Unleashing the Potential of Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising
In October 2023, Salesforce unveiled its next groundbreaking solution, Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising. This innovative platform offers nonprofit organizations an array of tools and data-driven insights to enhance donor engagement, fund collection, and the overall impact of their initiatives. At Exponent Partners, we’re thrilled to see this development, as it aligns perfectly with our purpose: unlocking the value of information systems to help nonprofits drive greater social impact.
Fundraising serves as the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations, and your noble mission deserves the most efficient tools to amplify your efforts. In this post, we will delve into how your organization can leverage Salesforce’s latest offering – Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising – to maximize the potential of your endeavors.
Core Aspects of Fundraising
Fundraising comes in various forms but can be categorized into three fundamental areas: high-touch giving, mass-market giving, and operations support. Salesforce’s Winter ‘24 release introduced Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising which contains a set of transformative set of tools and features that support these core aspects. Let’s explore the nuances of this new tool and how it’s designed to empower fundraising teams to succeed.
High-Touch Giving
High-touch giving is a term that typically refers to major donors, foundations, and key supporters with the capacity to make substantial contributions. These donors often share a deep personal connection with the organization’s mission, and fundraisers strive to nurture and fortify this connection over time. The objective is not merely securing one-time donations but establishing enduring and mutually beneficial partnerships between the donor and your nonprofit. In this vain, Nonprofit Cloud’s enhancements to portfolio and donor management are crucial. It allows fundraisers to efficiently manage large donations and complex gift processes. How? With a new, streamlined way for gift officers to view their portfolios, log notes about interactions (called Interaction Summaries), and a unified view of pertinent info about current and prospective donors’ relationships, affiliations, and life events. In addition, the introduction of Interest Tags offers a straightforward method of categorizing donors based on their preferences and interests. This feature streamlines the process of tailoring communication and engagement strategies, ensuring a more personalized approach to fundraising.
Mass-Market Giving
On the other end of the spectrum is mass-market fundraising, where nonprofits target a large and diverse audience of donors or supporters, rather than focusing on individual major donors or high-net-worth individuals. While individual contributions may be smaller, the collective impact can be significant, and it enables nonprofits to reach their funding goals and support their missions. It also serves as a way to engage the broader community and raise awareness about the organization’s work. Nonprofit Cloud provides tools for segmentation, reporting, and tracking to engage with these donors effectively.
Operations Support
Fundraising operations encompass a multitude of tasks, ranging from gift processing to donor support. Nonprofit Cloud simplifies these processes with a set of features, including single and batched gift entry, summary roll-ups, and donor support tools. These new tools make it easier for fundraising teams to manage their daily tasks. For instance, the introduction of the Donor Support Profile view simplifies the process of responding to donor requests, such as modifying commitment schedules for recurring donations, pausing or resuming commitments, and more. Additionally, guided flows, a form of process automation, streamline basic support tasks, empowering teams to effortlessly perform actions such as adjusting gift amounts.
Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising: The Advantages of an Enhanced Data Model
One of the most substantial departures from previous fundraising solutions, such as NPSP, is the introduction of an improved data model in Nonprofit Cloud. This shift from opportunity data to transaction data offers a higher level of granularity in gift reporting, accommodating both simple and complex gift processes. This transition is particularly beneficial for organizations with diverse gift processes.
One of the biggest shifts from previous fundraising solutions like NPSP is an improved data model. Nonprofit Cloud introduces a shift from opportunity data to transaction data, providing more detail in gift reporting. This change means that whether you have simple or complex gift processes, Nonprofit Cloud can handle it. This is particularly helpful if your organization has a variety of gift processes. In addition to our old friend, the opportunity object, there are two new objects for tracking gifts. Here is a summary:
Opportunity: Designed for substantial gifts, including grants, planned gifts, and other major donations.
Gift Commitment: Represents a commitment to a gift that has yet to be fully received, encompassing recurring donations, grants with payments, pledges, and planned gifts with payments.
Gift Transaction: Denotes the actual payment or gift received, covering recurring donation installments, one-time gifts, and pledge payments.
While this architectural change may appear daunting at first, these new objects offer a more precise method for tracking various types of gifts and payments, providing greater control and flexibility.
In the simplest of terms, you could picture Nonprofit Cloud’s data model as a well-rooted tree. At the foundation, we have the ‘Gift Transaction’ node, akin to the tree’s sturdy trunk, where every incoming dollar is meticulously recorded, much like nutrients absorbed by the roots. Ascending, we encounter the ‘Gift Commitments’ branches, which represent recurring donations and pledged gifts, connecting the deep-rooted financial support to the trunk. These branches symbolize the growth and continuity of support, akin to the branches extending from the tree’s core. Finally, at the tree’s highest branches, we find ‘Opportunity’ leaves, each requiring careful attention and nurturing. Just as leaves signify the tree’s vitality, these Opportunities represent stages in donor relationships, calling for ongoing stewardship to thrive.
The Nonprofit Cloud’s Winter ’24 release introduces a range of essential features. Among them, the portfolio tool offers a unified view of your entire portfolio and action items. Additionally, the inclusion of refund sync simplifies the process of incorporating refunds into your view. These tools, combined with those mentioned earlier, equip your team to make well-informed decisions, streamline tasks, and customize communications for a donor-centric approach.
In conclusion, Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud for Fundraising yet another game-changer for nonprofit organizations looking to create a truly donor-centric solution. With its user-friendly tools and data-driven insights, it empowers nonprofits to engage donors, raise funds, and drive positive outcomes with remarkable efficiency. At Exponent Partners, we’re excited to see these advancements, as they align perfectly with our mission to equip you with the tools you need to drive radically better impact. Interested in learning more? Contact us for a free consultation!