In our previous blog, we introduced QuickStarts for Nonprofits and discussed the operational and data management challenges nonprofit organizations often face. Traditional tools like Excel and Google Forms become inefficient as organizations grow, with significant staff time going into reorganizing and reformatting data. To enhance efficiency and accountability, nonprofits are increasingly adopting innovative digital solutions.
With 14 years of experience in driving digital transformation for nonprofits, we’ve seen these challenges firsthand and worked with hundreds of organizations to address them. This led us to develop QuickStarts for Nonprofits, leveraging Salesforce and Amp Impact. Salesforce is a powerful, flexible, and scalable cloud-based CRM platform that can be configured with no-code/low-code tools to help streamline data, automate processes, and support organizations of all sizes.
In addition to tailored industry solutions like Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (NPC), it gives access to Salesforce AppExchange Apps, such as Amp Impact. Amp Impact, built on Salesforce, provides powerful functionality for Portfolio Management and Impact Measurement, centralizing data for strategic planning, projects and programs, workplans, impact frameworks, and indicators. QuickStarts can be implemented in as little as six weeks, enabling nonprofits to streamline operations, refocus on their missions, and enhance their efficiency and impact.
In this blog, we’ll dive deeper into QuickStarts for Portfolio Management and Impact Measurement. Stay tuned for our upcoming blogs detailing our Program Delivery and Fundraising QuickStart packages.
What is a QuickStart for Portfolio Management and Impact Measurement?
The Portfolio Management and Impact Measurement QuickStart package is an out-of-the-box solution enabling you to centralize programmatic and impact data in one unified system. Underpinned by industry best practices and informed by hundreds of nonprofit system implementations, the Portfolio Management and Impact Measurement Quickstart package provides a simple, easy-to-use system for managing your program portfolio.
The core functionality of the package includes program and project lifecycle management, implementation planning, lightweight financial planning, risk management, and features for developing logical frameworks with clear indicators, targets, and results.
This QuickStart also offers a practical approach to efficiently managing relationships with Accounts and Contacts (i.e. Organizations and Individuals). Benefit from features like collaboration, role assignment, and impact classification by geographic and thematic areas. Track project progress and activity dependencies with Gantt charts, effectively manage planned vs actual expenditure in project budgets, track changes to your projects across their lifecycle, and effortlessly report on your portfolio’s key metrics using pre-configured reports and dashboards. As a QuickStart customer, you will also receive user and system administrator training and detailed solution documentation to support your system’s evolution over time.
What to Expect: Our Project Deliverables
As a QuickStart customer, you’ll go-live with a fully functioning system and receive tools for adoption and technical documentation. This includes a user guide with step-by-step instructions for navigating each system module. You’ll also get a document outlining system requirements, complete with user stories and narrative solutions for clarity on functionalities. A field map is included for easy reference, listing all system fields. Plus, system administrators will benefit from a dedicated Salesforce Trailmix for continuous learning and administrative support. Lastly, you’ll receive detailed system design documents, including a data model illustrating the schema with relevant Salesforce and Amp Impact objects and their relationships.
What is not included
While we provide you with a new working solution and supporting documentation, it’s equally important to manage expectations by highlighting what’s not included in the Quickstart process.
- Portal for external users, such as implementation partners or beneficiaries, to input and manage system data
- Multi-currency and multi-language functionality
- Mobile data collection and management
- Custom data cleaning, transformation, or migration
- Custom automation
- Custom data security and visibility requirements
- Integration with other software
These functionalities can be implemented in subsequent phases after the QuickStart solution is live. Each additional feature will need to be budgeted based on your requirements.
How to Get Started with Vera Solutions’ Salesforce QuickStart Implementations
Nonprofit organizations can apply for free and discounted Salesforce licenses through the Power of Us Program. Although implementing Salesforce might seem daunting initially, Vera’s QuickStart Implementations simplify the process. They bridge the gap between acquiring free or reduced licenses and fully adopting the solution by offering a ready-made package that we can implement for you in four steps. This approach enables organizations to achieve digital transformation in as little as six weeks. Here is a concise overview of the implementation process:
Choosing the right Salesforce QuickStart Implementation Partner
Nonprofit organizations face two key challenges when selecting a partner for their digital transformation journey. First, they need a partner who understands their unique requirements for portfolio and program management, and impact measurement. Second, they must ensure that their implementation partner can provide the right technology solutions to support their goals.
Our QuickStart implementation packages address these challenges, drawing on 14 years of experience working with nonprofits. These packages are designed to help organizations get up and running with a system in as little as six weeks.
For additional insights on selecting the right partner, check out our detailed blog post on this topic: 7 criteria to consider when selecting a Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Consulting partner.
Why Choose Vera Solutions?
With over 14 years of experience working with nonprofits, Vera Solutions is a 5-time Certified B Corporation providing cloud-based solutions to manage portfolios and programs, optimize grant management, and measure impact. By building on the Salesforce platform, we provide flexible, scalable solutions that enable organizations to become more transparent, accountable, and effective. Vera Solutions is a Salesforce Equality Partner and has been repeatedly recognized as one of the world’s Top Impact Companies.
Having taken an advisory role in the development of the Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud product suite, we have key insights and recommendations on where the new Salesforce NPC can add value and drive efficiencies for your organization.
Over $12 billion of programs, grants, and projects advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals are managed using Vera’s flagship product, Amp Impact. Having served hundreds of organizations, our team has extensive knowledge of the nonprofit sector and deep experience in delivering the right solutions for many organizations.
We also offer:
- A large pool of highly skilled and experienced Salesforce Consultants, with over 300 active Salesforce certifications and counting
- Experience successfully delivering over 1,000 projects in the social sector
- More than 420 customers working in 150+ countries
- A dedicated team located across 5 continents, covering more than 14 languages
As a Consulting Partner, we’ve been dedicated to the Salesforce ecosystem for over 14 years. With the growth of Amp Impact, Vera Solutions has also been recognized twice as Salesforce.org Product Partner of the Year (2019, 2022) and with a Partner Innovation Award (2021). As such, we constantly evaluate the Salesforce platform’s latest features and enhancements and how they can be leveraged to support our clients’ missions.
