Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud

Salesforce.org Nonprofit cloud does really well to help all of our staff and faculty get more involved with our undergraduate and graduate admissions teams. They are able to collaborate very well and see all of the robust data that is collected in the CRM. This can be challenging for some less tech-savvy staff members but for the most part is a great platform that our admissions team really enjoys use.

Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud has been an overall positive experience. It's helped and supported many small and large non-profit organizations with consistency, transparency, and organization between external organizations and internal organizations.

We found Salesforce to be very user-friendly. Running reports and entering information.....all were easily learned and we have very little user error!

Salesforce for Nonprofits is the perfect tool for ALL nonprofits. It allows you to create a sales and customer focus in your fundraising which allows you to advance your mission! It could be less appropriate if you don't have someone that can ensure the accuracy of information on an ongoing basis.

We used several other nonprofit CRM packages before going to Salesforce. We weren't ready before then. It helps to have an understanding of databases and what it is you want to record and report on. Having data just to have data doesn't do anybody any good. Using other software, I knew what functionalities were missing for what we needed and we were able to customize Salesforce to get where we needed to go.

We used the volunteer management software for a couple of projects a few years ago but found it a bit clunky. It's been a couple of years so we will probably try it again to see if the user interface feels like a better fit for us.

I am very likely to recommend Salesforce for Nonprofits to most colleagues, however I may be more hesitant to recommend it to less tech savvy colleagues. While Salesforce for Nonprofits is incredibly powerful and useful for myself and for my organization, it is not always the most intuitive thing to work with.

For an organization to achieve a successful Salesforce implementation and adoption, a specialized staff member is generally required to steward and maintain the system, including keeping up with releases, offering end user training, meeting reporting requirements, and generally enhancing the system with new functionality and automation. Very small organizations frequently face challenges meeting this recommendation because they simply do not have the capacity to keep up with the demands of a Salesforce instance. Additionally, some of the Salesforce differentiators (like profiles, security, role hierarchy, custom page design etc) are simply not relevant to nonprofits that need most users to have the same experience and do not restrict access to records and fields. Therefore, my opinion is that Salesforce is best suited for mid-to-large nonprofits that can dedicate an entire staff position to database management and are willing to embrace a growth-mindset, as Salesforce is constantly evolving.

It is well suited for organizations that want a long term solution, a one-stop-shop for their entire nonprofit's data and database needs. It requires an internal champion and large buy-in from the staff. It should also be implemented by someone with experience, whether it's someone who's hired on or a consultant hired for the process. It may also require ongoing investment if you want to keep adapting it to your organization's changing needs. It is not recommended for organizations that do not have some budget to invest. It isn't as easy to simply spin up and start using with minimal training.

It is well suited to nonprofits needing a broad range of functionalities. For example, if you need donor tracking but also student tracking, Salesforce is a great option. You will always have more functions than you will need, but rarely will you be lacking one. For a small nonprofit, I would strongly recommend getting outside help to set up their Salesforce instance to their needs and to minimize any administrative functions needed, as it will take considerable time to manage Salesforce (less of an issue for larger nonprofits that can afford an in-house SF admin). If you do not need much functionality (for example, you just need to track donor information, giving, etc.) I would suggest something like Bloomerang, which is built specifically for nonprofit fundraising.

I think Salesforce is great any time you want to keep track of a large number of people and how they connect to your organization. This may not be great if you always work with the same 100 people and they are easy to keep a handle on or if you just don't have time to learn a fairly complex database. In that case, you may find a simpler system more worthwhile.

Salesforce for Nonprofits is a decent comprehensive CRM system, better than three others I have used (DonorPerfect, eTapestry/Blackbaud, and Aegis). For the most part, it is user-friendly (once you get past the setup/customization phase, which is actually rather difficult and involved and often requires working with a Salesforce professional) and allows you to visualize your client data in a streamlined way. However, I do think it needs work in its reporting functionality. If reporting was more customizable, I would really love this CRM.

We are a growing non-profit and I anticipate that the size of Salesforce will be very helpful for us in the future. Right now it is challenging for us and we put a lot of energy into understanding what feels like it should take less energy to do. If someone asked me if they should get Salesforce for non-profits and they were a smaller org that does not anticipate growing past $500,000 annual budget, I would advise them to choose a different platform.

Simply stated: Salesforce is scaleable. If you're looking for a solution that will grow with your nonprofit then Salesforce is the right one. As your database grows for donors and volunteers you need to be able to build on a structure that can support that growth. From native integrations to additional add-ons, Salesforce is your one-stop-shop for managing all your data so that you can effectively reach your audience.

Salesforce for Nonprofits is well suited for nonprofits who want to have the ability to deeply customize how their data is entered and how it is used. Because it's Salesforce, you have a ton of native functionality to work off of, but also can connect with a vast network of developers who can help customize it.

Salesforce for Nonprofits wouldn't be ideal for a small nonprofit that wants a turnkey database / fundraising solution, as it requires other applications to be installed and some customization.

It is great because you get all the power and functionality you can ever need and at an amazing price point. This can also be a problem as you can get overwhelmed with all the capabilities and get buried in the possibilities. You need a clear plan and clear requirements and stick to them. Once the system is up and running and your users are comfortable then you can look to improvements and changes but only once you have total buy-in.