Microsoft Planner & Automate: The Perfect Duo
Power Automate & Planner In a world of ever-increasing deadlines, content management, or a campaign for outreach. Sending emails tracking Todo's and keeping track of deliverables can be a daunting task. In a previous blog we talked about Microsoft Loop, a great tool for real-time collaboration and project management. Planner’s ease of use and intuitive design gives you many ways to view your project called a plan. You can build it from scratch or use many of the templates for the most relevant scenario. Power Automate is a cloud-based platform that allows you to run, schedule and create your own automated workflows. This can be very helpful if you need to see reminders, emails, notifications, and much more. Power Automate works seamlessly with Microsoft and third-party applications. Some flows are very easy to use. We will follow a scenario to learn how we can use a scheduled flow. Scenario An editor at Contoso. is responsible for managing the publication of blog posts. To streamline the process, they use Microsoft Planner to track the progress of each blog post and Power Automate to send scheduled summary emails. Creating The Planner Board Navigate to Microsoft 365 login at https://m365.cloud.microsoft.com. Sign in with your user credentials and authenticate with the Microsoft Authentication App. While you are signed in, navigate to the top-left corner of the App launcher (Grid icon), then select the planner app or use the search bar by typing “Planner.” Navigate to the bottom-left corner of the screen and click “New plan” then select “Basic.” The editor creates a new plan in Microsoft Planner called "Marketing Blog" or whatever you would like. Select the desired group from the dropdown menu, then click "Save" button. In the top left-hand menu, select "board" for the kanban view. Create buckets for different stages of the publication process by typing in the "Add a new bucket" area. Create the following buckets. "Backlog," "Final Draft," "Review," and "Published." Each blog post is added as a task in the relevant bucket. For example, a new blog post idea is added to the "Final Draft" bucket. Tasks to Accomplish Now that we have created the planner, let's assume the role of the editor. The editor must closely monitor the blog editorial calendar, which is represented by our Planner board. To streamline the process of tracking outstanding items and blockers, the editor should receive a scheduled summary of each bucket we have created. The editor will need to perform the following tasks The editor assigns tasks to team members responsible for drafting, editing, and reviewing the blog posts. The editor regularly updates the status of each task, moving them to the appropriate bucket as they progress through the stages. Lastly, the editor will receive a summary every Monday at 9:00 AM before the teams Morning standup meeting. You can tailor the time to your needs. Using Power Automate for Scheduled Summary Emails You can access Power Automate from the Microsoft 365 App Launcher, or directly by going to https://make.powerautomate.com/enviroments. Once you’re logged in: Click “Templates” on the left-hand panel. In the search bar above, type “Create a daily summary of Planner tasks by bucket.” Click on the corresponding card. The editor sets up a Power Automate flow to send a weekly summary email to the team. They create a scheduled cloud flow in Power Automate, specifying the start date, time, and frequency (e.g., every Monday at 9:00 AM). Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign into your “Planner” and “Office 365 Outlook” account then press the “continue” button. In the top tab click on the “Reoccurrence” card. Add the following information “Interval,” “Frequency,” “Time zone,” and “Start time.” For the time portion please use military time and the (Year-Month- 24T- 00:00) change the relevant time. Next add the “List buckets” by clicking on the corresponding card and entering the plan you created under “Parameters,” PlanId “Marketing Blog.” Next add the “List Tasks” add the PlanId again under the parameters. Then add your username or email address to the last card “Send an email.” Lastly save your flow. Testing the Flow It is recommended that you first test your flow. This is beneficial to flag any issues and the process and see how best to troubleshoot the flow. Note: Trigger: The event that starts automation. Actions: What happens after the trigger (e.g., creating or updating a Planner task). Next, click on the top-right ribbon and select the test button. You will see two options. However, the automatically test will be greyed out because there is no initial test. Click “Manually.” The flow is now listening for a trigger to perform an action. Just like the one we set up. Go to your Outlook email and see if you received the email. It may take some time to run. However, if an issue has occurred see if there is an issue with the flow. If the flow was successful, you should see an email like the one below. The Reviewing and Collaborating The editor reviews the summary email to ensure all tasks are on track and deadlines are met. They use the summary to identify any bottlenecks or tasks that require additional resources. The editor collaborates with the team to address any issues and ensure a smooth publication process. In Conclusion Automating tasks in Microsoft Planner with Power Automate can significantly reduce manual overhead and enhance team productivity. By leveraging triggers, conditions, and planned actions, you ensure tasks are created, tracked, and completed more efficiently. Whether it’s converting emails into tasks, updating task statuses, or sending reminders for approaching deadlines, harnessing the power of automation in Planner can transform the way you manage work. Hyperlinks Microsoft Planner for admins - Microsoft Planner | Microsoft Learn Templates | Microsoft Power Platform Power Automate Documentation Planner Templates on Power AutomateBattle of the Apps: Canvas vs. Model-Driven Apps in Power Apps
In the dynamic world of app development, Microsoft Power Platform offers two powerful approaches: Canvas apps and Model-Driven apps. Each has its unique strengths and use cases, making the choice between them crucial for developers and businesses alike. Let's dive into the battle of the apps and explore which one might be the best fit for your needs. What are Canvas Apps? Canvas apps are all about flexibility and customization. They allow Nonprofits to design the app's user interface from scratch, providing a blank canvas to place controls, images, and other elements wherever desired. You can also design the interface using available templates, providing you with a solid starting point. Key Features: Drag-and-Drop Interface: Easily design the app layout with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. Custom Logic: Implement custom business logic using Power Fx, a powerful formula language. Integration: Seamlessly integrate with various data sources, including SharePoint, SQL Server, and more. Responsive Design: Create apps that work on different devices, ensuring a consistent user experience. Use Cases: Field Service Apps: Perfect for mobile workers who need a customized interface to capture data on the go. Customer Engagement: Tailor the app to meet specific customer interaction needs, enhancing user satisfaction. What are Model-Driven Apps? Model-Driven apps focus on data and processes. They are built on top of Dataverse, leveraging a data-first approach. This means the app's design is driven by the underlying data model, ensuring consistency and standardization across the application. Key Features: Data-Centric: Automatically generate forms, views, and dashboards based on the data model. Business Processes: Implement complex business processes with built-in workflows and business rules. Security: Robust security model with role-based access control to protect sensitive data. Scalability: Easily scale the app as your business grows, thanks to the structured data model. Use Cases: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Ideal for managing complex business processes and data across the organization. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Streamline customer interactions and data management with a standardized approach. Choosing the Right App for Your Needs The choice between Canvas and Model-Driven apps depends on your specific requirements and goals. Here are some factors to consider: Customization vs. Standardization: If you need a highly customized user interface, Canvas apps are the way to go. For standardized, data-driven applications, Model-Driven apps are more suitable. Complexity of Business Processes: Model-Driven apps excel in handling complex business processes and workflows, while Canvas apps offer more flexibility for simpler, user-centric applications. Conclusion In the battle of Canvas vs. Model-Driven apps, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Each approach has its strengths and is best suited for different scenarios. By understanding your business needs and the capabilities of each app type, you can make an informed decision that maximizes the potential of Microsoft Power Platform. Additional Resources Overview of building canvas apps - Power Apps | Microsoft Learn Overview of building a model-driven app with Power Apps - Power Apps | Microsoft LearnMicrosoft Lists Integration with Power Automate
Discover Microsoft Lists Microsoft Lists, part of Microsoft 365, is ideal for nonprofits. This intuitive app helps organize information and streamline work processes effortlessly. With templates for event planning and asset management, it meets various team needs perfectly. Enter Power Automate Power Automate enables workflow automation, previously known as Microsoft Flow. It helps create automated workflows between applications and services, reducing repetitive tasks and focusing on strategic activities. Benefits of This Integration for My Nonprofit Nonprofits often grapple with limited resources and high demands. The integration of Microsoft Lists with Power Automate offers transformative benefits: Automate Routine Tasks Free up your team's valuable time by automating routine tasks like data entry, notifications, and approvals. For example, a new donor is added to a list, and Power Automate sends an instant thank-you email while updating your donor database—all automatically! Boost Collaboration Keep your team in sync with automated notifications and reminders. Everyone stays informed about project updates, deadlines, and responsibilities, ensuring flawless collaboration and minimizing the risk of missed tasks. Elevate Project Management Streamline your project management by creating workflows to track milestones, budgets, and deliverables. For instance, when a project milestone is reached, the workflow can notify the team and generate a status report, keeping everyone on the same page. Let’s Get Started! Ready to integrate Microsoft Lists with Power Automate? Here's a step-by-step guide to get you started, complete with real-world examples to showcase the benefits. Step 1: Create a List in Microsoft Lists Navigate to the Microsoft Lists app. Choose a template that suits your needs, like the "Issue Tracker" template. Customize the columns and fields according to your requirements. Step 2: Access Power Automate Go to the Power Automate application within your Microsoft 365 suite. Select "Create" from the navigation bar to start a new flow. Step 3: Choose a Trigger Select "When an item is created" as the trigger from Microsoft Lists. Connect to your Microsoft Lists account and select the list you created in Step 1. Step 4: Define Actions Add an action, such as "Send an email" from Outlook or "Create a task" in Microsoft Planner. Customize the action with relevant details, such as recipient email addresses and task descriptions. Step 5: Test and Activate the Flow Save your flow and test it by adding a new item to your Microsoft List. Check if the defined actions are executed correctly. Once satisfied, activate the flow to automate your process. Create a Flow for a List Microsoft Lists Overview Getting Started with Power AutomateCanvas Apps in PowerApps
Greetings to our Excellent non-profit organizations. In this article, we will give you an introduction of a method that helps you in developing applications with low-code experience called Canvas apps. Canvas apps are types of Power Apps which are a great tool for creating custom business applications in Microsoft PowerApps with low code or no code experiences. Power Apps is a set of low-code tools for building apps, workflows, AI bots, and data analytics that allows you to create modern applications from your data. With Canvas apps, you can create custom business apps that connect to your data stored either in the data platform, which is Microsoft Dataverse, or in various online data sources (such as Excell, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, and so on). The applications built with PowerApps are part of the Power Platform. Therefore, you can only run your application inside the official PowerApp. You cannot publish it on AppStore or PlayStore. Features of Canvas Apps Canvas applications can be run on multiple devices including mobile, desktop, and tablet. A canvas environment allows you to drag and drop elements to build custom applications. These elements can be formatted to design a user-friendly interface for the users. Canvas apps can be easy to use and become user-friendly for the users. Once you create an app with templates that would be easily customizable because it has easy drag-and-drop functions element. By embedding canvas apps in an iframe, you can integrate those apps into websites and other services, such as Power BI or SharePoint. Canvas Apps also provides role-based access and supports all platforms. So, it is easy to access. Now, you're going to create your first canvas app in Power Apps using data from an Excel table. To create your first canvas app, start by logging into the Power Apps with an admin account. Or if you don't have a license for Power Apps, you can sign up for free. Under Start from, select Excel. If you don't have a OneDrive for Business connection already, you'll be prompted to create. Select Create to create the connection. Select OneDrive for Business connection. Browse to the location where you have the Excel file. Under Choose a table, select the table. Run the app: Now that we have created our canvas app let’s run the app: To run the app, open “Preview” by pressing F5 (or by clicking or tapping the play icon near the upper-right corner Toggle the sort order by clicking or tapping the “sort” icon near the upper-right corner. Filter the list by typing or pasting one or more characters in the search box. Add a record by selecting the plus icon! Add the data that you desire, and then select the checkmark icon to save your changes. Regards,Build a Custom CRM in a Weekend Using Microsoft Power Platform
Introduction You don’t need a massive budget or a team of developers to build a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. With Microsoft Power Platform, you can create a tailored CRM solution for your organization in just a weekend—no code required. Whether you’re tracking donors, clients, volunteers, or stakeholders, this guide walks you through the process using Power Apps, Dataverse, and Power Automate. Tools You’ll Use Power Apps (Canvas App) Dataverse (or SharePoint Lists if you’re on a tight budget) Power Automate (for workflows) Optional: Power BI for reporting Step-by-Step Guide 1. Define Your Core Entities Think about what you need to track: Contacts, Organizations, Interactions, Opportunities? Create a quick list of fields (e.g., Name, Email, Status, Last Contacted) 2. Set Up Your Dataverse Tables Go to Power Apps > Tables > New Table Create your entities and fields (e.g., Contact table with columns for name, email, and relationship status) 3. Build a Canvas App Use the Power Apps Canvas App from blank Connect it to your Dataverse tables Add screens for: Home/Dashboard Contact list (Gallery) Contact details/edit form Add new contact 4. Automate with Power Automate Example flow: “When a new contact is added, send a welcome email” Add flows for reminders to follow up, or flag inactive contacts Check out this blog for an example power automate flow creation Streamlining Non-Profit Operations with Power Automate Templates (Video Tutorial Included) | Microsoft Community Hub 5. Test and Share Share the app with your team 6. Use Security Roles in Dataverse to Manage Access Once your CRM is ready, you’ll want to control who can view, edit, or manage different parts of the system. That’s where Dataverse security roles come in. Here’s how to set them up: 1. Go to the Power Platform Admin Center Visit https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com Select the environment where your CRM lives 2. Open Security Roles Navigate to Environments > [Your Environment] > Settings Under Users + Permissions, click Security roles 3. Create a New Role Click + New role Name it something like CRM_ReadOnly, CRM_Admin, or CRM_Contributor Click Create 4. Set Table Permissions In the role editor, go to the Core Records or Custom Entities tab For each table (e.g., Contacts, Interactions), set permissions: Read = Organization (for full visibility) Create/Edit/Delete = User or None, depending on the role Example: A read-only user would have Read = Organization, and all other permissions set to None 5. Assign the Role to Users Go to Users + Permissions > Users Select the user(s) you want to assign the role to Click Manage roles, check your new role, and click Save 6. Test It Out Have the user log in and confirm they can only access what they’re supposed to Pro Tips: You can assign multiple roles to a user—permissions are cumulative Use Teams in Dataverse to manage access for groups For sensitive fields (like donation amounts), use Field-level security Use Business Rules in Dataverse to add logic without code (e.g., auto-fill fields) Theme the app to match your org’s branding Version it: Save iterations as you go, especially before big changes Final Thoughts This type of solution is ideal for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets but don’t want the cost or complexity of traditional CRM tools. With the Power Platform, you’re in control of the features, experience, and data—and you can iterate fast.What’s Included with Microsoft’s Granted Offerings for Nonprofits?
Are you a nonprofit looking to boost your impact with cutting-edge technology? Microsoft is here to help! From free software licenses to guided technical documentation and support, this program offers a range of resources designed to empower your organization. In this blog, we’ll dive into the incredible tools and grants available to nonprofits through Microsoft, showing you how to make the most of these generous offerings. Whether you’re managing projects or just trying to simplify your day-to-day tasks, there’s something here for everyone. Let’s explore what’s possible!
