Transforming Nonprofit Fundraising with Salesforce Implementation
Fundraising is an essential function of almost any nonprofit, enabling these organizations to do the work set out in their missions and make a difference in their communities and the world at large. To sustain and grow the impact of nonprofits’ work, organizations need a system to manage the fundraising pipeline. This can include managing individual and annual giving, tracking information on donors and potential donors, driving marketing and communications campaigns, reporting on financials, and more.
Many nonprofit organizations have legacy systems to manage fundraising that are homegrown. These systems may not connect to other parts of the business (e.g. finance, philanthropy, etc), and have decades worth of data with little governance and manual processes to access the information.
Implementing Salesforce to Improve Fundraising Management
The Salesforce platform, and more specifically, the Nonprofit Success Pack, can dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a nonprofit organization’s fundraising management. A customized Salesforce solution can not only automate many of the manual processes nonprofits deal with everyday, but can use predictive analytics and prospect functionality to proactively plan for and project giving on an ongoing basis.
Additional functionality can include custom marketing campaigns, fundraising pyramids, and complex contact tracking. Board, committee, and giving society membership tracking can be built as well as functionality to track inbound government and foundation grants. Whether your process resembles a traditional sales process or not, a custom Salesforce solution can transform the fundraising capability at your organization.
Our Methodology: Setting the Path for Sustainable Fundraising
At Exponent Partners, we take a whole-agency, 360 degree approach to any fundraising project. Though fundraising may be the driving force to implement a system like Salesforce, we believe that it is critical to consider and understand the business processes of the entire organization to ensure a seamless implementation not handicapped by silos.
Discovery begins upon the first consultation with an Exponent Partners Consultant and is ongoing throughout the entire implementation. We base our discovery process on your business processes and take time to understand the day-to-day of our clients. We map out individual user stories, key data relationship information, and definitions of success to customize a solution that will empower users at any level to utilize and leverage the power of the platform.
Often our solutions may include a degree of change management or re-engineering of business practices to avoid the common pitfall of simply recreating a legacy system within a new platform. Our consultants have spent years in the Salesforce ecosystem and most come from a non-profit background. They strive to balance their deep platform knowledge with careful listening and understanding to become a true partner to our clients.
What’s Coming in 2021
Looking ahead, one of the decisions many nonprofits will face is whether to move away from Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge. Data security is critical in any organization, and for organizations managing funders’ personal data, it is paramount to ensure trust, transparency, and ultimately the continuity of a funding pipeline. With the Blackbaud security breach, Exponent Partners has and will continue to support organizations making the switch from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce in 2021.
At Exponent Partners, our drive to propel our clients towards success extends far beyond an implementation project. We believe in the mission of our clients, as we work with organizations that are tackling the biggest and most complex challenges facing our world.
If you are anticipating a migration from Raiser’s Edge in the next fiscal year, or are interested in learning more about our fundraising practice, we want to talk to you! Contact us and we will schedule a time for an initial consultation to learn more about how we may be able to partner with you to accomplish your fundraising goals.
