If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time working with the Salesforce for Nonprofits ecosystem, it’s that Salesforce Flows, when leveraged properly, can do some serious heavy lifting. From automating time-consuming tasks to ensuring data is updated in real-time, Salesforce Flows can impact the way your nonprofit operates—saving your team valuable time, reducing human error, and giving you more time to focus on your mission.
In this blog, I’m diving into some of the practical insights and best practices we shared during our recent From Stuck to Streamlined webinar all about Salesforce Flows. These tips can help you tackle common Salesforce Flow challenges—whether you're just getting started or fine-tuning your existing Flows. I'll walk you through how to optimize your Flows so they work harder for your nonprofit and help you streamline processes, saving you time and reducing frustration.
You know how when you build something in Salesforce and you think it’s going to work perfectly, only to realize it doesn’t? That’s exactly why testing is such a big deal. Before you launch your Flows, be sure to test them, ideally in a sandbox. Salesforce has some great built-in tools to help you debug your Flows and walk through them from a user’s point of view.
I know—it sounds time-consuming, but catching potential faults and errors early can save you a lot of clean later. Batch testing available within the Flow Test feature is also a game-changer if you're dealing with record-triggered Flows. Instead of testing one record at a time (which is super time-consuming), batch testing allows you to confirm your flow’s results when triggered by multiple records at once.
Before you start building, ask yourself: What do I need this Flow to do?
Making sure you’re using the right Flow for the job can save you a ton of time and avoid unnecessary headaches.
As a former nonprofit admin, I know from experience —documentation can feel like a chore. But it’s so, so important. You don’t want to leave your future self (or your future admins) guessing about how everything works.
Here’s a simple tip: Use the description field in the Flow Builder to note down what the flow does and which related objects it touches, and when you create new versions add what changes you made and why you made them. If you’re building complex Flows, try visualizing them with tools like Lucidchart or even Google Drawings. It’s a simple way to keep everyone on the same page.
Oh, and Salesforce is making this easier with the new Einstein generative AI feature. It can automatically create summaries of your Flows, so you won’t have to spend so much time documenting.
We’ve all been there—your Flow breaks, and all you get is the dreaded “Unhandled Fault” error message. (Ugh, right?) But don’t panic!
You can create fault paths in your Flows, so instead of showing a vague error message, you can guide users on what to do next. Maybe it's asking them to fix a mistake or taking them to a screen that explains what went wrong.
Also, be proactive! Check in on paused and failed Flows regularly. You’ll be able to spot issues before your users even notice. And when something does break, make sure the right people are getting the error notifications. This ensures that the issue gets fixed quickly and no one’s left in the dark.
Salesforce is always adding new features to make life easier. Here are a few recent updates I’m really excited about:
These are just a few of the updates to keep an eye on. Salesforce is always pushing the envelope, and it’s great to see how these updates make our lives a little easier.