Salesforce announces a strengthened commitment to its Power of Us program with more free and discounted products and implementation services, and additional self-learning opportunities for nonprofits and education institutions.
Powerful CRM technology doesn’t just belong to the business community: It belongs to everyone.
Salesforce has a long-standing commitment to make sure that the very best CRM technology is available for free or discounted to eligible nonprofits, schools, universities, and colleges. For the last 22 years, through the Power of Us program and as part of the 1:1:1 model, Salesforce has offered nonprofits and educational institutions 10 free licenses, industry data models like Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), and other free and discounted products.
In Fiscal Year 2021 alone, this multi-pronged approach has totaled more than $1.45 billion in technology donations and pro bono support to nonprofit organizations around the world.
Democratizing access to technology with strengthened commitment
Today, Salesforce announced it will strengthen this commitment with easier access, additional discounted products and implementation services, and even more self-learning opportunities for eligible nonprofit and education organizations:
New and existing eligible users can access more discounted and free products and implementation services through a new Power of Us portal and improved program application process.
For no upfront costs, eligible organizations can also access Elevate*, Salesforce’s digital fundraising suite, to streamline their management of online donations with built-in payment processing donation pages.
- More affordable implementation services, powered by Capsule Services, and limited coaching enables eligible organizations in North America to get started with Elevate and other products.
- Nonprofits and education institutions can skill up through additional self-learning trails with 80 modules and projects developed by Salesforce.org available on Trailhead.
- And with continued free and discounted access to NPSP, eligible nonprofit organizations can use data to understand, personalize, and engage their constituents at scale.
“We know that access to technology can be one of the greatest tools for change; a way for nonprofits and education institutions to fundamentally change how they advance their missions,” said David Ragones, SVP and General Manager of Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud. “Adding these new capabilities to the Power of Us program is one step forward in breaking down barriers and creating a stronger, more equitable platform to help power Salesforce.org’s community purpose.”
Reimagining operating systems to combat rising rates of food insecurity
The UC Davis Food Pantry (The Pantry) – a Power of Us program participant – is one of many organizations that transformed their impact with better access to technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even before the pandemic, many students at UC Davis were struggling to purchase food, with over 40% of students experiencing food insecurity. When the pandemic hit, problems only got worse, causing many students to make the tough decision between paying for tuition or food.
“We quickly recognized that to meet student demands, we needed to improve inventory management and tracking at The Pantry,” explained Bryce Jacobs, UC Davis student and The Pantry’s Technical Projects Manager. “This meant adopting a fully digital solution so The Pantry could understand in real time what we needed, how much, and when.”
Working with a team of Salesforce pro bono volunteers and through the Power of Us technology donation program, a group of students built an inventory management system with the Salesforce.org Nonprofit Success Pack, enabling The Pantry to tackle challenges better than ever before.
After implementing the solution in September 2020, The Pantry has also added hygiene products to its inventory and developed a platform for online ordering so students can purchase items ahead of time.
Enhancing fundraising capabilities to help families experiencing homelessness
Another Power of Us organization, LA Family Housing (LAFH), saw a surge in demand for housing during the pandemic. The local community quickly responded to growing needs, doubling donations in 2020. But soon after, the LAFH gift processing team became overwhelmed with manual entries and was unable to keep up with the donations coming in.
LAFH needed to adjust their support services — and fast.
“While we had already started to digitize our processes before the pandemic, we knew our current model wasn’t sustainable to support current donation rates,” said Lelan Fernando, Individual Giving Manager for LAFH. “We decided to integrate Elevate into our existing solutions that were made available through the Power of Us program. The integration of these products enabled us to harness the energy of our donors –where we raised over $1 million in a single virtual fundraiser – and funneling it toward causes our community desperately needed.”
Upgrading manual processes to reduce isolation
Age UK and its network of affiliate chapters is a nonprofit that provides older adults with health services, wellbeing support, and a community they can rely on.
While the pandemic caused many people to experience severe levels of isolation, the Age UK community was disproportionately affected as a result of social distancing and lockdowns. Age UK Hythe & Lyminge, a regional chapter of Age UK, quickly realized they needed a digital system to stay connected with their community and support their needs.
With the Power of Us and Salesforce Pro Bono program, Age UK Hythe & Lyminge deployed a suite of Salesforce solutions to centralize contact details from lists provided by local health centers, create a flow-based script for volunteers to make calls and automate follow-up tasks, and effectively report insights to stakeholders.
“By automating many of our manual processes, our volunteers were able to make 18,000 wellness check calls to isolated seniors at the height of the pandemic,” said Cleo Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Age UK Hythe & Leminge. “Technology enabled us to meet community needs and scale in ways we couldn’t have imagined before.”
Breaking barriers to technology
From striving for zero hunger to creating a place to call home for everyone, technology can help nonprofits and educational institutions make change every day.
The UC Davis Food Pantry, LA Family Housing, and Age UK are just a few examples of what happens when power is shifted from the few to the many, breaking critical barriers to access.
Through newly expanded access to the Power of Us program, Salesforce.org aims to work side-by-side with organizations to deepen its impact in the nonprofit and education community for the next 20 years (and beyond).
Sign up for the Power of Us program and explore how equal access to technology can power nonprofits.
*Elevate Power of Us Edition is eligible for only U.S. customers. Transaction fees are based on the amount of funds raised, unless the donor chooses to offset them through the Donor Cover feature.
Organizations outside the U.S. have the power of the Salesforce.org ecosystem.
