A guide for nonprofit teams
The evolution of nonprofit technology is relentless, bringing new challenges and opportunities. One significant shift in this landscape is the transition from Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (NPC). This change, while promising, involves intricate considerations, especially concerning data transformation, system provisioning, feature configurations, and integrations. Below, we delve into these critical aspects, offering insights and guidance to help nonprofits smoothly navigate this transition.
Data transformation challenges
Moving from NPSP to NPC isn’t just a system upgrade; it’s a fundamental shift in how your data is structured and utilized.
- Contacts to Person Accounts: In NPSP, Contacts are standalone, but in NPC, they transform into Person Accounts—a unique blend of Contacts and Accounts. This change necessitates a careful migration strategy, ensuring all contact data is effectively converted into Person Accounts. This shift may require some adjustment but ultimately streamlines data management and enhances user experience.
- Redefining opportunities: NPC reimagines how gift information is stored. While Opportunities remain a feature and may be practical for major gifts, NPC introduces objects like Gift Commitments and Gift Transactions for more nuanced handling of donations. Migrating Opportunities from NPSP into NPC’s new structures requires a strategic approach, considering constraints like the non-acceptance of $0 gift transactions in NPC.
- Gift and transaction information: NPC consolidates gift and transactional data into a single Object, differing from NPSP’s separate treatment. This consolidation demands a thoughtful combination of data from two distinct sources during migration.
- Tribute information: NPC separates tribute information into its own record, linked to gift transactions, unlike its integration within opportunity records in NPSP. This split requires a precise division of existing data.
These examples underscore the importance of a well-planned and thorough approach to data migration, ideally in partnership with experienced data migration experts.
Provisioning Nonprofit Cloud correctly
Properly setting up NPC is crucial to avoid operational hiccups. A common oversight is mishandling sample data and objects, leading to confusing permissions issues and data clutter. Be sure to work closely with your Salesforce AE and implementation partner to get your org provisioned correctly.
Understanding NPSP Settings in NPC context
The transition to NPC brings the advantage of leveraging standard industry objects and advanced features. However, this also means reconfiguring several NPSP features within NPC:
- Naming conventions: Unlike the straightforward auto-naming in NPSP, NPC requires alternative methods like Quick Action predefined values or record-triggered flows for similar functionality.
- Rollups: NPC’s approach to rollups, a crucial feature in NPSP, is more advanced. It employs the Data Processing Engine, a powerful tool for calculating, summarizing, and displaying data, offering broader possibilities than NPSP’s Customizable Rollups.
- Reciprocal relationships: Creating reciprocal relationships between Contacts or Person Accounts requires additional steps in NPC—this is not an automatic feature. Record-triggered flows support automation.
Additionally, features like address management and GAU allocations in NPSP may have different counterparts or may not be directly available in NPC. A thorough evaluation of NPSP settings is essential to understand their NPC equivalents.
Integration compatibility check
Integration compatibility is a vital consideration. NPC, being relatively new, means that some integrations, especially those designed for NPSP’s model, might not be immediately compatible with NPC’s new objects like Gift Transactions or Person Accounts. It’s crucial to update third-party integrations or data import tools to the latest API version required by NPC. In our experience, even prominent tools initially required updates to work seamlessly with NPC. A proactive check on these integrations can save significant time and effort.
A strategic shift
The transition from NPSP to NPC is more than just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic shift in how nonprofit organizations manage and leverage their data. Organizations can unlock the full potential of NPC by understanding the nuances of data transformation, correctly provisioning NPC, adapting to new settings and configurations, and ensuring integration compatibility.
Thorough planning and partnering with data migration experts like Fíonta can make this transition a smooth and rewarding journey toward enhanced efficiency and impact.