3 Things to Know if You’re Thinking About Moving from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce
I recently wrote an article on this blog about what to know if your nonprofit is considering a move from Raiser’s Edge. One point I made is that if you’re wanting to incorporate more customer relationship management (CRM) approaches into your fundraising, but find that Raiser’s Edge doesn’t integrate with other systems at your organization, you can still stay on Raiser’s Edge — you just need to invest more in integration.
But another point I made is that if you decide Raiser’s Edge is no longer serving your fundraising needs, Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) might be a great option for you.
So, in this article, I’m sharing three important things to know if you’re considering a move to Salesforce NPSP.
For more advice about transitioning from Raiser’s Edge, download our free guide: Leaving Raiser’s Edge
1. Salesforce NPSP is a different kind of solution than Raiser’s Edge.
I brought this up in my previous article, but it bears repeating in case you missed it: If you’re considering a move from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce NPSP, you’re not looking at an apples-to-apples comparison. Raiser’s Edge is a fundraising-specific product, while Salesforce offers a platform on which fundraising (and many other) products are built.
With the product approach, you have an individual application that serves a specific purpose. You’re locked into using each of the tools provided in the product. So, for example, if you find the email/marketing automation tool doesn’t meet your needs, you don’t have much choice except to continue using it. With the platform approach, you have a foundational layer that allows you to use a combination of out-of-the box features, pre-built applications, direct API connections, and/or custom-configured functionality. You can select the products and features that best meet your needs.
This requires a different way of thinking about your software, but it can pay off in the long run – especially if you want to do more with your fundraising efforts than Raiser’s Edge can support. Even though moving to NPSP will take time and effort, in the end you have the opportunity to not only reach parity with the traditional fundraising functionality in Raiser’s Edge, but also do much more.
Discover more about what to know if you’re considering move from Raiser’s Edge. Read the guide, Leaving Raiser’s Edge: How Nonprofits Make the Change.
2. Salesforce NPSP can help you bring the benefits of CRM to your fundraising.
Salesforce NPSP offers strong fundraising functionality that can support many nonprofits’ needs. And, because the fundraising capabilities are centered around a CRM platform, it can help you grow donor relationships more effectively.
It gives you a holistic view of constituents and donors (even allowing you to collect more data and use data from other departments in your organization so you have more insights into donor behaviors and preferences). It also helps you send targeted messages at the right time to the right constituents and donors.
Many nonprofits use NPSP to do everything from build donor relationships, accelerate major giving, and connect multiple giving channels to prepare fundraising information for their accounting system – all through a single platform.
Learn more about using Salesforce for your nonprofit: Read the guide, What to Know About Salesforce Solutions for Nonprofits.
3. You can extend Salesforce fundraising functionality as your nonprofit evolves.
Because NPSP is built on the Salesforce platform, it offers lots of flexibility, allowing you to customize and extend it to meet your evolving needs. That can be especially useful in our changing world.
For instance, at Heller Consulting, we’ve found that marketing automation is an ideal solution for many nonprofits needing to scale up their fundraising program quickly. We’ve implemented the Pardot marketing automation solution from Salesforce to help multiple nonprofits automate their fundraising and donor engagement communications, which allows them to do more with fewer manual hours.
Salesforce also has a large and mature AppExchange marketplace of third-party applications that integrate with NPSP. This is important if you anticipate needing to expand and enhance your fundraising solution down the road. For example, one of our clients, San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB), worked with our team on a digital transformation initiative. We helped them develop a CRM ecosystem that placed NPSP at its center. Then, we were able to help them add tools to meet additional needs, allowing the SAFB development team to improve the online donor interface.
Read more about our Salesforce services for nonprofit organizations.
Take the next step.
If your nonprofit has been using Raiser’s Edge to support fundraising activities, and you’re wondering if it’s time to move to another solution, Salesforce NPSP could be the right match for you.
At Heller Consulting, our goal is to help nonprofits find the best technology solutions for their specific needs — not just point everyone to a particular system. So, if you are considering a move from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce NPSP, but you’re not sure how to move forward, we can help. We can work with you to evaluate your use of Raiser’s Edge, choose the right solution to meet your needs, and build a tech strategy that serves you now and keeps your fundraising going strong. Contact us today to get started.
More Nonprofit Resources:
- The Nonprofit’s 2023 Guide to Digital Transformation
- A Business Case for a New Nonprofit CRM
- On-demand webinar: Costs and Benefits of a New Nonprofit CRM
- Technology, Trust, and the Impact of Nonprofit Staff Turnover
- Podcast Episode: The Pros and Cons of a RFP for Your Nonprofit Tech Selection
- Next-Level Software Selection for Nonprofits
- Leaving Raiser’s Edge: How Nonprofits Make the Change
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