Tag Archives: CRM

7 Tips to Balance Database Management With Your Day Job

What’s one thing that development staff, volunteer coordinators, operations managers, HR and Program people all have in common?

At any time, we can become our org’s database admin, too.

“Accidental admin” is the term we’ve lovingly coined to all the database managers who never signed up for this. Typically the consequence of multiple-hat syndrome, these are the nonprofit professionals who were standing closest to the system at the time when their org desperately needed an admin.

Continue reading →

9 Resources Every Nonprofit Salesforce Admin Needs to Know

Are you the Salesforce Admin for your nonprofit? Was that always meant to be your role, or is it one you’re assuming because #multiplehats?

We have a phrase for those in the latter. We call you “accidental admins”, because so often that’s what nonprofit database administration is. It’s also how many of us got our start in Salesforce land.

Whether you’re in this for the long haul or desperately looking to break free, Salesforce can be overwhelming. It’s a a complex product, backed by a massive ecosystem. Where does one start?

Continue reading →

How to Coordinate Your Org’s Next Big Email Campaign

Lightbulb

Getting ready to send out an email campaign on behalf of your nonprofit?

If there’s one project that unifies (or divides!) departments most, it’s the email campaign. Volunteer managers, fundraisers, & program staff all need to email their constituents. Even the ops staff don’t get a break, as they’re often the ones putting those lists together for us!

But whether this is your first campaign or your fiftieth, this doesn’t have to be chaos.  A good process never hurt nobody, and you’ll definitely need one to execute something this important.

There’s a method to this particular nonprofit madness. Let’s talk email.

Continue reading →

7 Reasons Your Nonprofit Will Want to Move to Lightning

Okay, nonprofits. It’s time to move to Salesforce Lightning.

I know you love (or at least tolerate your disdain) for Salesforce Classic. I get that the idea of switching sounds like a nightmare! But surely you knew this was coming.

In case you’re a Salesforce admin who somehow hasn’t heard, Lightning is the newest Salesforce interface. Without intending to sound like a gimmicky salesperson, Lightning is the way of the future for Salesforce customers.

I mean really. We’re going from this…

Continue reading →

9 Tips To Effectively Manage Your Nonprofit’s Data

There are few things I love more than spreadsheets and data. If this blog was any indication.

And what a good time to feel this way! Technology has opened up a world of possibilities when it comes to data and the sector. Organizations are in a great place to ask the tough questions, and start gathering the necessary pieces to form those answers.

However, that doesn’t make this easy. In fact, data can be a giant question-mark: how do we use it, what do we collect, and how do we keep it all organized?

Continue reading →

An Introvert’s Nonprofit Career Story: 5 Lessons from My Switch to External Facing Work

Work trip turned mini vacation

INFP. The Myers Briggs test didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know. But it gave me a way to fit my skills, professional experience and personal interests into a neat little framework. Nearly 10 years later, I don’t think much has changed.

On this blog, you know me as Dee. In the real world, I’m a business systems manager for a nonprofit organization. It’s a catch-all title, meaning I manage our Salesforce database…but also, any other systems we might adopt. Because #multiplehats.

Getting here —in my career and this blog— hasn’t been a total accident! So I thought I’d share a bit about what that path has looked like for me.

Continue reading →