How does Salesforce support nonprofits?

Although Salesforce might not be the first thing you associate with nonprofits, the benefits it offers to such organisations are becoming increasingly well recognised.

From British Red Cross to Homeless Link, Salesforce is helping nonprofits across the globe achieve their missions in their own inspirational way.

Isn't Salesforce too expensive for a nonprofit?

It’s no secret that Salesforce can be pricey – but it is the number one CRM. One reason why Salesforce is a world leader is its unfaltering commitment to philanthropy, which was confirmed by the swift creation of a whole Cloud designed solely for nonprofit customers in 2018. What’s more, up to 10 Salesforce Enterprise Edition licenses are free of charge and generous discounts on training, events and further subscriptions are also available – giving nonprofits nearly £20,000 worth of yearly services for free thanks to the Power of Us Program. Sure, there might still be cheaper CRM solutions out there, but how many of them have a whole suite of features specifically designed to support nonprofit activities?

What is the Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud?

The Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud was specifically made by Salesforce.org to support the daily activities of nonprofits, giving them access to disruptive Salesforce technology without frittering away their budgets.

It encompasses all the crucial Salesforce products but with a greater focus on Engagement, Fundraising and Program Management activities by including specific products. More than 40,000 nonprofits currently use the Nonprofit Cloud and a significant portion of them do so because they were attracted to the benefits of the Nonprofit Success Pack.

The Nonprofit Success Pack

The NonProfit Success Pack is a specific product under the Nonprofit Cloud.

It is an ‘out of the box’ pre configured set of applications tailored to help Salesforce-newbie nonprofits get started with the platform quickly. It includes custom components like Households and Donations rather than standard Accounts, Contacts and Opportunities found in the Sales Cloud. Constituents are at the heart of most nonprofit work, so consequently a lot of NPSP features revolve around engagement and data organisation – which aligns perfectly with the main purpose of CRM.

Some features of the Nonprofit Success Pack include:

Donor and constituent management
Donation and fundraising tracking (including tools for setting up recurring donations)
Mobile access
Engagement management
Overview of reports and enhanced analytics (through a pre-built, customisable dashboard)

How is Salesforce technology used in nonprofits?

The very basic purpose of CRM systems could be an urgent saviour for nonprofits, regardless of their industry. Enhanced constituent data insights, easier company-wide communication and the automation of daily processes are all features that support the overall mission of nonprofits – and make it easier for them to achieve noticeable results.

Most commonly, we see nonprofits using Salesforce to track interactions with volunteers or donors from one shared system. This data can also be used for personalised marketing, through tools available on Salesforce, so that you can maintain engagement and build deeper relationships with constituents. Say you host an awareness event or carry out fundraising activities, the Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud provides a 360-degree view of what is going on across the organisation – and you don’t need a technical team to help you get set up.

Nonprofits using Salesforce - the results:

Why is Salesforce popular amongst nonprofits?

According to Salesforce, 76% of nonprofits feel that Salesforce is ‘making it easier for them to do their jobs’ and have seen a 24% increase in donor retention. Furthermore, 96% of nonprofit respondents from the same survey see potential for innovation with Salesforce, which is where partners like us come in to customise clouds to meet niche requirements.

The nonprofits Sandyx have helped see the potential in Salesforce

One of our biggest nonprofit projects is the work we carried out for Insight Healthcare, which are a part of Concern Group. The team were incredibly satisfied with our service, which involved developing a savvy calendar booking system for them which allows patients and practitioners to schedule appointments from the Salesforce platform.

How we can help

If you would like to discuss any aspects of the topics discussed in this article, or understand how Salesforce can help your business, then please get in touch. You can also ring us directly, on 0161 710 3250.

You could be our next big success story, maybe even a nonprofit success story too!