Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) tool can be a daunting task for any organization. For nonprofits with smaller staffs and limited budgets, it presents a myriad of challenges. But with Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud, it can be a walk in the park. From its cost-effectiveness to its ability to drive fundraising, donor engagement, and project success, the world’s #1 CRM helps empower nonprofits to new heights. 

The Most Cost-effective Nonprofit CRM

For many smaller and medium-sized nonprofits, the biggest barrier to implementing a CRM solution is often the cost. This keeps these organizations operating out of ad hoc solutions that include everything from Google Sheets and Docs to free versions of Notion, with data spread out all over the place and manual entry for any updates, donations, or new contacts.

At B Local Georgia, an Atlanta-based nonprofit focused on the Georgia B Corp Community (of which Ad Victoriam Solutions, commonly referred to as AdVic® is a part), this was the case for them. “We’re a small, volunteer-led organization with no paid staff and a small budget that’s used to host community events. We couldn’t justify the expense that comes with software licenses, but we knew this was limiting our ability to scale,” B Local Georgia’s Board Chair, Nathan Stuck, told us. 

But with Salesforce’s “Power of Us” program, which waives the first ten license fees, it was free to start using. For organizations like B Local Georgia, “free was a game changer,” Stuck stated. Between an MBA board fellow with previous Salesforce experience and the help of AdVic’s Victory Project, they were able to turn on Nonprofit Cloud and now use it to track attendees, promote events, and stay on top of the Georgia B Corp community’s needs. 

Focus on Fundraising & Donor Engagement

For Raleigh-based nonprofit, A Place At the Table (APATT), they needed a CRM that could do more of everything. As a nonprofit restaurant, the staff is not only running a nonprofit, but they’re also open six days a week for breakfast and lunch and rely on sales, customer donations, and regular donor gifts for funding. 

“We never had the time to focus on fundraising and donors,” Executive Director Maggie Kane confessed. “With Salesforce, the reports give us so much more visibility and we’ve been able to engage different levels of donors in different ways and it’s helped us raise more money,” she added. 

Like B Local Georgia, APATT also took advantage of the Power of Us program to secure ten free licenses. But Kane also appealed to her board to allocate funds to hire AdVic, who also contributed some pro bono Victory Project hours, to fully implement and integrate some of their legacy software.

The investment was worth it. Not only have they increased fundraising, but they’ve also freed up time, including at the end of the year when donation receipts have to be mailed out. “Oh my God, it’s all automated now and I don’t dread all of the end-of-year bookkeeping,” Kane enthused. “We do love Salesforce.”

Measuring Program Effectiveness

When an incredible opportunity to partner with Creature Comforts’ Get Comfortable Foundation on an impactful literacy initiative in Athens, Georgia arose, local nonprofit Books For Keeps was excited to be a part of the program. However, given the high stakes of the pilot, they wanted to ensure they had the data to track and measure the program’s success. 

With the help of AdVic, they applied for their free Salesforce licenses and received a grant from AdVic’s Victory Project to customize and implement the software. Together, they created a simple Jotform that allowed the program mentors to fill out a two-minute survey after every school visit, capturing data that included the student’s name, how many books were read, how long they engaged, and the level of engagement. Combined with reading aptitude test scores, Books for Keeps was able to determine the right recipe for success.

“As we prepare to expand to three schools in 2024, we were able to use that data to identify how frequently our mentors should engage with their mentees, how many books they should be reading, and even identify what kind of volunteer mentor to be recruiting,” Executive Director Justin Bray told us. He continued, “The ability to capture data in real-time, see it update on our dashboards, and slice it a million ways with the reporting functions went beyond our wildest dreams of what we thought Salesforce could do for us.” 

The Best Nonprofit CRM

For any nonprofit, eliminating the cost of the first ten licenses is an incredible offer–and licenses beyond ten are highly discounted. Whether you have the budget to fully integrate all of your legacy software or you just plan on utilizing the features in the Nonprofit Starter Pack, Salesforce can take your CRM out of Google Suite and prepare you to scale your organization’s impact. 

Additionally, it will free your team from administrative work and give you data-driven insights that drive donations, stakeholder engagement, and program success. 

If you have questions about Nonprofit Cloud, you can reach out to AdVic here. We’re happy to help you weigh the pros and cons of the platform for your specific needs, as well as discuss potential implementation costs. You can also apply to our Victory Project by clicking here. 

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If you work at or serve a charitable organization, chances are that you’ve thought of ways in which your organization could run more efficiently. 

Maybe your board is searching for new technologies, new processes, and anything and everything in between that might help the organization do more with less? 

If this sounds like your situation, Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud could be an answer. 

Here are six keys to making the case for Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud, plus tips to ensure it’s impactful: 

1. It’s free! Through The Power of Us program, Salesforce® offers each nonprofit up to 10 free licenses (and this includes fiscally sponsored projects). Sign up for the trial, register your nonprofit with the Power of Us application, and you’ll have your free licenses within 30 days. 
2. It’s more than a virtual rolodex. Yes, you will keep all of your contacts in Salesforce. But you’ll also do so much more. Want to see who’s donating frequently for a new campaign? You got it. Want to see who hasn’t volunteered in more than six months? You’ve got that, too. With actions like donations and volunteer activity living in Salesforce, it becomes easier to track and measure existing (and new) KPIs. 
3. No, it doesn’t mean trashing your legacy systems. Salesforce is the leader in CRM software, so let’s just say, “there’s an API for that.” Quickbooks, Xero, Freshbooks, and just about every other SaaS product will integrate with Salesforce fairly easily. And the more data coming in, the more analysis you can do. 
4. Salesforce is what you do with it. There is an age-old adage in the IT world regarding data, GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out. And it’s the same with Salesforce. If you don’t have the processes (and discipline) in place to use your new system, it won’t be very valuable. On the other hand, if you and the rest of the team are willing to learn, adopt, and use Salesforce, you’ll be able to unleash its full potential. Secure executive buy-in and commit to getting the whole team on board and explain how it will help you better serve your mission. 
5. Figure out your budget. Ask a Salesforce implementation partner to put together a quote for you. Be honest with your needs and your expectations and walk away with a budget, at the very least. This can be an important part of the decision making process. Also keep in mind that some partners offer pro bono options. As a certified B Corporation, AdVic is committed to donating 1% of our consulting time on an annual basis, roughly 1,200 hours, to help nonprofits implement Salesforce. So, if you don’t really need a mobile app and 1,000 integrations, there are ways to do this without dusting off your checkbook. 
6. Make an implementation plan. Unless you have extensive experience configuring Salesforce, or the time to learn along the way, you’ll need to figure out how to get from vision to reality. The two main options, hiring an experienced Salesforce administrator or looking for outside help, both have their pros and cons. Once again, the recommendation would be to ask a Salesforce partner to help you make the right decision for your organization (figure out who oversees their pro bono budget and start with them). 

Salesforce’s free Nonprofit Cloud is a powerful tool for any charitable organization. Data all living in one place, no more Google Sheets and Docs and Excels, and the end of manual data entry for the sake of data entry. Whether you have a staff of twenty or two, Salesforce can free your team up to grow your impact. 

If your nonprofit organization is considering a Salesforce solution, drop AdVic a note, as we’re always eager to connect with missions we can get behind. 

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