Patrick Shaw’s Weblog

That’s a great question - and one that has a nuanced answer. You can start answering that question on your own by heading over to the Salesforce Foundation website to review their FAQ’s. While you’re their, you might also want to consider taking part in their every Tuesday morning web demo - between those two things - you should end up with a strong general sense regarding this tool’s fit for your agency.

Another way to think about Salesforce hinges on remote versus local: If you have a need or desire to host your data somewhere else and be able to access it (securely, of course!) via the internet - then tools that are web-based such as Salesforce or etapestry are good choices.

However - if your business practice or model requires you to house your data on site - then Salesforce probably isn’t for you.

Salesforce has a compelling offering - qualifying nonprofits receive up to 10 licenses and full support. Additionally, Salesforce offers terrific web-site integration - perfect for engaging and collecting donors or keeping track of your stakeholders.

There are many nonprofits using the tool - and some terrific information online, too. The team at Idealware has an article about Salesforce and Case Management tools you should read - and our team here at NPower Seattle is implementing Salesforce for local nonprofits already!