NPSP vs. Standard Objects: How Salesforce Powers Nonprofits

The Relationship Between NPSP and Salesforce Standard Objects

Author

Akanksha Singh

June 10, 2024

Salesforce is a powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for managing various data needs, including those specific to nonprofits. However, nonprofits often require additional functionalities tailored to donation management, volunteer tracking, and program administration. Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), a free app built on Salesforce, is designed to meet these unique nonprofit needs.

What is Salesforce NPSP?

The Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) is built on Salesforce CRM to cater to nonprofit requirements by adding custom fields and objects—such as donations, grants, programs, and volunteer management. NPSP extends Salesforce’s existing capabilities, giving nonprofits a complete view of their relationships and impact.

Key Standard Objects in Salesforce

Salesforce’s standard objects serve as foundational data containers and include Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, and Activities. These objects are integral for any CRM setup and can be adapted to fit nonprofit needs. Standard objects streamline data management and reporting, helping nonprofits manage relationships and improve service delivery.

How NPSP Utilizes and Extends Salesforce Standard Objects

NPSP builds upon these standard Salesforce objects to deliver a comprehensive CRM solution for nonprofits:

Accounts and Contacts: While accounts usually represent organizations in Salesforce, NPSP introduces “Households” to group related contacts (such as family members) under one entity. Nonprofit Cloud, a paid Salesforce upgrade, offers additional flexibility with Person Accounts for managing individual relationships more directly.
Opportunities: In standard Salesforce, opportunities track potential sales. In NPSP, they are adapted to track donations, grants, and memberships, empowering nonprofits to manage their fundraising pipeline and predict future contributions.
Activities and Tasks: Standard activities help nonprofits record interactions with donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries. NPSP uses these objects to track engagement and follow-up needs.
Custom Objects: Along with standard objects, NPSP introduces its own custom objects for managing donations, grants, programs, and volunteers, offering nonprofits a robust data management and reporting framework.

Benefits of Salesforce NPSP for Nonprofits

Using Salesforce NPSP in conjunction with standard objects offers many advantages for nonprofits, including:

Increased Efficiency: NPSP leverages standard CRM structures familiar to users, allowing nonprofits to implement a CRM system rapidly.
Improved Data Management: NPSP centralizes nonprofit data—such as donor records, volunteer activities, and program metrics—leading to better data accuracy and decision-making.
Enhanced Reporting: The combined reporting capabilities of Salesforce and NPSP enable nonprofits to generate detailed reports on fundraising progress, program impact, and donor trends.
Scalability: Built on Salesforce’s scalable platform, NPSP can evolve with a nonprofit’s growth, ensuring that data management and reporting capabilities expand as needed.

Considering the Upgrade to Nonprofit Cloud

While NPSP is a valuable, free tool, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud offers additional features beyond NPSP for a more comprehensive nonprofit solution:

Person Accounts: Unlike NPSP’s Household Accounts, Nonprofit Cloud utilizes Person Accounts to enhance flexibility in managing individual relationships.
Program Management: Nonprofit Cloud provides tools for tracking program participation, outcomes, and impacts, making it ideal for nonprofits with complex service offerings.
Marketing Cloud Integration: With built-in integration with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Nonprofit Cloud can support nonprofits in achieving better donor acquisition and retention through targeted outreach campaigns.

Conclusion

Salesforce NPSP enhances CRM functionality by combining standard and custom objects tailored for nonprofit needs. From streamlined data management to advanced reporting, NPSP provides a powerful CRM foundation for nonprofits. Upgrading to Nonprofit Cloud can offer additional benefits as your organization grows, including person-centric accounts, comprehensive program management, and enhanced marketing capabilities.

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