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Surviving a Title IV Program Review

February 10, 2021/in Best Practices, Higher Education, Thought Leadership Julie Setzer, Rhonda Pickerel/by Josue

Federal Program Review—this term strikes fear into the hearts of financial aid administrators everywhere. The Federal Student Aid (FSA) division of the US Department of Education (ED) conducts periodic Federal Program Reviews to assure that colleges and universities who administer Title IV aid are abiding by the provisions that govern Title IV programs. After many years of deferring program reviews for schools whose A-133 annual audits did not indicate problems, FSA has stepped up their program review schedule over the past year and a half. This action has greatly increased the chances of schools undergoing program reviews, regardless of audit status. Your college or university could be next!

So, what exactly is a Federal Program Review, and how does your school prepare for it before you are selected for one? A Federal Program Review is conducted by two or more reviewers from ED to assure your school is in compliance with Title IV regulations. This involves either an in-person or virtual review, normally a week in length, to review student records as well as other institutional documents. There are always follow-up questions and requirements from the reviewers as well. The reviewers will ask your school to provide a list of students who received Title IV aid during certain academic years, as well as all of the school’s catalogs, academic calendars, academic and financial aid policies, and consumer information, among many other types of documentation. The reviewers will select students from the reports that your school provides and do an in-depth review of each student’s Title IV aid that was awarded and disbursed, and all other circumstances that may impact Title IV eligibility. Your school may be subject to a limited-focused review or a full scope review depending on the requirements the reviewers have. Schools that have Title IV findings or violations may be subject to liabilities (monetary amounts that schools have to repay to ED due to improper receipt or disbursement of Title IV funds) and/or fines (more serious misconduct or other violations).

Schools usually have up to four weeks to prepare for the review but may have a shorter time frame depending on when the announcement is made and when the review is scheduled to begin. Four weeks or less is a tight time frame for such a review and can throw an institution into a frenzy to secure all required documents as well as determine if there are any issues to be aware of prior to the review. One way to relieve much of the stress of preparation is to have an outside consulting firm (with professional staff experienced in Title IV regulations and Federal Program Reviews) conduct an Operational Review ahead of time, to determine if the school meets Title IV compliance standards and if there are problem areas that can be remedied prior to any Federal review. Operational Reviews, such as the ones conducted by Attain Partners’ experts, are comprehensive and often more thorough than some Federal Program Reviews.

What happens during an Attain Partners Operational Review, and how does it help your institution? Our comprehensive assessment evaluates the people, processes, and technology that comprise your financial aid operations. Following our review, we provide schools with a customized action plan to reduce compliance risks, improve efficiencies, and streamline the flow of paper and electronic data.

Similar to a federal program review, our assessment starts with an on-campus or virtual visit during which we interview staff, and review institutional eligibility documents, policies and procedures, and student files. We also analyze the staffing level and expertise in the financial aid office, examine how operations are coordinated at the institution, and evaluate the general use of technology to support financial aid processing.

By conducting an inventory of existing policies and procedures and reviewing how the policies and procedures are applied in a sampling of student files, we can help uncover any processing gaps or compliance shortfalls. We then provide detailed recommendations to help put you on the right track for meeting applicable regulatory requirements and best practices.

Attain Partners’ comprehensive assessment will help ensure your school is prepared for a Federal Program Review; and we will specifically review areas that are identified by ED as part of their Top 10 Program Review Findings:

Top Ten Program Review Findings

Student Status – Inaccurate/Untimely Reporting
Return to Title IV (R2T4) Calculation Errors
Entrance/Exit Counseling Deficiencies
Verification Violations
Consumer Information Requirements Not Met
Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy Not Adequately Developed/Monitored
Student Credit Balance Deficiencies
Lack of Administrative Capability
Account Records Inadequate/Not Reconciled
Crime Awareness Requirements Not Met

Your institution has already been selected for a Federal Program Review. How can you obtain assistance with preparation? Attain Partners can assist with preparation for a Federal Program Review as well as resolution of findings and responses to ED. Our consultants have decades of experience both working in college and university financial aid offices as well as consulting with schools in need of our services. Contact us directly at [email protected] with any questions or to learn more about our services.

About the Authors

Rhonda Pickerel is a Manager in Attain Partners’ Education, Nonprofit, and Commercial Services practice and oversees the Financial Aid Management and Student Services (FAMSS) division. She has over 30 years of financial aid and higher education experience working with public universities and colleges, as well as private, for-profit, and nonprofit institutions. During her 14-year career as a consultant, she has managed several financial aid reviews for clients, including “mock” program reviews, Title IV compliance reviews, processing reviews, and general operational reviews.

Julie Setzer is a Senior Specialist in the Financial Aid Management and Student Services (FAMSS) division of Attain Partners’ Education, Nonprofit, and Commercial Services practice. She has over 34 years of financial aid and higher education experience working with public colleges and universities as well as private nonprofit institutions. During her six years as a consultant, she has provided interim management services at a number of schools as well as taken part in several “mock” program reviews, Title IV compliance reviews, processing reviews, and general operational reviews.

Executive Management: Considerations for Focusing on the F&A Future—Part 2: Understanding Your Utility Costs During COVID-19

February 8, 2021/in Higher Education, Research, Thought Leadership Monika Moses, Tony Benigno/by Joe DePalma

COVID-19, campus shutdowns, shrinking budgets, and F&A rate extensions require that administrators consider the investment in research and impact on future years’ F&A rates. More than ever before colleges and universities are planning for the next rate proposal and examine techniques to identify and optimize cost allocation to benefitting activities. For example, many institutions took advantage of the opportunity to defer F&A proposals based on FY20 until FY21. In this four-part blog series, we examine the considerations of four important initiatives including: a diagnostic review to improve costing processes via a dry run exercise; the benefits of proper utility metering; updating capital asset depreciation expense; and the evolution of the library infrastructure.

Part 1: Why Dry Runs are Important

Part 2: Understanding Your Utility Costs During COVID-19

The knee-jerk reaction we have heard many times is that institutions are reluctant to prepare a F&A cost proposal because of the uncertainty around costs, including utilities. Most assume that utility costs are lower than normal in response to closures at the institution, but is that true?

Before we get to that, let us take a moment to understand the importance and relationship of the F&A, utility costs, and metering. The O&M cost pool represents the largest uncapped pool and can account for over 15 points of the Facilities component of the F&A rate. Utility costs are normally the largest component of the O&M pool and are identified to the building based on utility consumption meters.

A closer look at recent actual metered data have spotlighted some surprising results. Though we have seen decreases in utility usage and corresponding cost, we have also seen many instances of no change in utility usage (when taking into account degree-days) or even an increase in utility costs related to the age of building (e.g., increased airflow rates, older building control systems not having the ability to address partial occupancy, longer ‘occupied’ periods as physical distancing requires occupancy to be spread out, etc.). Campus wide, there can be significant variations in utility consumption on a building type basis such a research, medical, classroom, administrative, housing.

A closer analysis of utility usage and cost using building metered consumption is an important step when considering when to approach your next F&A rate proposal. If you are not yet in your base year, now is a good time to do a review of your system and replace/service meters in need so you can make an informed decision.

Note: This article was first published in the January/February Issue of the NCURA magazine. Download the PDF here.

About the Authors

Tony Benigno is a Specialist Leader with Attain Partners’ Education, Nonprofit, and Commercial Services practice. Tony has more than 25 years of experience in the HVAC industry, ranging from routine assessments and troubleshooting of existing meters and collection and reporting systems, to Project Management, Commissioning, and M&V related to the identification and recovery of utility and utility related costs including, but not limited to, F&A rate proposals.

Monika Moses, PE is a Leader with Attain Partners’ Education, Nonprofit, and Commercial Services practice. Monika has more than 25 years of engineering experience, including energy benchmarking, energy utilization studies, conceptual design and implementation of metering programs, costing studies for cogeneration systems, and identification of strategies to improve the allocation of costs in the Operation and Maintenance cost pool.

Person holding smartphone showing mail notification

Check Under the Hood of Your Email Automation Engines

February 1, 2021/in Digital Engagement, Email Marketing, Higher Education, Nonprofit, Salesforce, Thought Leadership Aaron Beatty/by Maureen Goldman

One of the best parts of any enterprise-scale email service provider is the opportunity to think through communications a customer or constituent should receive, and to add in automations wherever you can. To recall an oft-quoted Ron Popeil infomercial, this gives you the opportunity to “just set it and forget it.”

Though we would never truly recommend that you “forget” your automations, the concept does allow the over-worked marketer the opportunity to spend time on other parts of the role that can’t be so easily automated.

Due to the global pandemic, it’s definitely a good time to review your automations. Many of the images and words that previously evoked feel-good, happy thoughts and feelings now may evoke disgust, fear, anger, or dread. For a brand, university, or nonprofit, that can read as a, “What were they thinking?” in the inbox.

First, review any images in your outbound automated email campaigns. Look for images where people are not socially distanced, large crowds, or friends close together. Consider replacing them with pictures where people are further apart or masked. Look for images of touching, handshakes, or close-talking that could also make viewers uncomfortable. Your general litmus test should be: Would this image be accompanying a headline in the newspaper about how we should or shouldn’t behave in these times?

Email Automation, Attain Partners

Second, review your copy and consider the messaging and tone. For many people, this is a time of high anxiety, job loss, and depression. Ensure that your copy is helping to alleviate these potential concerns and not evoke them. Text that includes messaging about taking vacations, dining out, and visiting with friends can feel especially tone-deaf during this time. In fact, it may better serve your needs to write about your current experience—Is your daughter walking into your Zoom frame every five minutes? Is your husband loudly talking on his Teams call while you are giving a presentation? Does your dog suddenly freak out when the locusts whack into the window? If you live it, feel free to use it—it’s real!

Marketing automation is an incredibly powerful tool, and with the promise of easier-to-use tools and AI, all evidence points to increasing utility over time. But the hidden danger of automation is the rapidly-changing environment that we now face—an environment that changes the context, implication, and tone for all our communications. Let this post serve as a friendly reminder to review those automations and set a reminder for yourself to review them every few months moving forward. Our culture is constantly evolving and we must make sure our automations keep pace with that change.

Connect With Us

Want more information? Check out our quick video blog on the topic.

Contact us at [email protected] with any questions, to get additional details, or to schedule a demo. Our experts will provide you with the insights you need to get the most out of your digital engagement strategy.
Explore blog posts from Attain Partners’ Salesforce Digital Engagement team.

About the Author

Aaron Beatty is a Senior Manager in Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group and leads the Digital Engagement team. Aaron has been working with commercial, nonprofit, and higher education clients to help them get the most out of their Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Pardot investments. He loves the opportunity to automate complex tasks in the world of digital engagement, saving clients precious time and energy.

Woman looking at news article on desktop computer in library

Executive Management: Considerations for Focusing on the F&A Future—Part 1: Why Dry Runs are Important

January 27, 2021/in Higher Education, Research, Thought Leadership David Moore/by Olivia Pycha

COVID-19, campus shutdowns, shrinking budgets, and F&A rate extensions require that administrators consider the investment in research and impact on future years’ F&A rates. More than ever before colleges and universities are planning for the next rate proposal and examine techniques to identify and optimize cost allocation to benefitting activities. For example, many institutions took advantage of the opportunity to defer F&A proposals based on FY20 until FY21. In this four-part blog series, we examine the considerations of four important initiatives including: a diagnostic review to improve costing processes via a dry run exercise; the benefits of proper utility metering; updating capital asset depreciation expense; and the evolution of the library infrastructure.

Part 1: Why Dry Runs are Important

Regardless of the base year or situation, all institutions can benefit from performing a dry run ahead of their next F&A base year submission. Dry runs allow institutions to diagnostically analyze the expenditure data, sponsored awards, facilities occupancy, capital spending, supporting systems, and human resources required to prepare the F&A cost proposal. The dry run is performed using the pre-base year. The diagnostic review will render findings and conclusions directed towards ensuring compliance and optimizing F&A cost reimbursement.

Much of the data that is used in a F&A proposal has counterintuitive impacts on the calculated rates. For example, one may think that an increase in research expenditures will result in a higher calculated F&A rate. However, unless the indirect expenses associated with the research have increased at the same rate as the direct expenses, the calculated rate will likely be lower.

Looking at the state of the dataset is a low-effort, high-impact endeavor. More broadly, the following questions are examples of areas that should be assessed to complete the review.

When was the space occupancy data last updated?
When was a physical moveable equipment inventory performed?
Are buildings componentized to accelerate depreciation expense?
Are utility meters working correctly?
Are utility meters installed at separate individual buildings?
What is the trend of library expenses with growing digital services?
Are research expenditures higher or lower than the last submission?
How much cost-sharing needs to go into the proposal?

The benefits of a dry run should help executives and administrators to make informed decisions based on data analysis to answer questions like:

What opportunities are available to ensure compliance and to optimize cost recovery that can be implemented before the close of the base year?
Should we consider a multi-year rate extension?
Do we have the human resources to dedicate to the preparation of the F&A proposal? How much consulting expertise do we require?
Are the current costing systems (cost modeling system, space management, fixed assets) adequate to support the documentation required for the F&A proposal?

The questions above are meant to provoke insight and they can be answered without exhaustive effort. If followed appropriately, making enhancements and corrections before the close of the base year should ensure the ideal recovery of indirect costs.

Note: This article was first published in the January/February Issue of the NCURA magazine. Download the PDF here.

About the Author

David Moore is a Manager in Attain Partners’ Education, Nonprofit, and Commercial Services practice. Since 2005, he has specialized in guiding higher education and academic medical center institutions on F&A proposal preparation and negotiation, F&A diagnostic reviews, space functional usage studies, service center rate calculations, and other costing issues. He is also the solution manager for AttainSpace and AttainRate. Mr. Moore is a frequent presenter at conferences, webcasts, and webinars on these subjects.

Attain Partners at Nonprofit Dreamin 2021

January 21, 2021/in Events, Nonprofit, Salesforce, Salesforce Community Aaron Crosman/by Olivia Pycha

This fall, I was invited to join the Nonprofit Dreamin planning committee. “Dreamin” events are community-driven events in the Salesforce ecosystem and this one is the first major event planned BY the nonprofit community FOR the nonprofit community. Attain Partners encouraged me to spend time supporting the planning and marketing of this inaugural event and as the event took shape, Attain Partners came on board as a sponsor as well.

As someone who has worked for and with nonprofit organizations for nearly 20 years, it has been exciting to be part of a project with so many people whose experiences exceed my own. I offered my expertise in digital outreach to help coordinate and drive the marketing efforts. For me, those efforts aligned with one of the great joys I find working with nonprofit organizations day in and day out. By helping nonprofits improve their use of technology to advance their mission, I believe that I am making the world a better place for everyone and our shared community.

Coming together and learning from each other is the most powerful force for change. I have observed that the nonprofit community gets much of its strength from collaboration. It is at events like this that we catalyze each other to think creatively about how to harness the power of technology to achieve our missions.

While we cannot fully replace the experience of meeting someone new over lunch, we are trying to use everything we’ve learned from a year of virtual conferences. We want to make this conference more than just a series of one-way broadcasts. In that spirit, one of the elements I am really excited about are the ‘collaborative spaces’. In addition to great sessions on tools like Outbound Funds, process improvements like demystifying Agile, and community improvement like the DEI panel, we have also layered in spaces for collaborative and one-on-one meetings. A great opportunity to connect, learn and collaborate!

So, please join us as we all come together to support, grow, and expand our knowledge. Nonprofit Dreamin will have something for everyone, from people still considering Salesforce and long-time practitioner like me.

Want to learn more?

Contact us at [email protected] with any questions, to get additional details, or to discover how we can support your organization.

About the Author

Aaron Crosman is a Senior Specialist in Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group. After a decade working IT and Digital Communications for a nonprofit, Aaron moved to consulting to help organizations create first-class online communications systems. He specializes in Drupal development and Salesforce integrations for our nonprofit and higher education clients.

Illustration of laptop with business graphics

Key Strategies for Successful Data Migration

January 21, 2021/in Best Practices, Nonprofit, Salesforce, Thought Leadership Deepa Bedi/by Olivia Pycha

Considering moving to Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud? The key to a successful project is successful data migration; and that starts with the health of your data. Addressing data quality, cleanliness, governance, and stewardship in advance builds trust and maximizes user adoption, efficiencies, and accurate reporting for your internal and external users and stakeholders.

Reliable and accessible data enables you to better and more rapidly achieve your goals so that you can spend more time on mission-critical work. It also allows you to leverage the latest predictive analytic techniques for constituent engagement and retention.

Where to Begin?

The idea of data migration can be daunting and complex. Careful planning, expectation setting, and execution is needed to accelerate onboarding and to avoid frustration and budget overrun later.

To successfully plan and strategically manage your data migration, adhere to the following key principles.

Identify Your Data Experts & Super Users

Identify and engage your existing data experts. These are individuals using the system daily and have a deep understanding of the ways in which data enter and leave the system. Make sure they understand the time commitment and level of involvement needed before the project begins.

Establish a Well-defined Process for Decision Making

Be ready to answer important questions such as: What data should be migrated? What should be archived? How do we translate the data? Which processes need to remain the same? Which can be made more efficient? Have you prioritized these items?

Communicate & Set Realistic Expectations

Ensure that your core and ancillary teams consist of users across departments and functional areas. Communicate early and often throughout the process through weekly office hours, internal newsletters, small demos, etc.

Establish a Practical Data Governance Plan

The plan should include data cleansing, data security, data entry, and stewardship rules and processes. Your data must continue to be visible and open to your users, otherwise user adoption may be threatened.

Identify Areas of Process Improvements

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to improve, and don’t get bogged down with a no-data-left-behind mentality. Focus on what you NEED moving forward, not how things have been done in the past. Identify critical reports for each functional area that teams will need in Salesforce on day one.

What’s Next?

Make sure you’re ready for the move by getting up to speed on all things Salesforce. Trailhead is a great way to gain a foundational understanding of the Salesforce platform and its capabilities. Check out the Focus on your Data module, which includes useful links on data quality, data archive, and duplicate handling, to help you better understand the nuances of the Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud.

Want to Learn More?

Contact us with any questions, to get additional details, or to discover how we can support your Salesforce migration project. Attain Partners’ team of data migration experts can help you think through your data migration strategy, data governance plan, as well as execute a successful migration with great care.

About the Author

Deepa Bedi is a Principal at Attain Partners delivering Salesforce services and solutions to clients. She has led over 100 transformational cloud-based implementations and integration projects for our higher education, nonprofit, and healthcare clients to help them achieve business success. Deepa has been engaged in the Salesforce ecosystem for over 15 years and is passionate about enabling nonprofits and higher education institutions to achieve their missions through customer-centric technology solutions.

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Introducing Admissions Connect – Scale for Speed, Flexibility, and Maximum Engagement

November 19, 2020/in Higher Education, Salesforce, Thought Leadership Alanna Steffens, Kaia Brown/by Josue

We know that this year, more than any other, has created opportunities for change. That’s no exception for Salesforce.org which has a major change on the horizon, and we couldn’t be more excited. It has been a persistent challenge for our customers to implement a cost-effective, low-technical debt solution to address recruiting and admissions.

The recruiting and admissions part of the student lifecycle is frequently regarded as the key first step in introducing CRM to higher education institutions looking to gain visibility and efficiency while increasing the quality of prospects. From undergraduate, to graduate, non-degree, and lifelong learner programs, Salesforce’s Education Cloud has allowed customers to increase enrollments by an average of 11% over three years.

With the release of Admissions Connect, institutions are one step closer to a complete 360-degree view of their constituents. As Salesforce prepares to launch Admissions Connect, it’s a great time for institutions to evaluate if your current recruiting and admissions solution is meeting your goals.

Introducing Admissions Connect

Salesforce is rolling out its newest Education Cloud offering, Admissions Connect, an EDA-based Recruiting and Admissions solution. Admissions Connect will provide increased flexibility to recruiting and admissions teams, with a unified student view to maximize productivity and engagement. With built-in SIS integration support, Admissions Connect enables teams to quickly leverage application data to maximize constituent engagement.

Admissions Connect Screen Shot

Is Admissions Connect Right for Your Institution?

We believe the answer is yes. But if you need proof, review the questions below:

Do you struggle to support multiple prospecting streams for undergraduate, graduate, non-traditional, and lifelong learner programs?

Are you supporting and managing multiple complex integrations to other systems?
Are you leveraging native Salesforce architecture (EDA, NPSP) that supports enterprise growth?
Are your event management and email marketing solutions leaving you with blind spots that prevent you from effectively scoring prospects?
Are prospects dropping off during the application and recruitment process, but you can’t understand why?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then Admissions Connect on Salesforce may be the next step in your institution’s journey. Our team would be happy to talk with you about our experience with institutions going through a similar evaluation, help you determine the right path forward, and support you along the different stages of that journey.

How can I get started with Admissions Connect?

Contact us at [email protected] with any questions, for additional details, or to schedule a demo. We will show you how you can incorporate Admissions Connect into your overall vision for a cloud-based, unified constituent experience.

Attain Partners has achieved the rank of Expert in Education Cloud, Salesforce’s highest recognition for consulting partners. As a Premier Partner with Salesforce.org, Attain Partners has contributed to the evolution of solutions under the Education Cloud, including the new Recruiting and Admission offering, Admissions Connect. Our team provided essential design input and feedback for Education Data Architecture (EDA), Advisor Link, and Gift Entry Manager (GEM). Salesforce’s commitment to the expansion of Education Cloud features allows clients to stay native, reducing maintenance needs and priming institutions for scale.

About the Authors

Alanna Steffens Headshot

Alanna Steffens is the Practice Lead of Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group. With almost 10 years in the Salesforce ecosystem, her experience in higher education spans the student-facing lifecycle and support for backend management functions. Alanna has led several successful large-scale recruiting and admissions projects, and gladly welcomes the Admissions Connect product into the suite of tools available for our clients within the Education Cloud.

Kaia Brown Headshot

Kaia Brown is a Senior Delivery Manager in Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group. After five years in the healthcare industry working as a Salesforce Product Owner, Kaia made the move to consulting to help commercial, nonprofit, and higher education clients maximize their Salesforce ROI. She currently leads enterprise technology transformations for our nonprofit and higher education clients, with a focus on creating unified experiences for teams and the constituents they serve.

Extending Salesforce Accounting Subledger for Oregon State University Ecampus

November 10, 2020/in Higher Education, Salesforce, Thought Leadership David Bruce, Jeff Cowgill, Kaia Brown/by [email protected]

Initially designed with nonprofit fundraising in mind, Salesforce’s Accounting Subledger can also significantly benefit universities that need to manage complex transactions with payables, receivables, and interdepartmental transfers. Many departments use CRMs like Salesforce to track grants, services, and more. Subledger provides a way to link operational data effectively and efficiently with financial systems and creates efficiency by reducing or eliminating manual processes.

As a Salesforce.org partner since 2005 that has implemented over 800 higher education and nonprofit projects, Attain Partners was invited to contribute to and collaborate on key design decisions in the development of this new package. We were excited to be the first implementation partner to enable this essential functionality for a client this summer, giving the organization more time to engage with their constituents and less time working on accounting.

Oregon State University Ecampus (OSU) sought a solution to streamline their online course and program development systems and financial operations. Their interdepartmental transfers relied heavily on highly manual and redundant steps and involved manipulation of multiple spreadsheets.

Attain Partners implemented and configured Subledger to securely manage payments and reconcile ledger entries in the format required by Banner Financials. Attain Partners has worked directly with Salesforce on the development of Subledger and selected it for OSU to add the rigor and transparency they needed for its financial operations. To complement this, Attain Partners leveraged native Salesforce reports and dashboards to provide other Ecampus groups detailed insights across each stage of their operations. Why Subledger?

Limits technical debt – no need to maintain complex, custom code
Future proof – solution maintained alongside Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP)
Ad hoc reporting – takes advantage of native Salesforce reporting
Rapid prototyping and testing – quickly builds trust between functional teams and finance

Reduced risk – uses codified and automated standards of data processing
Data transparency – provides predictable information between groups
Clicks not code – uses declarative code to update or adjust solution

How can I get started with Subledger?

Contact us at [email protected] with any questions, to get additional details, or to discover how we can support incorporating Subledger into your overall vision.
Watch Attain Partners’ free, on-demand webinar: Seven Ways to Get More out of Salesforce with Subledger
Review the Salesforce Accounting Subledger product guide for an overview of the features.
Request a demo by reaching out to us or your Salesforce Account Executive to explore this licensed product.

For more information about Oregon State University Ecampus, visit Ecampus.oregonstate.edu.

Trailblazing the Attain Partners Way

November 3, 2020/in Higher Education, Nonprofit, Salesforce, Thought Leadership Austin Wilson/by Joe DePalma

Salesforce’s mission is to empower organizations to connect with their audiences in a whole new way. The on-demand training modules of Salesforce’s Trailhead program make it even easier to use as they provide no-barrier access and an equal playing field for adopting the cloud. Whether you are a super user or accidental admin, Trailhead supplies essential resources to navigate all the features offered by Salesforce.

After several years working in the Salesforce ecosystem, here are my recommendations for Trailheads that will get you and your team on the right track to achieve your CRM goals:

New Content Releases

With the Spring 20’ Release, Salesforce moved away from three maintenance exams a year to just one; you might decide to focus less on Trailhead and more on work at hand. However, much like staying up-to-date with the world news, staying current with Salesforce’s new releases, both monthly and annually, is critical to staying on top of changes coming to your org. Keep up with emerging trends like Contact Tracing for COVID-19 to learn how Salesforce is developing solutions to help organizations contain the virus and keep your workforce safe.

Training Your Team

Change at any scale is never an easy undertaking, and adopting a new platform can be an even greater challenge. Preparing your team for upcoming change is essential for a successful technical initiative. Attain Partners’ Prosci certified change management experts strongly recommend helping your first-time users gain confidence in Salesforce by taking a couple of Trailheads, preparing them for further training and setting them up for post-implementation success. By taking this step, users have a sense of ownership, and are significantly more prepared for change.

Making Your Mark

If you do not already have an Administrator certification, it is an absolute necessity in your Salesforce journey. It validates that you have the baseline knowledge of the Salesforce platform and is a requirement for all other certification paths. Preparing for your Administrator certification can feel like a sprint or a marathon, but with proper preparation, it can be achieved. If you pass on the first try, that is definitely a reason to celebrate! If you do not pass, don’t stress! Review the areas where you can improve, and make a game plan to focus on those in your studying.

Migrating to Lightning

If you haven’t migrated to Lightning yet, the sun is setting, and it is always better to ride the wave than to crash with it. Salesforce develops new Lightning- only features that offer competitive, if not better features, than Classic. If you want to be amazed at what Lightning can offer, check out Salesforce’s whitepaper on Lightning Only Features.

Now What?

If you have not already utilized Trailhead, then now is the time, proceed to Trailhead and follow the trail that most closely aligns with your role and experience level. In addition to Salesforce’s curated content, Trailmixes created by industry experts provide relevant modules and external links. Can’t find the right trail? Create your own Trailmix for you or your team that meets your needs by visiting Trailhead.

Still unsure of which path to take? Attain Partners offers expert services to guide your journey with Trailhead, Marketing Cloud, and more. Reach us directly at [email protected].

Attain Partners has extensive experience working with our clients to deliver transformative solutions. A key component of this success is guiding users and admins with Trailhead to get the most out of their Salesforce investment. We have helped many organizations transition to Lightning as well as to the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) and Education Data Architecture (EDA). Team Attain Partners’ deep expertise with Salesforce implementations, digital transformation, and change management combined with your investment in Trailhead create a solid foundation to promote a smooth and successful cloud implementation.

About the Author

Austin Wilson is a consultant in Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group. In addition to working with nonprofits and higher education institutions, he has experience working with federal agencies. Austin is currently studying for his seventh Salesforce certification with the help of Trailhead.
By Austin Wilson, Consultant

2020 Giving Tuesday Preparation Checklist

October 12, 2020/in Fundraising, Nonprofit, Salesforce Aaron Crosman/by Josue

2020 has certainly been a wild ride thus far. While the passing of time has ebbed and flowed, end-of-year deadlines are approaching at a frenzied pace. Believe it or not, Giving Tuesday 2020 is less than two months away. With so much happening this year, many organizations that would normally be well into preparations are suddenly scrambling to get started.

Maybe you’re just jumping into the fray, or perhaps you are mid-preparation. Either way, Giving Tuesday will be here soon, and nonprofits need to be ready. With the added complexity of an election year and the economic impact of the pandemic, it is more important than ever to end the year on a high note.

At the best of times, none of us know what will happen two months from now—and 2020 hasn’t been a year to try to predict—but there is still time to prepare and be ready to take full advantage of Giving Tuesday. To help make sure that your organization is ready, here is my 2020 preparation checklist:

Elections Matter – Win or Lose, Be Ready

If your organization is involved in politics, political issues, or social causes, you understand the significant impact a major election can have on your fundraising. If donors think of your mission as an outlet for their political ideals—or the challenges you address will be resolved by a shift in power—the election may impact their attitude toward giving in the weeks following the election.

While crafting your strategy and content, take the different potential outcomes of the election into account. Create different versions that you can revise and refine based on the events as they are unfolding. Just because you don’t know today what will happen, doesn’t mean you cannot plan ahead by creating a version of events that feels like a win for your audience and a second that feels like a loss. Remember that what feels like a political win may be a revenue loss if you don’t emphasize the ongoing importance of your work in the new year. If your target audience is divided, you still need to understand how their opinions about the election may impact their feelings toward you and what you say three weeks later.

Data Matters – Stop Putting Off the Cleanup

Start by looking at last year’s data and setting metrics and goals for success this year. Break last year’s giving information down hour-by-hour and set hourly goals that allow you to track your progress over the course of the day.

Next, make sure your email lists are organized and ready to go. Depending on your email tool and strategy, the details here can vary. Regardless, data owners and stewards should be working now to make sure that they have all the data they need, that audience segmentations are set up correctly, and that your organization can quickly and reliably execute on the delivery plan.

Filtering out email addresses known to be undeliverable and removing the stale contacts that never open or click on your messages will improve deliverability and give you a more accurate view of what is happening in the moment. The first time I removed inactive addresses it felt like my list was shrinking, but in truth we had already lost people’s attention. After the cleanup, we had a much better picture of what was really happening, and we began to see our open and click-through rates improve.

Practice Matters – Giving Tuesday is NOT the Day to Break in a New Tool

The current generation of email tools and CRM databases is varied and immensely powerful. While Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group focuses primarily on the implementation and enhancement of Salesforce-specific marketing automation products such as Pardot and Marketing Cloud, we do not recommend sending your first message using these tools on Giving Tuesday. During the high-stress giving time at the end of the year, it’s better to be reliable than to be perfect.

Even with tools you already know well, you’ll want to find ways to practice and test your plans. Create lists of your colleagues and friends that you can segment and target to send your trial messages. Test all the options on your giving page well in advance. If you have backup plans and tools to use, make sure you thoroughly test those as well.

It is also critical that you are prepared to monitor the health of the system in real time so you will know quickly if something is going wrong. Validate that your data passes all the way through your various systems—including your main accounting ledgers—smoothly and reliably.

How can I get help preparing for Giving Tuesday?

The team and I would be happy to help you prepare for Giving Tuesday. Attain Partners offers easy-to-access support and expert services, including assessments and implementation efforts, to help your development teams realize the best giving year yet. Contact us at [email protected] with any questions, to get additional details, or to discover how we can support your fundraising efforts leveraging Salesforce.

About the Author

Aaron Crosman is a Senior Specialist in Attain Partners’ Salesforce Services Group. After a decade working IT and Digital Communications for a nonprofit, Aaron moved to consulting to help organizations create first-class online communications systems. He specializes in Drupal development and Salesforce integrations for our nonprofit and higher education clients.