Item: Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My nonprofit uses Salesforce for Nonprofits (currently NPSP 3, soon to be Lightning) to manage all donor information, including gifts, strategies, cultivation efforts, and more. We also use it on the program side for tracking student attendance, participation in events and programs, partner programs, school partners, and contact info/history. We use reporting to run mailing lists, invitations, and acknowledgment letters. We also use financial reporting to confirm quickbooks through integrations.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Broad information collection
Numerous integrations to common apps (Mailchimp, QuickBooks, GiveLively, etc.)

Cons

Not user friendly (Classic NPSP)
Reporting is easy once you know what you're doing

Return on Investment

N/A - Just starting to use it as much as is needed/possible

Alternatives Considered

Bloomerang, Salsa CRM and Fundraising Report Card

Salesforce is far more robust than these other tools, but it was built to be a sales platform and not specifically for nonprofits. Keep in mind that even the NPSP is built on a sales-style platform. The others are built specifically for nonprofit fundraising. My org chose Salesforce before I joined, but I continue to use it because of its vast functionality and the improved user experience I have seen in the Lightning experience.

Support Rating

Overall, support is very good. The caveat is that you must build a relationship with your account manager, and ask them for help before doing something major. Support is generally quick (w/in 24 hours) with fast response time during a conversation.

Key Insights

Do you think Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud's feature set?

Yes

Did Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud again?

Yes

Other Software Used

CrowdRise - GoFundMe, Stripe, OneCause

Likelihood to Recommend

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.

Comments

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Salesforce NPSP: Powerful, but not for faint of heart