10 Ways to Automate Basecamp with Zapier to Improve Your Business Operations, Fast

Basecamp is one of the most used collaborative tools available today. In addition to the standard Basecamp Classic version, the company has also released Basecamp 2 and 3, which can take your project management up another notch. With the classic version of this tool, which is what this guide will focus on, you can keep track of all your projects, to-do lists, milestones, and more. 

Free up time and space when you streamline everything through Basecamp Classic. You’ll find that it’s easy to organize projects and keep all the details together, including the people, the discussions, the documents, files, and more. You can use the tool to create unique projects just for certain teams, or you can use it to handle all of your project management needs. There are so many great features and things that you can do, and it gets even easier when you add the power of Zapier. 

Zapier is an automation tool. Its entire purpose is to make the rest of your business software and app library work smarter, not harder, so that you can get more done in less time. Zapier integrates with over 3,000 apps and gives you the chance to streamline so many routine, tedious, and detailed tasks that don’t really require the dedicated attention of a human. 

The Zapier platform also lets you customize your own integrations, thanks to an open API that goes along with the hundreds of pre-built triggers and workflows. There is so much out there to choose from, and you’ll have no trouble finding ways to put it to work. With Zapier and Basecamp, you can automate things like:

• Notifications and messages
• Tasks and to-do list items
• Milestones and project tracking
• Project management tasks
• Creating and duplicating projects or records
• And so much more!

Why should you automate?

For some, the case for automation practically makes itself. For others, it’s a battle of wills; some will straight-up refuse to get on board with automation just because they don’t like change, or they don’t feel that it’s necessary for their business. If you’re planning to survive in today’s competitive landscape, let alone thrive, automation is a must. There are several different benefits to be had, but the fact of the matter is that the benefit comes in streamlining your business operations and being able to improve things all-around. 

In case you’re still on the fence about automation, here are a few things to keep in mind. 

• Automation cuts costs. You can save a small fortune by automating your most repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Even something as simple as contact management, when automated, can save a ton of money and resources. Increasing profits without increasing sales is a great opportunity, and this is where you’ll find it. 

• Automation saves time. You have limited hours in a day and a to-do list a mile long. Your team is on a timeline, too. If you are capable of automating all the busywork, you’ll make more time for everything and everyone, including your customers that deserve your undivided attention. 

• When you automate, you improve quality and compliance. Not every improvement in business does this, but that’s where automation wins. With the automation tools available today, you can set tasks to take care of themselves and ensure that you always have the best processes in place. 

• Automation improves morale. Employees don’t like being treated like worker bees and robots. When you take the tedious details off their hands and give them back their time to do what they do best, you’re going to see an improvement in their attitude. Your entire company culture could shift just by embracing automation, if you do it right. 

• Companies that automate often find more potential for growth because they are saving time, money, and resources on other tasks that they used to have to do by hand. If you’re looking to improve your business and expand your success, automation is going to be a great investment in any form that you choose. 

No matter what your reasons might be, you’ll find plenty to consider when you’re looking into automation. This is just the tip of the iceberg. See how much smarter your business can run and how much better your tech stack will be when you embrace automation with the assistance of tools like Zapier. And if you want to work even smarter still, ask how the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can help. 

Now, let’s take a look at how Zapier can work with Basecamp and other software programs to create powerful workflows to improve your business operations. Although there are dozens of ways to automate these tools, the list below includes the most popular workflows. 

1. Share new messages from Basecamp on Slack    

If your team uses Slack to communicate and collaborate, you’ll find that this integration makes it even easier. No longer do you have to invest the effort to create and share your own messages on Slack when projects are ready or new messages come into Basecamp. Just set up this automation and whenever a message comes into Basecamp, Zapier will automatically create a message on Slack, either in a channel or by sending a notification to specific people on your team. You can even pick and choose which messages are sent to which teams or people, and more. 

2. Add Google Sheets rows as to-do items in Basecamp    

Google Sheets makes tracking things easy. You’ll find all kinds of workflows that can make things easier, too, including this one. You don’t have to worry about investing your time or effort in transferring projects or data from one software platform to another. With this automation, you can set it so that your Google Sheets rows are automatically turned into to-dos in your Basecamp platform whenever they’re created or modified. Then, you can spend your time getting back to the business that needs your attention. 

3. Create Trello cards for your Basecamp messages    

Basecamp makes project management easy, and Trello makes it even easier to collaborate and keep in touch. Although some teams use one or the other, there are several that benefit from using Basecamp and Trello together to keep things moving, keep everyone informed, and keep projects on track. With this automation, you can easily create Trello cards from Basecamp messages just by setting the automation in place. 

4. Create tasks in Asana from Basecamp to-dos    

Asana is another great project management platform, but it tends to have more of a sales focus. Nonetheless, transferring your tasks back and forth between all the software tools that you use is easier than ever with this integration. Take the time to see how Basecamp and Asana can work together to keep your teams organized, your projects streamlined, and so much more. With this automation, just set it up so that anytime a to-do is created in Basecamp, Zapier will also create a task in Asana to correspond with it. 

5. Create events in Google Calendar for Basecamp to-dos    

Google Calendar is one of the most-used calendar and scheduling tools available today. Although it’s pretty robust on its own, there’s a lot that it can do when you add the power of Zapier and automation. With Basecamp, you can set it up so that whenever a to-do is created in your project management system, a Google Calendar event is created as well. Zapier will do all the work and you’ll make sure that you never miss a meeting or appointment again. You can even set this up to create and share events with the entire team or just for yourself. 

6. Create Basecamp milestones for Wufoo Form entries      

Wufoo is a great tool to use for forms of all kinds, whether you’re collecting leads or just taking customer feedback surveys. If you’re using it for part of the sales pipeline or to complete a project, Wufoo submissions can be integrated with other tools so that you’re not transferring all of the information manually on your own. Simply setup the workflow so that whenever a form entry comes in from Wufoo, a milestone is created in Basecamp. Then, everyone will know what needs to happen next and you’ll never have to have someone constantly checking up on things. 

7. Create Basecamp to-dos from Gravity Forms submissions 

If you use Gravity Forms to collect information, you’ll find that there are several different workflows available here. The primary focus, of course, is on taking the manual work out of transferring data from your Gravity Forms entries to your various software platforms, including your project management solution. All you have to do is set up the integration and then whenever a form submission comes through Gravity Forms, Zapier will create a to-do in Basecamp to help keep everything running smoothly. You'll get more done with less work and your team will always be one step ahead of the game. 

8. Create to-do items in Basecamp from email    

With email by Zapier, you can get a lot more done in less time. If you don’t want to use your own email platform, or if you just prefer to embrace everything that Zapier has to offer, this tool is a great one to have on your side. With this workflow, you can easily have any emails that come through your Zapier email server “zapped” into a to-do item in your Basecamp platform. You can even assign them to specific people, post them to specific areas of the software, and so much more. 

9. Add to-dos from Basecamp as Jira Issues    

Jira is designed to make troubleshooting and bug fixing easy. If you’re using it along with the rest of your tech stack, there are several ways to integrate it so that it works smarter for you. With this particular workflow, you can take any to-do items that are created in Basecamp and automatically turn them into issues in Jira by letting Zapier do the work. This will allow you to keep track of all your tasks and make sure that bugs get fixed the right way, without having to check in or do the work yourself. 

10. Create GitHub issues with Basecamp to-do items    

GitHub helps you get more things done and track tasks easier, and you can do a lot more when you automate the tool and integrate it like you can with this Basecamp workflow. Use this automation and whenever you add a new to-do item to your Basecamp, Zapier will automatically turn it into an Issue in GitHub. If you’re a developer or you have a development team using Basecamp, this and related workflows are going to save you a lot of time and hassle. 

Take operations even further when you partner with Smith.ai 

We love automation and all that it offers. We also love being a part of what helps your business run better and more efficiently. When you hire our virtual receptionists, you’re getting a reputable, professional face for your brand that will handle all kinds of needs, from appointment scheduling and after-hours call answering to live website chat, and more. We’ll even help you create the ideal strategy so that you can field all of those needs, regardless of what you have in mind. 

Zapier is a tool that we love to use. We also love to share it because it makes it simple for everyone to create smart workflows between their business software platforms. And, it’s because of Zapier that Smith.ai can integrate with more than 3,000 apps and tools so every call, text, and chat gets logged properly, whether that’s in your CRM, your marketing automation tools, or anywhere else. 

Check out our apps to explore how we connect to Zapier! Learn more about Smith.ai’s Answering Service app on Zapier, and explore Smith.ai’s Website Chat app on Zapier.

Get the scoop by scheduling a consultation to discuss our 24/7 chat and phone answering solutions, which include new client intake, overflow and after-hours answering, and more. You’ll also find us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.