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Why and How to Use Leads
Leads are more temporary than Contacts. Use Leads to record that someone may be interested in interacting with your organization. Once you're confident the person is going to donate, volunteer, or engage with your organization in some way, convert that Lead to a Contact or Account.
- What is a Lead and How Does it Work?
Nonprofits can use Leads to document an expression of interest for any number of interactions, especially when there is a clear goal to qualify the interest before creating other records like a Contact. Defining a clear Lead process can help you collect data and convert the data into other records at the click of a button. - Leads vs. Contacts
We mentioned that Leads are typically used to qualify interest before creating a Contact, but you might still be wondering when to use one over the other. Think of it this way: Leads are more temporary than Contacts. Use Leads to record that someone may be interested in interacting with your organization in some way. - When to Use Leads (Examples)
Here are some common examples of how an org might use Leads. We also outlined at a high level what you'll need to set up in Salesforce if you'd like to use Leads in a similar way.
What is a Lead and How Does it Work?
Nonprofits can use Leads to document an expression of interest for any number of interactions, especially when there is a clear goal to qualify the interest before creating other records like a Contact. Defining a clear Lead process can help you collect data and convert the data into other records at the click of a button.
Traditionally, a Lead represents a sales prospect (a person or organization) that expresses interest in the goods or services a company offers.
From a standard Salesforce point of view, a Lead is a record that collects data about a prospect before you're sure that the person will have a lasting relationship with your organization. Leads in Salesforce have loads of built in functionality including field mapping, ownership auto-assignment, and the ability to convert to a Contact, Account, and Opportunity once you want to fully integrate them with the rest of your data. Also, the native Lead conversion process can be extended to trigger the creation of a custom object using Salesforce automation.
You don't have to be a money-making company to find Leads useful! Read on to discover some common use cases that can help you decide if Leads are right for your organization.
Leads vs. Contacts
We mentioned that Leads are typically used to qualify interest before creating a Contact, but you might still be wondering when to use one over the other. Think of it this way: Leads are more temporary than Contacts. Use Leads to record that someone may be interested in interacting with your organization in some way.
In addition, Leads are also a safe way to capture interest from your website while making sure you're not getting duplicate or spam records.
Once you feel confident the person is going to donate, volunteer, or engage with your organization in some way. convert that Lead to a Contact (or Account).
When to Use Leads (Examples)
Here are some common examples of how an org might use Leads. We also outlined at a high level what you'll need to set up in Salesforce if you'd like to use Leads in a similar way.
- Example 1: Organization Selling a Product
An organization working for racial justice is selling Black Lives Matter t-shirts to the community. A neighbor who wants to put in a large order fills out a general Contact Us Form on the organization's website, requesting information about bulk discounts. This request is recorded as a Lead. Once the organization confirms that the neighbor's interest is genuine, they convert the Lead to a Contact, Account, and Opportunity, and get that order out! - Example 2: Organization Recruiting Volunteers
An organization has strict guidelines for volunteers to participate in certain programs. The volunteer roles may require specific skills, certifications, or other prerequisites (such as background checks or security clearance). The org needs to understand how many applicants do not pass these tests, and who is currently in the qualification process. - Example 3: Organization Researching Potential Donors
An organization is collecting wealth data for prospective major donors who are identified through Board member referrals, demographic-based search, or other external means. Before adding these prospects to existing donor (Contact) records, the org wants to ensure they meet the engagement level criteria. - Example 4: Determining if People are Qualified to use an Organization's Services
People may call in, email, fill out a web form, or walk into a center looking for more information. Perhaps the organization can't provide services to the individual (for qualification reasons) or they lack resources that the person needs, but the organization is able to track the area of the constituent's need and refer them to another organization. Board members need to know where the unmet needs are to help with budgeting and strategy, and to communicate referrals to partner organizations.
Example 1: Organization Selling a Product
An organization working for racial justice is selling Black Lives Matter t-shirts to the community. A neighbor who wants to put in a large order fills out a general Contact Us Form on the organization's website, requesting information about bulk discounts. This request is recorded as a Lead. Once the organization confirms that the neighbor's interest is genuine, they convert the Lead to a Contact, Account, and Opportunity, and get that order out!
With this process, the organization can report on number of t-shirt inquiries, as well as how many of those inquiries turn into actual sales.
To set up a similar process in your org:
- Create a Web-to-Lead form and embed it on your website as a Contact Us form. This is a great way to capture interest about your product or service.
- Create and map custom fields:
- Create custom fields to track information particular to your products or services, such as t-shirt size.
- Map custom and standard Lead fields to corresponding fields on Contact, Account, and Opportunity. .
- Report on Lead conversion. Use standard Salesforce reports to report on how many inquiries turn into actual sales.
Example 2: Organization Recruiting Volunteers
An organization has strict guidelines for volunteers to participate in certain programs. The volunteer roles may require specific skills, certifications, or other prerequisites (such as background checks or security clearance). The org needs to understand how many applicants do not pass these tests, and who is currently in the qualification process.
The org can use Leads to track the applicant through the qualification process. Once the applicant is qualified, they can convert the Lead into a Contact.
To set this up in your org:
- Create a Web-to-Lead form and embed it on your website. This is the form that applicants can fill out to express interest in volunteering with your company.
- Set up your Lead statuses. Web-to-Lead forms are a great way to capture volunteer interest, but they also introduce a bunch of new Leads. You can use Lead Statuses to organize these new Leads.
- Create a Lead Dashboard to monitor applicants through the different stages of qualification.
Example 3: Organization Researching Potential Donors
An organization is collecting wealth data for prospective major donors who are identified through Board member referrals, demographic-based search, or other external means. Before adding these prospects to existing donor (Contact) records, the org wants to ensure they meet the engagement level criteria.
If they meet the criteria, the Lead is converted to a Contact or Account, and the information is handed off to the org's Development Officer.
To set this up in your org:
- Create custom fields that your NPO uses to qualify prospects. Once the Lead is converted, you can map these Lead fields to the fields on the subsequently created Contact, Account, or Opportunity record.
- Create Assignment Rules to automatically assign new Leads to users in your company, and notify them when a new Lead is created and assigned to them.
- Create Queues of multiple users in your org who can manage Leads. That way when staff are going on vacation, you can assign Leads to the Queue.
- Create an Engagement Plan and assign it to your Leads. Engagement Plans are predetermined sets of tasks that you can use to follow up on and engage with a Lead.
Example 4: Determining if People are Qualified to use an Organization's Services
People may call in, email, fill out a web form, or walk into a center looking for more information. Perhaps the organization can't provide services to the individual (for qualification reasons) or they lack resources that the person needs, but the organization is able to track the area of the constituent's need and refer them to another organization. Board members need to know where the unmet needs are to help with budgeting and strategy, and to communicate referrals to partner organizations.
To set this up in your org:
- Create a Web-to-Lead form and embed it on your website. People who come to your website can use this form to inquire about resources or services.
- Create custom fields to track the areas/services/resources that people are inquiring about. You can also create a lookup field so that you can track the Account(s) you're referring people to.
- Create reports to track inquiries that have and have not been converted (grouped by area).
