Introduction

Every non-profit need a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system because it is vital to save money, stay connected to donors and volunteers, and raise funds while keeping the eyes on the 8-ball: The Cause of the Non-profit. At Apoorva, we work with Salesforce.com, Neon CRM, Blackbaud, and Foundant technology platforms to track the digital information regarding your donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, and constituents.

Among these technology platforms, the Salesforce platform stayed ahead of the Corporate Responsibilities and created a division called Salesforce.org, specifically for non-profit organizations. In addition, Salesforce created a version of their commercial technology platform for non-profits, called the Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP), that is FREE for organizations with a valid 501(c)(3) status.

Many of our customers ask us:

• Is the Salesforce NPSP platform really free for non-profits?
• Are there any hidden costs or limitations to the free NPSP version?
• Can non-profits get the workflow component of the Salesforce NPSP for free?
• How many users are allowed on the free NPSP version?
• What is the cost per user once the non-profit has staff more than the number of users allowed on the FREE version of the NPSP?
• What documentation do we need to prove that we are an eligible non-profit for the FREE version of the NPSP?

Salesforce Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP)

The Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP) from Salesforce is one of the “Clouds” they release.

When Salesforce started the first commercial version, it was created for salespeople to keep track of their Rolodex, log the activities performed to work with a lead and create an opportunity, and finally, work towards closing the sale. Hence, they called it “Sales Cloud.”

Similarly, Salesforce has released the “Non-profit Cloud” that is customized to fit the needs of a non-profit. Non-profits can leverage this FREE Technology Platform from Salesforce to improve donor management for fundraising, attract volunteers for operations, and strategize in various ways to bring growth to the non-profit’s cause.

NPSP Additional Features

Grant Management, Community Portals, Donation Management, Donor Management, Volunteer Management, and Impact Management are additional functionalities.
In addition, to communicate with everyone else, Salesforce offers the Marketing Automation features for raising funds, etc. However, most of these additional features involve costs to non-profits.

Third-Party Apps on NPSP

Besides the FREE NPSP and the features of paid modules such as Marketing Cloud, many Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have created software modules on top of Salesforce. These ISVs deploy these modules on Salesforce’s marketplace called AppExchange. There are many popular tools such as DocuSign, FormAssembly, and FormStack. Additionally, consulting companies that help non-profits implement NPSP and the additional modules are available on AppExchange, such as Apoorva on AppExchange.

The FREE NPSP

As part of the Salesforce.org effort, Salesforce has released a version of their Sales Cloud and called it NPSP (Non-Profit Success Pack). With the same underlying engine, Salesforce changed the names of some of the data structures and added additional data structures to fine-tune the Sales Cloud into the NPSP. This fine-tuning allowed non-profits to enjoy out-of-the-box functionality such as donor management and volunteer management.

Salesforce.org proudly offers 10 free subscriptions of the Non-profit Success Pack (NPSP) and Sales & Service Cloud Enterprise Edition for FREE to eligible 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. And they also receive discounts on additional subscriptions and products. This FREE edition of NPSP is offered through the Power of Us program.

Additionally, non-profits have been enjoying one of the most powerful features in the NPSP called workflows. This allows them to customize the NPSP to fit the specific Process Flows within a non-profit organization. These Process Flows automate the collaboration between the people that touch the non-profit such as volunteers, donors, business development specialists, fundraisers, and marketing professionals.

Advanced functionality can be implemented by using readily available third-part tools on top of platforms or by utilizing software development companies like Apoorva. Unlike traditional technology systems that take months to build and implement, Salesforce allows companies like Apoorva to provide quick, secure, and reliable technology platforms to non-profits on top of Salesforce. Most NGOs must budget simply for the services required for the FREE NPSP’s implementation.
 Companies like Apoorva will also help with submitting the necessary process and documentation to obtain the FREE version of the NPSP provided by Salesforce for up to 10 users.

If you need help with getting you the 10 FREE licenses from Salesforce, contact one of our team members from Apoorva who can provide you the guidance and get you registered for free. Consider it as our in-kind donation to your non-profit organization. Send us an Email.

The Power of Us Hub

As you go through implementing and using the Salesforce NPSP, you will have many questions and learning curves. What can be a better way than learning from the other non-profits who went through a similar journey with NPSP? The place to meet these non-profits is a Hub called Power of Us. Many customers, non-profit staff, and certified partners are part of this Power of Us Hub, where non-profits can build their Salesforce skills. If you want to help other non-profits, this is also the place for you to share your expertise. At the least, you will be connecting with other non-profits, K-12 sectors, and Higher Education institutions using Salesforce.

The Power of Us program benefits can be summarized as:

• FREE Enterprise Edition Licenses – 10 Users.
• Discounts on other Salesforce products and additional services.
• Discounts on additional feature modules known as AppExchange Apps from certified and consulting partners.
• Discounts on many Salesforce Training events and courses.
• Discounts on Salesforce conferences and other events.

Advantages of NPSP

According to Cloud-for-Good’s survey on the State of Salesforce within the non-profit sector, 72% of the non-profits that use Salesforce say they communicate more effectively. In comparison, 76% say that it is easier to do their work on Salesforce. Additionally, 97% of the non-profits see innovation potential with Salesforce.

The NPSP non-profit cloud helps organizations with a 360°-View of their constituents with an extensible functionality, modular architecture, scalable organizational growth, integrated document management, and a highly secure technology platform.

Relationships between the Constituent

Many non-profits face islands of information between fundraising, marketing, programs, and leadership. The Salesforce NPSP gives everyone a single, shared view of all of your constituents – all within the Salesforce technology platform. As a result, the non-profit teams will connect, communicate, and manage relationships between them.

Program Management

Every non-profit goes through many Programs, from small fundraising events to annual Gala celebrations. The NPSP provides a wealth of capabilities that assist in programme management and track several programmes as they evolve and expand year after year.

Donations and Revenue

Non-profits get their revenue from multiple channels. Capturing all that revenue in one place, in real-time, helps non-profits to establish and meet goals that achieve their mission and cause. Many features in the NPSP, such as Recurring Donations and Gift Entry, including recurring gifts, help non-profits achieve their goal while better supporting the donor community. Donor management can include households, donations, volunteers, constituents, etc.

Insightful Reporting & Analytics

Besides being a place to hold all your information in one place in Salesforce, NPSP provides some default dashboards to view this data and over 60 out-of-the-box reports. Additionally, these dashboards can be customized for compelling insights and analytics. These include measuring your fundraising performance and reports for those that support your mission. Apoorva developed many reports and dashboards that help non-profits understand and share their success with those invested in their cause.

For example, the following Donation Dashboard provides insights on various timelines, etc.

Payments and Accounting

The Salesforce ecosystem allows your non-profit to extend the capabilities of NPSP to include online donation forms and integrated payment services. In addition, some apps are available on the AppExchange marketplace to help cleanse and clarify your address data and fix it to be complete and reliable. For example, for your financial systems such as QuickBooks, the accounting Subledger prepares all donation data. Such apps allow you to tap into new capabilities for fundraising, get in touch with new donors and provide a clear understanding of your financials from soup to nuts.

Salesforce Non-profit Success Pack (NPSP) Pricing

Salesforce offers 10 subscriptions of the Non-profit Success Pack (NPSP) Enterprise Edition for FREE to eligible 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Many of the non-profits that Apoorva has implemented enjoyed these FREE subscriptions and seldom need additional licenses. In comparison to their pricing for commercial customers, which is $175 per user per month, our additional licences are $47 per user per month.
 That is more than a 70% discount. Many more discounts are available on various versions of the Salesforce for non-profits at Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Pricing.

About Apoorva: 

Apoorva is a technology services company that assists software products with ideation, developing prototypes, programming, creating a digital marketing presence and accelerating sales through direct contact. Over 150 for-profit and non-profit organizations, such as Xcel Energy, PeopleCare Health Services, Frontier Airlines and Centers for Spiritual Living have trusted Apoorva to build software. 

Apoorva was founded in 2001, has more than 50 employees, and uses proprietary and proven methodologies to bring technology products to the market. Contact us / Visit apoorva.com for more information.