Microsoft fundraising choices for nonprofits
In the ever-evolving landscape of nonprofit technology, Heller Consulting has been at the forefront of leading nonprofits through the adoption of innovative fundraising solutions tailored to their unique needs.
The robust capabilities of the Microsoft environment offer nonprofits a comprehensive approach to support their fundraising workflows. Whether nonprofits leverage product solutions built on top of the Microsoft platform or Heller Consulting’s fundraising Accelerators for a customized environment, Heller has the expertise to lead your next enterprise technology adoption effort for your fundraising needs.
The evolution of Microsoft fundraising solutions
Microsoft Dynamics has long been a staple in the nonprofit sector, offering a powerful platform for managing various aspects of nonprofit operations, including fundraising. However, nonprofits had to invest in customizing the core Microsoft platform solutions to meet their unique business needs. This often meant only the most technically sophisticated and well-funded nonprofits could invest in the development of the business applications they needed on the Microsoft Platform. Fortunately, the landscape has shifted significantly over the past few years.
The Technology for Social Impact program, launched a handful of years ago, touted a suite nonprofit-specific business applications built leveraging key Microsoft solutions. Collectively these solutions were known as the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofits. This solution set included the fundraising specific business application, Fundraising and Engagement. Conceptually similar to Salesforce’s Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), it provided a package of fundraising functionalities, in this case built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform and powered by the Nonprofit Common Data Model.
In a surprising move, Microsoft announced last year that it would be sunsetting the Fundraising and Engagement solution. This decision mirrored Salesforce’s transition from NPSP to the Nonprofit Cloud, focusing on leveraging the core platform technology rather than a managed package. The benefits of this new approach are clear, allowing customers to leverage Microsoft provided templates that are closer to the underlying platform, making future updates and adoption of roadmap features easier. However, it has also meant organizations looking to leverage Microsoft have even more options to consider within the fundraising solution landscape and nonprofits who had already adopted Fundraising and Engagement need to determine what their migration pathway will be.
Microsoft fundraising considerations for nonprofits
While the Microsoft environment offers numerous benefits, it may not be the right fit for every organization. Nonprofits that do not already use Microsoft for their back-office operations or lack internal IT expertise may find the transition challenging. For these organizations, solutions like Salesforce may be more attractive because they require less internal IT infrastructure.
Platforms including Mission CRM and Stratus Live also provide packaged fundraising solutions built on Dynamics. These solutions offer different levels of customization and integration with the core platform. Some organizations find this approach to be the right balance between having a vendor provided and supported solution while still leveraging Microsoft infrastructure and functionality.
Some agencies, primarily operating in Europe and Australia, have developed their own solutions on top of Microsoft Dynamics. While we have not seen these solutions gain adoption with North American nonprofits, we are monitoring how well these solutions serve the market. We are also monitoring to see if any US agencies build their own solutions. While we do not anticipate any of these solutions to be full products, nonprofits may benefit and Heller is watching the market.
Heller Accelerators for Microsoft fundraising success
Despite the changes, many Heller clients have remained committed to the Microsoft platform. The underlying technology and value proposition of Dynamics continue to be compelling reasons for nonprofits to choose Microsoft. For nonprofits familiar with the Microsoft ecosystem, the interoperability with other Microsoft solutions makes it a compelling choice.
A Heller client is set to launch their new fundraising solution in March, leveraging the core Dynamics platform with our Accelerators, which are customizations that build out common nonprofit functionalities more efficiently. For instance, Heller has created templates for managing soft credits, which can be customized for each client, speeding up the implementation process.
The 2025 nonprofit outlook
For organizations that have not yet adopted a Microsoft solution for its fundraising needs, Heller continues to recommend the platform be evaluated as part of an organization’s selection process. We anticipate many organizations will find the platform’s extensibility to be a compelling alternative to Salesforce and more robust than most other fundraising CRM products.
For organizations that have previously adopted Fundraising and Engagement, they must be mindful of the product sunset. We recommend they determine their migration path within the coming year to ensure they have enough time to execute their migration. These organizations will likely find that the underlying reasons they selected a Microsoft solution to continue to be the case. These organizations should look most closely to developing their next solution with the Microsoft fundraising templates and perhaps functionality Accelerators such as those developed by Heller.
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