Whether you’re a newly established nonprofit, a long-standing organization, or a company considering establishing a nonprofit wing for your enterprise, you may be familiar with Salesforce’s Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) and Managed Packages. It’s a lightweight, straightforward customer relationship (CRM) platform that has served NGOs well up until now. Despite its strengths, NPSP will no longer receive any new innovations or updates. All new innovation and energy will now be put towards Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud (NPC).
For nonprofits, having one comprehensive CRM solution can revolutionize their fundraising efforts and greatly enhance their overall mission. Released in March 2023, Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud is that new comprehensive solution. With it, organizations can empower their fundraising strategies with data-driven insights, and scan through essential metrics to optimize channels, campaigns, and messaging for maximum impact to their mission.
It might sound daunting at first, but don’t worry; it’s a far more robust, expansive, all-around better solution that provides a host of new features and benefits. That said, because of new functions, you may require a Salesforce Administrator to get you up and running with Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud and set you up for success.
In this introduction to Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, let’s dive into the general features, functions, capabilities, and new benefits of Salesforce’s most robust CRM platform for nonprofits. See how it can serve your needs and drive you toward your goals even better than Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) could with proper guidance and assistance from a qualified consulting service.
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What Is Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud?
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is Salesforce’s CRM solution specifically catered to nonprofits to help them organize internal processes, make data-driven decisions, and measure the impact of their efforts. What makes it such a great solution? For one, Nonprofit Cloud is built directly into the Salesforce platform, so NGOs don’t need to go through an extra installation process. It also offers a variety of tools for nonprofits to manage their operations, including:
- Fundraising: Engage donors, raise funds, and track outcomes
- Program management: Increase productivity, eliminate data silos, and make data-driven decisions
- Case management: Manage care plans, case referrals, and case tracking
- Outcome management: Collect data, track progress, and evaluate program effectiveness
- Grantmaking: Streamline the grant management process for applicants and funders
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud’s main goal is to help nonprofits build strong donor relationships that drive significant change and maximize their fundraising figures. As such, it also includes donor management dashboards, email campaign automation, and other CRM platform offerings.
Nonprofit Cloud vs. Nonprofit Success Pack: Key Differences
When it comes to deciding between adopting the Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack or the new Nonprofit Cloud, we can tell you right now that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every individual NGO. However, there are a few important differences between NPSP and the Nonprofit Cloud to consider when determining which CRM solution is better suited to your nonprofit. Some key differences to remember:
Nonprofit Cloud (NPC)
- Not a managed package – NPC is built directly into the Salesforce platform, providing access to nonprofit features and capabilities. No installation process is required.
- Is the recipient of all further Salesforce innovations regarding their nonprofit CRM platforms.
- More feature sets and the ability to scale for whatever you need it to, but its scope may require a Salesforce administrator.
- Significantly more detailed fundraising and campaign management (tracking donor funds, measuring campaign impact, etc.)
- Includes new helpful additions like Omnistudio, Runtime Rules Engine, enhanced outcome management, and more.
Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP)
- A managed package not built into the Salesforce platform that requires users to install the CRM and then install additional packages at their choosing.
- Is no longer receiving major innovation, but is still receiving regular product updates.
- A simpler, out-of-the-box solution built for the end user.
- Less detailed fundraising and campaign management features.
- No additional new features or innovations.
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Why Choose Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud?
We hate to break it to those of you who are currently NPSP users, but in our experience, Nonprofit Cloud is just a far more powerful solution — and with more updates and improvements on the way, it will only get even better.
Before we even get into the finer details of NPC, nonprofits should know that all Salesforce 501(c)(3)s can receive up to 10 free licenses when they start on the platform. For nonprofits just wanting to give the platform a try, this is the perfect option. Additionally, while some aspects of the new platform still require payment for access, other important elements are now included as an out-of-the-box feature — like case management.
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud has also undergone extensive UI and UX improvements compared to its predecessor. NPC comes with a laundry list of features, widgets, donor profiles, fundraising timelines, and an “actionable relationship center” that allows users to visualize how everything in their CRM is connected.
Nonprofit Cloud also includes actionable lists, dynamic segmentation, dynamic forms, and omniscript flows (essentially an advanced version of screen flows). On top of that, NPC’s outcome management provides another layer of insight and value that tracks how your programs are benefiting other organizations and gauges the level of impact you’re making.
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Features and Benefits
Before we break down the details of the individual features of Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, let’s break down what each category of features will likely mean to you in layman’s terms.
| NPC Fundraising Benefits: | Allows users to engage donors, raise funds, and drive outcomes with strategic planning and data-driven insights — leading to better operational efficiency, collaboration, and adoption of Salesforce CRM best practices. |
|---|---|
| NPC Grantmaking Benefits: | Allows users to create and publish funding opportunities, provide grant seekers with proposal collaboration tools, award grants, and manage budgets and disbursements in a simpler, more streamlined fashion. |
| NPC Program Management & Outcomes Benefits: | Helps nonprofits to define, plan, track, and deliver on their programs, campaigns, and the specific benefits they provide to their target audiences. |
Now let’s look at these robust features in greater detail:
Fundraising
| High Touch Fundraising | Manage giving lifecycles with corporations, foundations, and individuals with the Fundraising Portfolio, and see a holistic view of a person with a Donor Profile. |
|---|---|
| Mass-Market Fundraising | Build complex, reusable segments, and use Source Codes to track the performance of your appeals across segments, messages, and channels. |
| Fundraising Operations | Process gifts with Gift Entry and run the business of fundraising by managing commitments, designations, soft credits, tributes, and much more. |
Program Management
| Program Management & Service Setup | Centralize key program and service information to see what’s happening on the ground, and for real-time reporting on program performance. |
|---|---|
| Program Enrollment & Attendance Tracking | Identify everyone enrolled in programs and benefits, track their attendance, and act on trends to ensure you are on track toward targets. |
| Program Participant Experience | Give participants and clients faster access to care with a secure, self-service portal for participants or volunteers with Experience Cloud. |
Outcome Management
| Outcome Strategy | Define your desired outcomes alongside the programs that will drive them. |
|---|---|
| Indicators, Time Periods, and Results | Create consistent indicators to measure your progress. Set targets and track results to ensure performance accountability. |
| Dynamic Assessments | Create and manage assessments to streamline the collection of outcomes data from program participants. |
Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud also comes in a variety of price points and packages, so any nonprofit can have access to the market’s leading CRM.
What’s more, you can integrate Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud with other Salesforce products to have an even more robust CRM infrastructure to advance the mission of your non-profit better.
To better serve a wider range of nonprofits, Nonprofit Cloud can also work with thousands of partner apps and other expert entities.
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Get Started with a Helping Hand from the Experts at EBQ
Now that we’ve given you a bit of insight into Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, it’s time you dedicated some serious time and consideration to what nonprofit-focused CRM best suits the needs and mission of your organization.
However, given how much more robust and chock-full of features Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is compared to its predecessor, EBQ strongly recommends incorporating a certified administrator to assist with setup and ongoing initiatives. Without such a service, your nonprofit organization might struggle with maintaining it and lose out on NPC’s clear benefits.
At EBQ, we’re well-versed in helping nonprofits achieve their goals and in Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud. In fact, EBQ now provides an NPO-specific solution for this very scenario. Our CRM team is here to assist you in ensuring your nonprofit has the data and insights that it needs to make data-driven decisions, track success, and fulfill your mission statement. Contact us today to start work on transitioning to Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud.
