How to Use the Birthday Field for Sparkforge Workflows

By Sparkforge Support Team ·Last reviewed May 3, 2026

The Birthday field is a standard contact field in Sparkforge. Populate it from forms, imports, or the API, then build a workflow with the Birthday trigger to send SMS and email on, before, or after the date.

The Birthday field is a built-in contact field that captures month, day, and year. Once populated, it powers two things: birthday-based workflows and age-based Smart List filters.

How the Birthday field gets populated

Manual entry on the contact record.
Form submissions (when a Birthday field is on the form).
CSV import.
API integrations.

Build a birthday workflow

Step 1: configure the trigger

Go to Workflows > Create New Workflow.
Set the trigger to Birthday.
Pick the timing — on the birthday, a number of days before, or a number of days after.

Step 2: define actions

Send Email — personalized greeting or birthday offer.
Send SMS — short message or coupon code.
Assign Task — alert internal staff to follow up manually.

Example structure

Step	Action
1	Trigger on Birthday
2	Send Birthday SMS
3	Send Birthday Email
4	(Optional) Notify the internal team

Filter contacts by age in Smart Lists

Go to Contacts > Smart Lists.
Add a filter using the Birthday field's Age condition.
Pick the comparison.

Filter	Use case
Age greater than X	Target seniors aged 50+
Age less than X	Promotions for audiences under 25
Age between X and Y	Specific age groups, e.g. 30 to 40

Age is calculated dynamically from the current date, so a Smart List automatically updates as contacts cross thresholds.

Best practices

Capture the birthday early — include the field on lead capture forms so the data is there when you need it.
Use MM/DD/YYYY format — partial dates break age calculations and trigger timing.
Test before going live — set up a sample contact with a birthday a day or two out and confirm the workflow fires.
Mind the time zone — workflows can run on the contact's time zone if configured. A US-east contact and a Pacific contact will trigger at different absolute times.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
Birthday automation not triggering	Confirm the Birthday field is populated with a complete, correctly formatted date.
Wrong age calculated	Confirm the year is present and correct on the contact record.
SMS or email didn't send	Check workflow timing, the trigger configuration, and the contact's time zone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I trigger a workflow days before the birthday?

Yes. The Birthday trigger supports on, before, and after — pick the offset in days when you configure it.

What format should the date be in?

MM/DD/YYYY. A missing or malformed year breaks age calculation and may prevent the trigger from firing.

Does Smart List age filtering update automatically?

Yes. Age is computed from the current date each time the list runs, so contacts roll into or out of an age band as their birthdays pass.

Can I send only one channel — SMS or email — instead of both?

Yes. Workflow actions are independent. Add only the channels you want to send.

What if a contact's time zone is missing?

The workflow falls back to the account default time zone. Set contact time zones explicitly if exact send time matters.