How to improve a nonprofit organization with Salesforce: strategies we used in our real project

Nonprofit work is already a big enough challenge, and juggling disconnected systems only adds to it. Many nonprofits find themselves overwhelmed by scattered databases, email tools, and fundraising systems that don’t talk to each other. This setup makes it tough to keep track of fundraising, manage programs, and deliver results without a headache.

When every system works in isolation, valuable time gets lost on data entry and backtracking to locate information. It’s a constant struggle to keep up, which can ultimately lead to missing out on meaningful donor engagement or losing track of a program's progress. The risk is not just inefficiency; it’s the chance of drifting away from your organization’s mission.

Here’s where Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud comes in. With its built-in tools for centralizing operations, enhancing donor communication, and offering data-driven insights, this platform is a game changer. With an incredible result of 93% of companies getting a positive ROI, Salesforce allows you to pull everything into one system, making collaboration smoother and giving teams the ability to drive real impact where it matters most. 

At Noltic, we’ve seen firsthand the difference Salesforce can make for nonprofits. With a portfolio of 110+ successfully delivered projects, our team has helped organizations worldwide set up Salesforce to transform their nonprofit operations, boost engagement, and align every action with their goals. In this article, we’ll show how Salesforce can make this happen for your organization through a real project example, along with the key strategies that made it a success.

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How we helped a Dutch NPO improve operational efficiency and bring joy to families with Salesforce 

When Better Time Stories approached us, they had an inspiring mission: bring comfort to children who had been forced to leave their homes in Ukraine due to the war. Through family-narrated audio books and beautifully illustrated bilingual books, this nonprofit aimed to help children separated from their families, offering familiarity and comfort in an unfamiliar world.

However, the organization faced a serious operational challenge. Their request processing and delivery system, which was set up quickly to meet the urgent need, was filled with issues. There were duplicated requests, inaccurate address entries, and instances where multiple packages were mistakenly sent to single households. This strained their resources and meant that some families weren’t getting the books they needed.

We began by diving into their current setup, and it was clear that their existing Salesforce system needed full optimization. 

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Goals we identified to address these challenges 

1. Cutting out redundancies—We corrected the malfunctioning request form to prevent duplicate requests and limit one package per household. This solution stretched the impact of each donation, ensuring every euro went further.
2. Expanding reach—Better Time Stories wanted to expand beyond the Netherlands and start deliveries to Belgium, Germany, and Austria. We updated their Salesforce configuration to manage and track shipments across multiple countries, ensuring kids would receive their packages in time for the holidays.
3. Improving data accuracy – We added validation steps to minimize lost packages and speed up the delivery process. To achieve this, we created a test environment to try out updates without risking disruptions to their operations.

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Throughout the project, we provided continuous support, helping the Better Time Stories team adapt to the new system and tackle any new challenges. With these changes, the organization achieved a higher delivery success rate, with around 2400 packages sent to Germany, 190 to Belgium, and 130 to the Netherlands. Pre-Noltic data stated that 1000 packages were sent with only a 70% successful delivery rate.

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Strategies taken from this project 

From our experience, nonprofit organizations should prioritize having streamlined processes, and the case we shared earlier highlights this greatly. One of our Salesforce Architects, Volodymyr Rogulya, puts it best:

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“Every solution you implement should focus on achieving results. Even small issues, like human error or a lack of flexibility, can create significant bottlenecks. This is where having a technology partner becomes invaluable. You need someone who goes beyond just implementing a solution; they should also dig into what’s not working and suggest practical fixes to keep everything running smoothly.”

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Below, we’ll share our insights on improving nonprofit organizational effectiveness with Salesforce based on what we learned during the abovementioned project. 

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Automate your donation and impact tracking

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When we examined our client’s processes, one of the major bottlenecks was handling donations. Donations were processed automatically, but the high volume of requests led to errors that sometimes slipped through, limiting the capacity to make a lasting impact.

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Our recommendations for such situations: 

• Use Salesforce automation to create a donation management system that verifies entries and allows staff to review only flagged issues.
• Implement approval workflows and set automated alerts to identify duplicates or errors, freeing up your team to focus on higher-impact work.

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Personalize donor journeys

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By segmenting donors and tailoring your messages, you’re making each supporter feel valued and directly involved in your mission. Personalizing communication strengthens the connection with your donors, encouraging long-term support. Here is what Volodymyr Rogulya, one of our top experts, says:

“As with anything else, it’s crucial for your message to be personalized. Salesforce offers fantastic tools to help with this. For instance, you can divide your audience into various segments and automate targeted communications. This way, you can be confident that the right message reaches the right people at the right time.”

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To personalize your donor journeys, you can do the following: 

• Use Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud to set up audience segments based on factors like donation history, event participation, and engagement.
• Automate personalized emails to send follow-ups and progress updates, and measure the results to see what resonates best with your supporters.

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Create custom workflows and approval processes

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Creating custom workflows for things like donation approval or project tracking improves clarity and keeps processes consistent. For Better Time Stories, we established workflows that enabled a smoother flow from donation to delivery, reducing manual steps.

For such customizations, we recommend you take advantage of Salesforce Flow to create a step-by-step process for tasks that require multiple approvals or hand-offs. This tool helps to reduce human error and ensures all necessary steps are followed before completion.

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Integrate Salesforce with other platforms

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“Integrating Salesforce with the rest of your tools enables real-time updates and data consistency across platforms. Here is how it works in practice: “When we worked with Better Time Stories, we took the crucial step of integrating Salesforce with all the tools and platforms they used. This transformed their operational efficiency. Suddenly, teams found it much easier to communicate, data silos vanished, and management gained complete visibility into all activities.” – says Salesforce Architect Volodymyr.

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You can use integration tools like MuleSoft to connect Salesforce with email, financial, and project management platforms. With seamless data flow, team members stay in the loop, and you avoid costly mistakes caused by information gaps.

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Implement advanced reporting

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Having detailed reporting capabilities allows your team to see both the big picture and the fine details. For Better Time Stories, we set up custom reports that helped their team track packages, donations, and nonprofit effectiveness metrics.

Salesforce provides a great tool—Report Builder—to generate custom reports that track key performance indicators, like delivery success rates and donation impact. It can also help you schedule reports to run automatically and send updates to stakeholders to keep everyone informed.

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Make volunteer and beneficiary portals

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For nonprofits managing both volunteers and beneficiaries, creating a user-friendly portal can drastically reduce administrative load. A portal gives volunteers control over their schedules and provides beneficiaries with a way to track their service requests, reducing back-and-forth communication and enabling greater transparency.

You can use Salesforce Experience Cloud to build a portal where volunteers can register, check their schedules, log hours, and communicate with other team members. For beneficiaries, create a dedicated area in the portal to track the status of their requests, update their information, and find answers to common questions. These portals offer an efficient way for both groups to manage their own interactions with the organization, saving time and keeping data accurate.

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Ensure AI-driven forecasting

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Using AI tools like Salesforce Einstein helps you predict patterns, such as when donors are likely to give and the types of messages they respond to. Our Salesforce Architect Volodymyr says:

‍“Artificial intelligence is a trend that’s here to stay, and Salesforce has a fantastic solution: Einstein AI. With it, you can identify high-value donors and predict the best engagement strategies at your fingertips. This results in better fundraising, which is also more strategic.”

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To ensure Salesforce AI works for your non-profit success, consider these points: 

• Set up Einstein Analytics to monitor donor data and let AI suggest which supporters may be ready to engage.
• Use these insights to craft personalized outreach that increases the chances of securing donations.

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Make your data architecture scalable

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As your nonprofit grows, so do the demands on your systems. For Better Time Stories, we set up Salesforce to handle an expanding database of donors, beneficiaries, and partners, ensuring the system would remain efficient even as the volume of data grew.

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“When you're implementing new solutions, it’s essential to ensure they can grow with your organization’s needs. This way, your CRM can manage growth seamlessly without disruptions and the burden of hefty investments. To make this happen, you need a partner who can set up the system right from the very beginning.” – says Salesforce Architect Volodymyr.

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To ensure scalability, we recommend you to: 

• Ask your Salesforce partner to set up a scalable data architecture designed to accommodate more records and more users as your organization expands.
• Use permission sets to control access so that as your team grows, new members can quickly step into existing roles.

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Conduct regular health checks

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As with any system, a Salesforce setup requires regular reviews to align with your evolving needs. For Better Time Stories, we provided ongoing support to promptly address issues and optimize the system.

Schedule quarterly system health checks to review data accuracy, update automation, and ensure integrations function smoothly. Regular maintenance catches potential issues early, saving time and money in the long run.

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Implement Salesforce into your NPO with us

We’ve had the privilege of working alongside nonprofits of all sizes, helping them bring their missions to life through Salesforce. As a Salesforce Summit Consulting Partner with over 110 delivered projects and 300+ Salesforce certifications, we’re equipped to tackle the unique challenges nonprofits face. Our team includes 10 Salesforce Certified Architects who design solutions to simplify complex operations and drive impactful results.

From managing donation tracking systems to building custom portals for beneficiaries, we prioritize practical solutions that provide immediate benefits, like automating tasks, improving data accuracy, and simplifying reporting. And we’re here for the long haul, offering ongoing support and system health checks to ensure that your operations grow smoothly with your organization.

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To sum up

Nonprofits face unique challenges: managing scattered systems, maintaining donor relationships, and tracking their impact effectively. As we shared through our work with Better Time Stories, organized operations can make all the difference. We saw firsthand how consolidating processes and removing bottlenecks helped their team to focus on what truly mattered—supporting family connections and providing comfort to children.

Through our experience in Salesforce implementation, we’ve helped nonprofits overcome these challenges by unifying and optimizing their operations. Here are a few examples of solutions we can help you implement in your organization:

• Automated donation and impact tracking: Less manual work and fewer errors allow your team to focus on building connections, not fixing data.
• Personalized donor journeys: Tailor messages to meet donors where they are, keeping them engaged and committed.
• Custom workflows and integrations: Make Salesforce work with your other platforms, giving you a seamless view of your entire operation.
• Advanced reporting: Access clear insights into your impact, donor trends, and growth opportunities.
• Scalable data architecture and ongoing support: As you grow, so does your Salesforce setup, without disruptions or costly upgrades.

But of course, everything depends on your particular goals, and we are here to help you develop customized solutions to drive a greater impact.

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FAQs

Is Salesforce expensive for nonprofits?

Salesforce offers nonprofits a way to access powerful tools without breaking the bank. Through the Power of Us program, eligible nonprofit organizations can receive up to 10 free licenses and big discounts on additional ones, making Salesforce an affordable solution even for smaller organizations. At Noltic, we work with nonprofits to maximize these discounts and design solutions that fit within their budget. We know that every dollar matters, so we focus on finding cost-effective ways to bring all of Salesforce’s benefits to your team.

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How do I choose the right Salesforce edition for my nonprofit?

Choosing the right Salesforce edition for your nonprofit depends on several factors, such as the size of your team, the volume of data, and the type of programs you run. Smaller nonprofits might find the essentials covered by the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) with basic CRM features for donor management and simple workflows. Larger organizations or those handling complex, multi-location projects may benefit from higher editions, which offer advanced reporting, automation, and integration features. At Noltic, we guide you through this decision, analyzing your unique needs and helping you select an edition that aligns with your operational and budgetary requirements.

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Can I customize Salesforce to meet my nonprofit's specific requirements?

Yes, Salesforce is known for its flexibility and ability to adapt to diverse nonprofit needs. Customization options range from creating unique data fields to building tailored workflows and automation that reflect your processes. For example, you can set up donation tracking, volunteer management, or program impact monitoring in one place. We at Noltic specialize in designing these custom setups so your Salesforce environment feels like it was built just for your nonprofit. We ensure it’s intuitive for your team with dashboards and reports that let you track key metrics at a glance.

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What is the best way to implement Salesforce in a nonprofit organization?

Implementing Salesforce successfully in a nonprofit involves several critical steps.

• First, define your objectives—whether it’s improving donor engagement, streamlining operations, or enhancing data management.
• Next, map out your existing processes to identify where Salesforce can create efficiencies.
• Once we’ve aligned on these goals, we configure Salesforce, migrate your data, and customize workflows.
• Training is essential, so our team at Noltic provides hands-on guidance for your team, ensuring they’re comfortable with the new system.
• Finally, we offer ongoing support to ensure your setup evolves as your nonprofit grows.

This structured approach allows your organization to quickly start seeing the benefits of Salesforce with minimal disruption.