ECHO is out and about at this year’s Dreamforce conference, where we’ve been hearing a lot about the impact that Salesforce can have on the mission of nonprofits. Over 25,000 nonprofits now use Salesforce, and each nonprofit has unique requirements on how they want to leverage the power of Salesforce. Fundraising management is a common use, but many nonprofits also use Saleforce for program, volunteer, and event management.

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We’ve heard a lot here at Dreamforce about the impact that Salesforce can have. It’s mostly about effectiveness: 87% of nonprofits which use Salesforce report that their capacity to deliver on their core mission has increased. 53% say that their operational effectiveness is stronger with Salesforce handling the burden of back-office tasks. Much of this comes from better data: around two-thirds of nonprofit Salesforce users found that they now have better insights into their effectiveness through better data.

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Engagement with stakeholders and donors is the core of any nonprofit’s strategy, and Salesforce clearly helps with this as well. The ability to leverage data in order to communicate more effectively and more personally with those who are touched by a nonprofit is a key theme of Dreamforce this year. There is strong testimony to the effectiveness of Salesforce in this area: a third of users report higher fundraising levels, and an additional third say that their engagement with the community has increased as a result of implementation.

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The return on investment of a Salesforce implementation appears to be strong as well. 40% of nonprofits reported a decrease in I.T. costs as a result of using the platform. For these organizations, better mission effectiveness has a secondary financial perk as well.

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One of the Dreamforce highlights for ECHO was co-presenting with our customer Big Picture Learning. The presentation was focused on BPL’s successful use of Salesforce in its work-based learning program. With ECHO’s help, Big Picture Learning has built ImBlaze, an internship platform leveraging Salesforce. Big Picture Learning’s presentation discussed its success in leveraging a relatively small amount of philanthropic support to build a robust and engaging user experience through Salesforce that is enabling scaling of internship learning, and the disruption of high school education.

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As a strategic partner of Salesforce’s nonprofit program, ECHO is proud when clients like Big Picture Learning find new ways to make the world a better place. Our satisfaction comes from improving people’s lives, and this is one way we accomplish that goal.

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