</strong>
                </th>
                <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d59128e438">
                  <strong>When Run/Evaluated</strong>
                </th>
              </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Contact.PhoneChanged_Home</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">If the standard Phone field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Phone picklist is set to Home THEN <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-8cace8a7-17af-4f2a-b3d5-d78df033a6be"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-8cace8a7-17af-4f2a-b3d5-d78df033a6be"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Home Phone field with the phone number entered in the standard Phone field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Contact.PhoneChanged_Mobile</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">If the standard Phone field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Phone picklist is set to Mobile THEN <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-1005d513-c266-432b-be10-cb7292d33d80"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-1005d513-c266-432b-be10-cb7292d33d80"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Mobile Phone field with the phone number entered in the standard Phone field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Contact.PhoneChanged_Other</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">If the standard Phone field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Phone picklist is set to Other THEN <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-5c7bece9-3343-42d7-a491-128f50df5c98"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-5c7bece9-3343-42d7-a491-128f50df5c98"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Other Phone field with the phone number entered in the standard Phone field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Contact.PhoneChanged_Work</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">If the standard Phone field is newly entered or changed AND the Preferred Phone picklist is set to Work THEN <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-3c34aaf4-3a02-4032-9c17-46208cd4b19a"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-3c34aaf4-3a02-4032-9c17-46208cd4b19a"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> will fill in the Work Phone field with the phone number entered in the standard Phone field.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Contact.Preferred_Phone__c</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">This workflow OVERWRITES the existing value in the standard Phone field based on the Preferred Phone field value.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">When a contact is created, and every time it's edited.</td>

              </tr>
              <tr class="">
                <td data-label="Workflow Rule" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e426 ">Phone only: Paste to Work</td>

                <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e432 ">If there is a value in the standard Phone field AND no values in any of the <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-d5efb476-9679-471f-9360-74d48973b76c"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-d5efb476-9679-471f-9360-74d48973b76c"><!-- --></a>NPSP</span> phone fields (Home, Work, Mobile or Other) AND there is no value selected in the Preferred Phone picklist, <span id="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-511dbbd3-4d84-4b73-bb57-a15e7169cc9d"><a name="npsp_phone_workflow_rules__guid-511dbbd3-4d84-4b73-bb57-a15e7169cc9d"><!-- --></a>Salesforce</span> updates two fields: Work Phone is updated with the phone number in the standard Phone field and Preferred Phone is set to Work.</td>

                <td data-label="When Run/Evaluated" class="slds-cell-wrap" rowspan="1" colspan="1" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d59128e438 ">Evaluate the rule when a contact is created, and any time it's edited to subsequently meet the criteria.</td>

              </tr>
            </tbody>
          </table>

## Workflow Rule Considerations

Things to keep in mind when using NPSP email and phone workflow rules.

- If you are setting the standard **Email** field via import or a third party app, the NPSP **Email only: Paste to Work** workflow keeps the standard **Email** field in sync with the NPSP custom fields.
- If you are using only the standard Email and Phone fields and removed the NPSP custom fields from your page layouts (i.e., they are not in use), it does no harm to leave the workflow rules activated. You can simply ignore them. In fact, it may help to keep them active in case you change your process in the future and/or your third party email marketing tool interfaces with these fields.