Nonprofit Time Saver: How Apple Seeds Reclaims 50+ Hours/Week with Motion.io

The Problems They Wanted to Solve

Before Motion.io, the scheduling process for Apple Seeds' educational field trips was slow, disorganized, and heavily manual. Teachers had to sort through static lists of dates, and the team juggled endless email threads and calls just to confirm one visit.

"There was no single place for teachers to get everything they needed. We were updating spreadsheets, chasing email replies, and making phone calls through school secretaries just to find the right contact person."

Educators spent a significant amount of time coordinating logistics instead of focusing on delivering impactful programs to students. The disjointed communication created confusion and delays that threatened the team’s efficiency.

The Tools They Used Before Motion.io

Before implementing Motion.io, Apple Seeds relied on a basic toolkit of emails, spreadsheets, and manual workflows. Scheduling field trips was time-consuming and prone to error, with no way to track progress or keep all stakeholders in sync.

"Before Motion.io, everything was done manually. We kept a list of schools and would email them a long list of available dates and times for field trips. Once they replied—sometimes days later—we’d have to check our spreadsheet to see if their chosen slot was still open. If it wasn’t, we’d repeat the process all over again with an updated list."‍

This approach created a burden on the educator team, who had to manage scheduling and communication on top of delivering programs in the field.

"Our educator team is hired to deliver programming to schools—but they also handle the logistics of getting schools to the farm. Sometimes we’d have to go through a school secretary just to reach the right teacher. It was a lot of manual communication, and there wasn’t a single place where everything lived."

The Motion.io Solution

Brooke led a search for tech solutions and selected Motion.io for its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of use for educators and school partners. The platform addressed Apple Seeds’ core challenges by centralizing communication, automating scheduling, and removing friction for users.

Here’s how Motion.io has made an impact at Apple Seeds:

A Centralized Portal with Magic Links

Motion.io’s portal allows teachers to access everything they need in one place—without needing to remember logins. Teachers receive a personalized Magic Link that opens directly to their program page.

"Not having to manage another login is huge for teachers. They click the link in their email and instantly see what they need to do—it’s a total game-changer."

Brooke also highlighted the benefit of customizable content, which allows Apple Seeds to communicate clearly and consistently.

"We can design the portal to match our process and share exactly what schools need. It's simple, and it keeps everyone aligned."

Seamless Scheduling with Calendly Integration

With Calendly integrated into Motion.io, the team has streamlined booking from start to finish. When a teacher selects a slot, a Motion.io project is automatically created and assigned to the correct educators.

"We’ve automated as much as we can. When someone books, it triggers everything—project creation, team assignment, prep. It just works."

This automation ensures no steps are missed and that both internal and external stakeholders are always up to date.

Time Savings and Scalability

By removing manual coordination and automating client follow-ups Apple Seeds now saves approximately 10 hours per program—equivalent to dozens of hours each week. This has empowered the team to operate at full capacity and serve more schools than ever before.

"We’re saving 10 hours for every program we run. That’s massive when you’ve got 5–10 programs a week."

Filling more slots more quickly has helped Apple Seeds reach one of their key strategic goals for the year: fully utilizing the farm’s scheduling potential.

"This year, we wanted to hit the farm's full capacity. Thanks to Motion.io, not only did we increase the number of program slots—we filled them faster than ever before."

Ready to eliminate manual follow-ups like Apple Seeds?

Apple Seed’s success shows what’s possible when you remove friction from client communication, document collection, and scheduling. With Motion.io, your team can save hours each week and make every client touchpoint more efficient.

👉 Start using Motion.io for free or book a demo to see it in action.