The Leading Attain Partners Alternative for Nonprofits
Whether you’re improving your existing tech strategy or implementing new solutions, the right consulting partner makes all the difference in helping your nonprofit maximize its impact and reach its goals.
If you’re considering enterprise advisory firms like Attain Partners, you know they bring significant scale and Salesforce expertise, but they aren’t the best option for nonprofits looking for a hands-on, platform-agnostic partner. For those orgs, Heller Consulting is here to help.
Why Nonprofits Choose Heller
Cross-Platform Services
While Attain mainly offers Salesforce services, Heller is intentionally platform-agnostic. We have expertise in all of the leading nonprofit CRMs (Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, and Microsoft). If you need a new system, we’ll help you find the best option based solely on your needs, bias-free.
Mission-Driven Focus
If your primary mission relies on supporter engagement, you need a partner whose core focus aligns with yours. Attain offers services across many verticals, but Heller has spent 30 years implementing fundraising technology. Our laser focus on mission-driven tech helps fundraising teams in nonprofit, healthcare, and education sectors turn complexity into clarity and indecision into action.
Custom Engagements
It can be challenging to find the custom engagement you need at an enterprise level. Heller tailors each engagement to the specific organization, so you aren’t paying for services you don’t need or prolonging your timeline. We can also upskill so your cause receives the dedicated, white-glove attention it deserves.
Heller consultants also prioritize configuration over customization, making sure that your new system is robust, set up for long-term success, and doesn’t tie you to endless cycles of updating and recustomizing as the platform changes.
Head-to-Head Comparison: Heller vs. Attain
| Capability | Heller Consulting | Attain Partners |
|---|---|---|
| System Focus | Unbiased strategy, selection, and implementation across Salesforce, Microsoft, Blackbaud, and HubSpot | ❌ Heavy focus on the Salesforce ecosystem |
| Target Market | Mid-to-large fundraising nonprofits, healthcare foundations, and higher education advancement teams | ❌ Enterprise organizations in the nonprofit and corporate spheres |
| Scale & Partnership | Hands-on group that acts as an extension of your team | ❌ Traditional management consultancy built for high-volume work |
Heller Success Stories
Canadian Cancer Society
Following an organizational merger, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) needed to combine siloed databases across 10 distinct regional offices into a single database while navigating a bilingual environment and strict Canadian tax compliance requirements. Heller consolidated their systems into a unified nationwide Salesforce CRM and designed a custom, bilingual gift entry and reconciliation system to automate complex financial coding. Through the project, CCS secured a single source of truth for all constituent data and accelerated high-volume gift processing with robust compliance controls.
Gordon College
Gordon College’s fundraising momentum was stalled because its legacy fundraising CRM was completely disconnected from its Student Information System (SIS), forcing staff to spend hours on manual data entry. To keep fundraising efforts going strong, Heller implemented a customized Salesforce advancement package that integrated seamlessly with their existing SIS and online giving platforms. The impact was clear: the integration eliminated manual data silos and empowered major gift officers with nuanced, accessible constituent profiles to drive fundraising momentum.
Society for Science
Fragmented legacy systems left the Society for Science bogged down by data duplication, security vulnerabilities, and slow, manual communication processes. They enlisted Heller’s help to consolidate their data by deploying Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. The project fundamentally transformed how the nonprofit segmented audiences, personalized communications, and generated reports, while streamlining its primary program renewal process from a clunky 7 clicks to just 2 clicks for the end user.
FAQs
What services does Heller Consulting offer?
Heller helps nonprofit, healthcare philanthropy, and education organizations make the most of their tech stacks with full-service support. Our team has expertise in:
- Technology implementation
- Technology strategy
- Responsible AI use
- Implementations and strategy for Salesforce, Microsoft, Raiser’s Edge, and more
- Data strategy and management services
- Managed IT services/interim CIO
Do Heller and Attain only implement Salesforce, or do they support other systems?
While Attain leans heavily into Salesforce, Heller remains intentionally platform-agnostic because we recognize that there is no single ideal platform for every organization. That is why we build strategy and handle technical execution across the entire social-impact landscape, including Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Raiser’s Edge, and HubSpot.
If Salesforce is the right solution for you, Heller can leverage our decades of experience to configure a bespoke tech stack that works best for your team.
Why should mission-driven orgs choose Heller over Attain?
If your primary pain points center on donor stewardship, fundraising alignment, marketing workflows, and staff adoption, Heller Consulting is built specifically for your mission. While Attain Partners is recognized as a Salesforce consulting service that offers managed services to extend your internal staff capacity, Heller provides an affordable, expansive, multi-platform, and operationally integrated approach.
Here are the primary benefits of choosing Heller Consulting over a Salesforce-specific firm like Attain Partners:
- Multi-platform flexibility: Attain Partners operates primarily as a Salesforce consultancy. While Heller is a 5-star certified Salesforce partner, they also implement Microsoft, Raiser’s Edge, and hybrid architectures, like Kindsight Ascend. This ensures your technology is built to fit your unique workflows, rather than forcing your organization into a single predetermined ecosystem.
- Implementation-first speed-to-value: Heller uses an implementation-first approach that favors scaled deployments and a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) mindset. This allows your organization to get its core systems running quickly and secure a faster Return on Investment (ROI) before scaling up to more advanced features.
- Paired fundraising and technology strategy: Heller provides a comprehensive, white-glove offering that seamlessly integrates your technical CRM architecture with expert, high-level fundraising and marketing strategy.
- Nonprofit expertise: Heller brings nearly 30 years of exclusive focus to mission-driven organizations across the nonprofit, education, and healthcare sectors. With over 100 consultants on staff, 3,000+ completed projects, and the trust of 10% of the 100 largest US charities, Heller offers immense scale paired with personalized attention.
Turn tech complexity into clarity.
If you’re a nonprofit, healthcare philanthropy, or educational org that is ready to get started on your technology project, we’re here to help. Let’s build a tailored strategy that empowers your staff to confidently reach your goals.