8 Tips for Moving Forward with Salesforce

1 | Consider your requirements

Assess your organization’s priorities and what you want out of new technology. Start by listing your organization’s must-haves, such as ease of use, features and functionality, and integration needs as well as budget. Then, refer to that list as you review the following tips.

2 | Familiarize Yourself with the Salesforce Ecosystem

This guide offers an overview of solutions offered by Salesforce for nonprofits. However, Salesforce is continuing to roll out functionality in the new Nonprofit Cloud and other offerings. So, keep an eye out for product roadmaps and announcements from Salesforce. Also, Salesforce has a large and mature AppExchange marketplace, which can be important if you anticipate needing to expand and enhance your Salesforce solutions extensively. The many options can seem overwhelming, so start simply by looking at your list of requirements and making sure that you identify potential solutions for your needs.

3 | Ask Questions

If you conduct internet searches for Salesforce products for nonprofits, you will likely get results that relate to NPSP and the new Nonprofit Cloud, and it might not be clear which is which. So, if you’re working with an account executive at Salesforce, be sure to ask what your options are between using (or continuing to use) NPSP and moving to the new Nonprofit Cloud. Make sure the account executive helps you understand if being an early adopter of the new Nonprofit Cloud will meet your organization’s needs, or if NPSP is a better option. We also recommend talking with a consultant like Heller Consulting who is helping other organizations navigate changes in offerings. Also, ask your peers. It can help to talk with other nonprofit professionals about their knowledge, research, and experience with Salesforce to give you a real-world viewpoint.

4 | Don't Get Distracted by What's Shiny and New

Remember that while Salesforce continues to innovate, that doesn’t necessarily mean their latest offering is the right option for every nonprofit. For example, here at Heller Consulting, we have nonprofit clients who know about the new Nonprofit Cloud and still choose to continue using NPSP because it better suits their current needs. Always keep your requirements in mind and choose the solutions that align with your goals.

5 | Shift Your Thinking

Comparing Salesforce solutions to your current solutions will not necessarily be apples-to-apples comparisons. For example, if you’re using a legacy donor database product, it’s a fundraising-specific product, while moving to Salesforce NPSP (or eventually to the new Nonprofit Cloud) means you’re moving to a platform on which fundraising products and products for many other departments/functions are built. This is a different paradigm that requires a change in thinking about the nature of your software, but it can pay off — especially if you want to do more than your current software can support and you want the long-term benefits of having Salesforce as your organization’s primary software platform.

6 | Don't Buy What You Don't Need

Pricing varies for Salesforce products for nonprofits and for third-party apps in the Salesforce AppExchange. There are multiple licensing models (some are free, and some aren’t), and there can be added costs for things like data storage and number of contact records. Be sure to understand your organization’s requirements and each product’s pricing model before signing a contract so that you don’t end up paying for user licenses, data storage, or other fees that you don’t need.

7 | Prepare Your Organization for Change

There are multiple ways to make a switch to new software as smooth as possible. For example:

Consider your staff’s skills and any need for upskilling so that if you decide to adopt NPSP or the new Nonprofit Cloud, you will have the appropriate staff to support it.
Prioritize your organization’s pain points and requirements so that you have a clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish with the new technology.
Establish a decision-making process so that any changes to the scope of your project go through clear approval steps, which helps to keep the project focused on “needs” versus “wants” and ultimately avoids scope creep.
Be ready to set aside time for key staff members to work on the technology selection and integration project. For example, specific staff members on your team will need to allow time for project planning, deciding which data will migrate to the new system, testing the new solution before it launches, and training.
Use change management approaches and resources to help smooth the technology transition by building buy-in among people impacted by the change, providing information they need to understand and adapt to a new system, supporting them through the transition, and reinforcing behaviors that are required for them to succeed.

8 | Work with a Knowledgeable Partner

It can be extremely helpful to work with a technology consulting partner to sort through news and changes at Salesforce, understand what will impact your nonprofit’s technology decisions and what won’t, select the right solution for your needs, implement the solution, and manage the technology change.