Takeaways for Advancement Professionals from Salesforce Education Summit 2023

Our team at Heller Consulting was excited to sponsor the Salesforce Education Summit 2023. This was the first in-person Education Summit in three years, and it was great to be back together again with this community.

The conference featured a variety of topics around education technology. However, a big topic of discussion was the new Salesforce Education Cloud, which Salesforce announced earlier this year.

What does the new Education Cloud mean for advancement professionals?

If you’re a higher education advancement professional using (or considering moving to) an advancement solution built on Salesforce, you might not be sure what the new Education Cloud means for you. Some questions that seemed to be on advancements professionals’ minds at the conference include:

• What are the major changes with Salesforce Education Cloud?
• What does our team need to do if we’re already using an advancement solution built on Salesforce?
• What should we do if we’re considering a move to an advancement solution built on Salesforce?

Here are some key ideas to help you better understand the new Education Cloud and how it might impact your higher education advancement team:

• The Education Cloud has been reimagined – The new Education Cloud is a suite of technology solutions built for the education sector. The idea behind it is similar to the new Nonprofit Cloud in that, like nonprofit organizations, educational institutions will now be able to take advantage of features that other Industry Clouds on Salesforce have been able to use for years. This will provide better visibility into the student lifecycle and provide more accessible insights from the data in the system.
• A new structure for Education Cloud licensing – In the past, educational institutions would need to purchase individual packages – for example, for enrollment management, student services management, and/or student advisor management – separately. With the new Education Cloud, those organizations get education packages bundled together, with a set of functionality to management of a broad range of activities throughout the student lifecycle.
• Advancement solutions are separate from new Education Cloud at this time – An advancement solution is not included in the new Education Cloud. If your organization is using an advancement solution from the Salesforce ecosystem, such as the ascend solution for higher education advancement from UC Innovation, there’s no need to do anything at this time.

If you’re considering a move to an advancement solution from the Salesforce ecosystem, it can be helpful to work with a team like Heller Consulting to review your goals and determine what technology solutions are right for your needs.

Learn how you can use Salesforce to understand your donors better, anticipate alumni needs, and provide an outstanding experience for donors and alumni. Read the guide, Transforming Advancement and Fundraising in Higher Education with Salesforce.

Learn more about Salesforce solutions for higher education advancement

As Salesforce continues to make changes and improvements for their education industry solutions, the evolution can be confusing. Our team here at Heller Consulting is here to help you make sense of it all.

As a Salesforce implementation partner and a UC Innovation ascend implementation partner, we keep tabs on what’s happening in the Salesforce ecosystem. We can help you create a clear strategy for your organization’s technology as well as provide managed services to give you the level of help you need when you need it. Contact us today to get started.