The Basics of Salesforce for Nonprofits

Introduction: More Options

You may be considering using Salesforce solutions for your nonprofit organization. But your choices in Salesforce offerings are different than they once were – even just a year ago. Today, you have more options.

In the past, if nonprofits wanted to adopt Salesforce, the primary approach was to adopt Sales and Service Cloud for core customer relationship management (CRM) functionality and then opt for one or more managed packages built for nonprofits. The most popular packages were Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) for fundraising, the Program Management Module, and Volunteers for Salesforce. These were distinct packages designed for specific nonprofit functions.

Now nonprofits have another option.

In addition to managed packages for nonprofits, Salesforce now offers the new Nonprofit Cloud. This offering gives nonprofit organizations – especially those with multiple Salesforce administrators or developers – the opportunity to take their use of Salesforce data and CRM to the next level, with the ability to unify different types of data across fundraising, marketing, and programs, plus the ability to use powerful new capabilities that are baked into the new Nonprofit Cloud.

The bottom line is that if your organization is considering using Salesforce, you now have a choice: Either use a managed package approach (as many nonprofits have done for years) or choose to be an early adopter of the new Nonprofit Cloud.

A brief history of Salesforce and the nonprofit sector

2008: Start of Nonprofit Starter Pack and Salesforce.org.

The Salesforce nonprofit community starts working on the first version of the Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP), a nonprofit data model built on the Salesforce platform and preconfigured for common fundraising needs of nonprofits. Salesforce.org, an independent division of Salesforce, is founded as a nonprofit reseller of Salesforce, delivering the technology to nonprofits and educational institutions. Salesforce.org donates the first 10 Salesforce subscriptions to nonprofits and educational institutions and sells added subscriptions at a discount.

2016: Launch of Nonprofit Success Pack.

The Nonprofit Starter Pack, which lived on the Salesforce AppExchange as five separate apps, is rebranded as the Nonprofit Success Pack, now an integrated product suite. With the ability to get started with Salesforce using NPSP, nonprofits can now use a flexible, configurable, and powerful Fortune 500-level CRM system as the foundation of a robust technology ecosystem.

2019: Salesforce and Salesforce.org combine.

Salesforce.org is integrated into Salesforce as a new industry vertical focused on nonprofits and education institutions with the intent to scale Salesforce’s philanthropic efforts and creating efficiencies. Nonprofits are now an industry market within Salesforce – just like other industries served by the company.

2023: Launch of the new Nonprofit Cloud.

Salesforce announces the release of the new Nonprofit Cloud. While nonprofits can still get NPSP and other managed packages, the new Nonprofit Cloud is built on the core Salesforce platform, giving nonprofits more customizability and access to features that organizations using other Industry Clouds on Salesforce have been able to use for years.

NPSP itself was always and still is free. Underlying Salesforce licenses (Sales/Service Cloud Enterprise Edition) are paid. Some of the other managed packages are free and some of the other managed packages are paid.

Answering basic questions about Salesforce solutions for nonprofits

What are the differences between managed packages for nonprofits and the new Nonprofit Cloud?

NPSP and other managed packages, like the Program Management Module or Volunteers for Salesforce, have been built on the Salesforce platform and are “managed” (or “updated”) by Salesforce or the third party that built them. They use a specific nonprofit data model.

The new Nonprofit Cloud, however, is built using a different data model. It is not a managed package, but rather an end-to-end technology solution built by Salesforce on the Salesforce platform. When Salesforce rolls out three platform updates each year, the new Nonprofit Cloud receives the same updates that are common across all Industry Clouds, plus other nonprofit-specific functionality, and do not rely on package “managers” to update it.

It enables nonprofits to take advantage of powerful features – such as Business Rules Engine, Data Processing Engine, and OmniStudio – that nonprofits did not have access to before, but that other Industry Clouds on Salesforce have been able to leverage for years. Nonprofit Cloud includes the core layer of functionality that allows you to manage things like accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, cases, and campaigns as well as Program Management, Case Management, and Grants Management.

Fundraising was not included in the initial release of the new Nonprofit Cloud, but it is being rolled out starting in fall of 2023.

Fundraising in Nonprofit Cloud will address three key aspects:

1. Managing a portfolio of major donors and philanthropic partnerships with indicators of propensity to give.

2. Mass market fundraising supported by segmentation.

3. Optimizing fundraising operations.

Can nonprofits still get NPSP and other managed packages?

You can still get (or continue using) NPSP and currently available managed packages from the “old” Nonprofit Cloud, such as those for fundraising, program management, case management, and volunteer management.

However, you now also have the option of becoming an early adopter of the new Nonprofit Cloud instead. This can be an alternative worth considering if you want to take advantage of the advanced features available in the core Salesforce platform.

Fundraising was not included in the initial release of the new Nonprofit Cloud, but it is being rolled out starting in fall of 2023.

Fundraising in Nonprofit Cloud will address three key aspects:

1. Managing a portfolio of major donors and philanthropic partnerships with indicators of propensity to give.

2. Mass market fundraising supported by segmentation.

3. Optimizing fundraising operations.

Are 10 donated licenses still available?

The 10 donated licenses are still available for either NPSP / managed packages or the new Nonprofit Cloud. Here’s how it works:

If your nonprofit has 10 donated licenses of NPSP through the Salesforce Power of Us program, and you intend to stay on NPSP, then there is no change.
If your organization has 10 licenses and wants to move to the new Nonprofit Cloud, you can work with your Salesforce account manager to move your licenses to the new Nonprofit Cloud. The move to the new Nonprofit Cloud will require a migration.
If your nonprofit is moving to Salesforce as a new customer and applying for 10 donated licenses through the Power of Us program, you will have a choice between getting 10 donated Sales/Services licenses (which you then add the free NPSP managed package to) or 10 donated Nonprofit Cloud licenses.

What if my nonprofit is already using NPSP?

If your organization is already using NPSP and other managed packages, you might be wondering if you need to migrate to the new Nonprofit Cloud now. The answer for most organizations at this point is no, it’s not time to migrate.

Here’s why: NPSP is built on a different data model, so going to the new Nonprofit Cloud will not necessarily be a quick process. Salesforce is not doing a forced migration from NPSP to the new Nonprofit Cloud at this point. NPSP is a product that is serving thousands of nonprofit customers, and Salesforce is planning to continue to support it.

That said, if you are seeing new and exciting features of the new Nonprofit Cloud (such as artificial intelligence), and you’re curious about what it could do for your nonprofit, now is a good time to start researching and planning what a migration to the new Nonprofit Cloud would look like and when it would make the most sense to make the move.

Key benefits of Salesforce for Nonprofits

No matter which Salesforce approach you choose for your organization, there are many benefits of moving to Salesforce.

Innovation

Salesforce is constantly innovating. When you work with a company like Salesforce, you get the benefit of a continuous stream of new products, features, and enhancements to help your organization keep up with our fast-paced digital world.

Flexibility

Salesforce is a highly flexible platform, which means your organization can customize and extend products built on it to meet your unique processes and needs. Salesforce also has a large and mature AppExchange marketplace of third-party applications that integrate with the Salesforce platform, which is important if you anticipate needing to expand and enhance your solutions down the road.

Integrated Data

Solutions built around the Salesforce platform are centered around CRM, which gives you a holistic view of donors, volunteers, and other constituents. This full picture can help you work more strategically and efficiently by using data and processes to collaborate more deeply across the organization.

Efficiency

Tools available on the Salesforce platform give you the ability to automate processes, such as notifying key staff members when a major donor gift is received, to help you do more with less manual work.

Opportunities for Improvement

Many organizations moving to Salesforce find that it opens a new path for business process improvement. So, processes that once had to bend to fit your systems can now be redefined and optimized to fit your organization’s needs instead of the systems’ limitations.