Get Started with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Meet Salesforce for Nonprofits

At Salesforce we empower mission-based organizations with the technology needed to connect with donors, track volunteers, manage campaigns, support clients, and manage nearly everything else they need to do to succeed. We call this set of solutions and purpose-built products Salesforce for Nonprofits

Salesforce for Nonprofits includes apps, tools, features, services, and technology that can meet the unique needs of nonprofits. This includes the latest innovation from the Salesforce platform, including robust artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, and integration capabilities.  This combination empowers organizations to go from siloed data to actionable insights, transforming constituent engagements into lifelong relationships.

Understanding Salesforce Editions and Products

A Salesforce edition is a selected set of features and functionality that also specifies the amount of customization possible, as well as the data and file storage capacity, and access to application programming interfaces (APIs).

With the Power of Us license donation program, Salesforce.org customers can sign up for 10 Enterprise Edition (EE) licenses at no cost. A license is attached to a single user, so with 10 licenses, you can have 10 users logged in to your Salesforce org at one time. If you need additional licenses or products, you can purchase them at a deep discount by logging in and managing your subscriptions. As you review Salesforce documentation, log a Customer Support ticket, or ask for help from the community, it's vital to know the edition you're using. (While we strongly recommend Enterprise Edition for most organizations, you can learn about the other editions here.)

Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) and Program Management Module (PMM)

Typically, nonprofit Salesforce customers select Enterprise Edition (EE) and use one or more prebuilt apps to manage their business processes. NPSP and PMM are two popular options.

NPSP is the foundation of Salesforce for Nonprofits.  It provides a common data model that supports the entire constituent journey, including donation management, seasonal address management, campaign management, and preconfigured reports and dashboards.  Developed in collaboration with our partners and customer community, NPSP is entirely customizable, speeding up the time to a connected nonprofit and paving the way for continuous innovation.  NPSP comes pre-installed with your trial.

PMM is built to help mission-driven organizations connect people, processes, and data.  With prebuilt custom objects, page layouts, automation, customizable reports and dashboards, and easily integrated third-party apps, PMM provides organizations with a 360-degree view of their constituents and their program activities. Program Management Module works best when installed alongside NPSP .

Your Success Team

Every Salesforce.org customer has access to a Standard Success Plan from Salesforce that includes self-guided resources to get you started.

You also get access to community-based best practices and web-based support to help How to Create a Case on Salesforce Help.

If your organization is ready for enhanced support, resources, and training to drive adoption, then you can purchase a Premier Success Plan which is available at a deep discount to Salesforce.org customers. If you are interested in pricing for Premier Success, reach out to us via the Contact Me form.

Join the Community

Visit our online community for Salesforce nonprofit customers, certified partners, and staff. This is a place for you to get answers, build your Salesforce skills, share your expertise, and connect with other mission-driven organizations that use Salesforce!

Here are some useful groups to join.

• Salesforce.org Get Started Hub for best practices, resources, and to connect with other users who are just getting started
• Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) for questions, discussions, and best practices for organizations using NPSP
• Nonprofit Release Readiness for broadcast only announcements about product updates and releases

• Nonprofit and Education Mindshare ​ for keeping up with articles and events from ​ Salesforce.org ​ staff and our community

Trailblazer Community

The Trailblazer Community connects Salesforce communities from all sectors. Join to participate in general product discussions and to connect with your local community group.

Check out these groups to get started.

• Nonprofits Using Salesforce for organizations who are not current Salesforce.org customers but have questions about NPSP, PMM, or other apps

• ANZ Nonprofit Customers specifically for organizations based in Australia or New Zealand

Learning Paths

Our learning paths are an amazing collection of resources designed to help you get started and be successful with Salesforce for Nonprofits. We've organized multiple learning paths around your work. Check out our paths for Fundraising, Program Management, Constituent Engagement, and Analytics.

Each step of the journey contains resources (videos, Trailhead, documentation, and more) to get you up-to-speed quickly with how to use Salesforce technology.  Choose your path and start learning!

Attend a Live Event

Join a live online session to gain new insights or ask an expert for answers to your questions.

Visit the Customer Success Events calendar and filter by your language or region to stay in the loop on the latest events and webinars from Salesforce Customer Success.  This is also where you will find our video library.