5 Best Practices for Salesforce Optimization for Nonprofits

Getting Started with Salesforce Optimization

Woohoo! You’re at the start of something great. You’ve decided to optimize (aka: improve, make better, tidy up, or streamline) your organization’s Salesforce environment. This can feel like a daunting task with many possible starting places and competing priorities. We also understand that many nonprofit organizations lack the specialized internal resources to tackle this initiative in a focused way–and that’s okay. We can help! Read on for 5 best-practice guidelines that will help you build a solid plan for optimizing your organization’s use of Salesforce. 

Tip #1: Current State and Setting Goals

It’s hard to make an improvement plan when the current sources of friction or frustration are not clearly identified. As a first step, work with your team to identify which Salesforce features are currently being used, which ones are underutilized, and where gaps might exist between your needs and current configuration. Tools like Salesforce’s native Health Check or a Hubbl scan can provide reliable data on key areas like security, system usage, and feature adoption. These insights can help you discover missed opportunities in workflows, data collection, and reporting. Next, take the time to establish optimization goals that are specific and measurable. Some examples might include increasing donor engagement through automated emails, improving data accuracy by a certain percentage, or shortening the time it takes to produce the end-of-year reports. In this current state assessment phase, it’s important to get input from teams across the organization—fundraising, marketing, programs, and operations—to ensure their needs align with the platform’s use and they feel involved and engaged in the optimization process. 

Tip #2: Automation and Flow 

Most nonprofits on the Salesforce platform use Process Builder and Flow to streamline repetitive processes, such as data entry or task reminders. Embracing automated workflows frees up valuable time for team members to focus on more mission-critical tasks. However, these tools need to be assessed and optimized regularly to ensure they're working as intended and serving your organization in the way they were built to. The longer a nonprofit organization uses a powerful system like Salesforce, the more likely it is to have automation in place that is broken or outdated. You could start by reviewing automated communication with important stakeholder groups like donors or volunteers. These are often overlooked after the initial implementation and can need a fresh set of eyes to make sure they’re still on point. 

Tip #3: Data Management  

Data cleanliness... it all starts with the best laid plans but the reality is life at a nonprofit often gets in the way. Staff departures, a lack of clear documentation, or changing processes could cause the data governance plan to fade to the background, if it ever existed in the first place. In fact, if your organization didn't develop clear data entry protocols at implementation, now is a great time to start. Salesforce’s validation rules can help enforce these standards, reducing errors and improving consistency. 

Developing an optimization roadmap for your org’s use of Salesforce should include scheduled data cleanups to remove duplicates, outdated contacts, and inaccurate information. While not the most fun part of the job, data integrity is essential for reliable reporting and insights. Check out our helpful template to guide yourself through the process of developing a data management plan for your nonprofit. 

Tip #4: Review Reporting and Analytics 

No optimization plan is complete without a thorough review of how you generate reports: how is your organization currently leveraging the powerful reporting and analytics capabilities in Salesforce, and could it be better?  Salesforce’s reporting features allow nonprofits to track important metrics such as fundraising progress, program impact, and volunteer engagement. Ensure that the reports your staff use are surfacing the insights you need to measure organizational performance, such as using dynamic/relative date filters to easily display Year To Date totals rather than users having to manually enter dates. Many organizations using Salesforce set up filtered dashboards to display key performance indicators in real-time. These can become outdated as reporting and KPI needs change along with changing organizational goals, so it is important to determine how your existing dashboards can be optimized and when they should be archived. 

Tip #5: A Go-Forward Plan for Your Team 

Building a plan for optimization should include the process of looking ahead and evaluating long-term needs. Regular training sessions will make sure staff stay up to date on features and best practices, but they take time, effort, and planning. Additionally, it’s important to assess whether your dedicated Salesforce administrator or support team (if you have one) has the skills and capacity to address issues, assist with new projects, and ensure the system remains aligned with organizational goals. Consider long-term needs, such as program expansions or data volume increases, and determine whether your current Salesforce setup can accommodate growth. As part of your optimization roadmap, consider how to leverage both in-house and third-party resources, including Salesforce Trailhead and the potential for consultant-led workshops or ongoing Salesforce managed services. 

Now... It’s Optimization Time! 

Following the best practices outlined above will help you approach your Salesforce for Nonprofits optimization project with confidence. Also, it can be useful to seek input from external sources as well as from your own staff: other nonprofit organizations in your community may be able to offer examples of how they are using Salesforce successfully.  If at any point you could use a fresh perspective on your organization’s use of Salesforce, please reach out. We’re here to help.