Over the last decade, grants management systems (GMS) have evolved from basic spreadsheets and databases to advanced cloud platforms. Salesforce stands out in this landscape with its key offerings, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (NPC) for Grantmaking and Amp Impact, both built on the Salesforce Platform. For 14 years, Vera Solutions has been developing portfolio management and impact measurement solutions on Salesforce, including over 100+ grant management systems. In this blog, we explain five reasons why Salesforce continues to be a top choice for grants management.
1. Prebuilt Standard Functionality for Grantmakers
Both NPC for Grantmaking and Amp Impact are Salesforce solutions designed for grants management, offering a complete solution from calls for proposals and application reviews to grantee portals for progress reporting. While Amp Impact offers more robust impact measurement and outcome management, NPC for Grantmaking brings additional tools like Interaction Summaries and Omnistudio. Amp Impact – used by organizations like the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Save the Children, and EIT Climate KIC – provides detailed features for tracking grant outcomes, indicators, targets, and results.
2. High Configurability
Salesforce-based solutions like Amp Impact and NPC for Grantmaking offer best-in-class flexibility. While Amp Impact typically covers 50-70% of what grantmakers need out-of-the-box, Salesforce provides the additional configurability needed to achieve a 100% solution. Grantmakers can easily create and adjust templates for applications, reviews, and reports using a drag-and-drop form building tool. Salesforce’s Flow functionality can automate tasks like application reminders and review assignment, reducing manual work. Global humanitarian organization Save the Children effectively uses Salesforce and Amp Impact to track and manage grantee metrics and results.
3. Interoperability
Salesforce’s APIs are incredibly powerful for integrating the platform with other tools. The Salesforce ecosystem includes many pre-built connectors, so you don’t need to replace existing tools for email, document management, HR, finance, and marketing. You can integrate with form tools like Formstack or FormAssembly, financial systems like NetSuite or Business Central, HR systems like Sage People or Workday, and business intelligence tools like Tableau and Power BI.
4. Community of Practice
In the last 20 years, Salesforce has been widely adopted by the nonprofit community, with over 50,000 nonprofits using the platform. At Vera Solutions, we’ve built a community for 100+ organizations using Amp Impact to manage portfolios and measure impact, meeting regularly at Amp Impact Summits and other convenings to share experiences and help shape the Amp Impact roadmap.
5. Promising Future
Salesforce is here to stay, and so are its nonprofit offerings, scoring high in scalability and flexibility. Salesforce’s Summer ’24 release introduced new features into NPC for Grantmaking for grant application collaboration, and Amp Impact’s recent Mira release added a highly requested Numerator/Denominator indicator type. These ongoing improvements highlight Salesforce’s and Vera’s commitment to the nonprofit sector, with Salesforce set to remain a leader in grants management.
Why Choose Vera Solutions?
With over 14 years of experience working with nonprofits, Vera Solutions has been a leader in developing grants management, program management, and impact measurement solutions on the Salesforce Platform. Over $12 billion of programs, grants, and projects advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals are managed using Vera’s flagship product, Amp Impact.
We also offer a large pool of highly skilled and experienced Salesforce Consultants, with over 300 active Salesforce certifications, experience successfully delivering over 1,000 projects in the social sector, and a dedicated team located across 5 continents, covering more than 14 languages.