Blog
November 8, 2024
Knowing where you want to go is all about knowing where you are. Nonprofits increasingly rely on robust CRM systems like Salesforce to streamline their operations, engage supporters, and further their mission. As a former nonprofit executive director, and now Director of Managed Services here at Attain Partners, I understand that maximizing the efficiency and functionality of these systems can be challenging. It is also hard to plan for how technology like Salesforce can help an organization in the future when there isn’t a clear understanding of what the Salesforce platform may or may not be doing for an organization currently.
Enter Hubbl—a diagnostic tool designed to help nonprofits optimize their Salesforce environment by providing clear insights and actionable recommendations to address key pain points. Hubbl is revolutionizing how we diagnose and recommend optimizations and enhancements to our clients. Hubbl as a tool combined with the strategic and technical expertise of Attain Partners is a powerful combination.
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How Nonprofits Can Harness the Full Potential of their Salesforce Setup
1. Evolving to new technologies and platforms
As the tech landscape rapidly evolves, nonprofits may find themselves evaluating the need for new Salesforce platforms, like Nonprofit Cloud. With Hubbl, our team can thoroughly assess your existing Salesforce org and determine whether these new platforms would provide tangible benefits.
Challenge: Evaluating new platforms without a clear understanding of your current Salesforce setup can be daunting.
Solution: Hubbl’s diagnostic insights reveal how your Salesforce org is performing today. Attain Partners analyzes the data with you and highlights potential gaps and areas of improvement.
Result: Armed with a clear path forward, you can make informed decisions on implementing new technologies, ensuring you stay on the cutting edge.
Attain Partners recently worked with an organization that was evaluating a potential move from Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to Nonprofit Cloud. As a result of both the diagnostic report and strategic conversations, we were able to provide them with clear recommendations to best suit their business needs.
2. Optimizing Salesforce for improved fundraising
For many nonprofits, Salesforce is the backbone of donor management. However, excessive metadata and custom fields can lead to slowdowns which affect donor engagement and campaign tracking. Hubbl offers a streamlined approach to clear out unnecessary data, improving the efficiency of your Salesforce org.
Challenge: Overloaded metadata and custom fields slow down performance, making it difficult to track and engage donors effectively.
Solution: Hubbl identifies unused custom fields and suggests streamlined processes. Attain Partners evaluates the redundancies and suggestions and develops a plan for your organization to clean up data and simplify processes enabling more efficient donor tracking and automated communication.
Result: Improved access to data, faster campaign tracking, and an overall boost in donor engagement, helping your team maximize fundraising efforts.
At Attain Partners, we routinely see clients with this issue. By digging into the data with them, we have been able to make it easier to access and more meaningful based on what they are trying to accomplish.
3. Ensuring custom code security and compliance
Custom code vulnerabilities can expose sensitive nonprofit data and pose risks for donor privacy and grant management. Hubbl helps nonprofits audit custom code, ensuring security and compliance with industry standards.
Challenge: Vulnerabilities in custom code expose nonprofit data, including sensitive financial and personal information.
Solution: Hubbl’s diagnostic tool audits custom code and recommends best practices for securing data and protecting donor and grant information. Attain Partners’ managed services team executes these changes and puts new safeguards into place.
Result: Enhanced security and peace of mind, knowing your data is protected against potential breaches and compliance issues.
We have worked with clients to adopt as open a data model as needed while at the same time making sure that platform profiles, permission set groups, and/or security tools guard against unwanted threats. Our compliance recommendations have enabled organizations to feel good about the security of their donor data.
4. Managing technical debt for large nonprofits
Nonprofits with years of custom development may find themselves weighed down by accumulated technical debt, reducing system performance and complicating day-to-day operations. Hubbl can assess and address this debt, creating a more efficient Salesforce experience.
Challenge: Accumulated technical debt from years of custom development makes it difficult to manage and update Salesforce.
Solution: Hubbl’s insights help the Attain Partners team clean up unused fields, deprecated code, and excess metadata, restoring efficiency.
Result: A faster, more manageable Salesforce org that reduces administrative overhead, enabling your team to focus on mission-critical activities.
Custom development can be the number one source of technical debt for an organization. We adopt a declarative first approach with our clients. By auditing code, we have been able to utilize modern declarative techniques that might not have been available when the code was written to decrease technical debt and improve overall efficiency.
5. Enhancing constituent relationship management
Maintaining meaningful relationships with supporters is essential to a nonprofit’s mission. However, unoptimized workflows can make it difficult to connect with constituents effectively. Hubbl’s re-engineering capabilities make it easier for nonprofits to enhance constituent relationship management especially with new tools such as AI.
Challenge: Inconsistent workflows hinder communication and engagement with supporters.
Solution: Hubbl suggests streamlined engagement workflows, improve segmentation, and strengthen communication strategies. Attain Partners’ managed services experts update and maintain these changes within your Salesforce org.
Result: Stronger, more productive relationships with supporters, increased donations, and improved event management—all key to advancing your mission.
In the end, an organization’s Salesforce instance must be constituent-focused—it’s all about relationships. With the advent of AI on the Salesforce platform, we are working with clients to ensure their data is well-positioned to take advantage of AI and its proactive effect on constituent management.
Actionable Steps from Your Hubbl Diagnostic
At Attain Partners, we leverage our Hubbl partnership to proactively engage with our clients. With a thorough understanding of the nonprofit space, we are able to use the diagnostic strength of Hubbl to empower organizations to get more out of their Salesforce instance. Whether you’re looking to enhance fundraising, secure data, or streamline operations, Attain Partners and Hubbl offer the insights you need to succeed in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Attain Partners – Managed Services Experts
Whether you are interested in shared or managed services, we can deliver the precise solution you need to meet your requirements. Collaborating remotely with your team, we’ll work with you to understand your IT gaps and objectives in order to create a cost-effective, tailored service strategy. With decades of experience and over 300 Salesforce certifications, we will work with you to determine which service solution is right for your needs. Contact us today to learn more.
About the Author
Kevin Patterson is a Salesforce Customer Success Manager with over 20 years of nonprofit experience and a decade of consulting expertise in Salesforce SaaS CRM solutions. He has a proven track record in customer success and change management, leading enterprise clients through digital and business transformation projects. His educational background includes an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and a BA in Opera Production from Indiana University. Kevin holds multiple certifications, including Organizational Change Management from Cornell University and Salesforce certifications as an Administrator, Business Analyst, and Sales Representative.
