Otto Bremer Trust

Modernizing grantmaking with Agentforce for Nonprofits

Foundations
Grantmaking
Salesforce

Investing in stronger, healthier communities

Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) is a private philanthropic organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving communities across Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.

OBT’s invite-only, relationship-driven grantmaking model supports deeper investments. In addition to traditional grants, the foundation manages Program-Related Investments (PRIs), or low-interest loans, requiring capabilities beyond a standard grantmaking platform.

Challenges

As OBT prepared to modernize its grantmaking platform, it needed more than a technology upgrade. Years of customizations, evolving business processes, and unique grantmaking requirements demanded a solution that could support both current operations and future growth.

Key challenges included:

Replacing years of custom Apex code and technical debt with a maintainable Salesforce architecture.
Extending Agentforce for Nonprofits Grantmaking to support PRI loan servicing, including repayments, interest accrual, and amortization schedules.
Rebuilding Trustee docket management within Salesforce.
Automating regional funding attribution based on county-level geography.
Providing secure, grant-level portal access for grantees.

Solutions

Fíonta partnered with Otto Bremer Trust to implement Agentforce for Nonprofits Grantmaking and redesign several of the foundation’s most complex business processes.

The implementation included:

A custom Salesforce Screen Flow that generates amortization schedules, calculates principal and interest, and replaces manual spreadsheet-based loan management.
Conga document automation for grant agreements, promissory notes, Trustee docket reports, and other key documents.
Salesforce Compliant Data Sharing with custom logic that enables grant-level portal access while allowing grantee organizations to manage permissions for their own users.
Automated county and regional attribution through integration with an external geographic database.
Automated report deadlines, disbursement schedules, and reminder notifications.
A custom docket management solution that supports Trustee review and funding decisions within Agentforce for Nonprofits.

Results

Reduced
technical debt
Automated
complex grantmaking workflows
Enhanced
grantee and staff experience

Fíonta doesn't just implement Salesforce — they understand how foundations work. That depth of knowledge made all the difference on a project as complex as ours.

Project Highlights

Extended grantmaking capabilities

Enhanced Agentforce for Nonprofits to support complex PRI loan management beyond standard functionality.
Streamlined document management

Automated grant agreements, promissory notes, and Trustee materials with Conga.
Improved grantee collaboration

Enabled secure, grant-level portal access with delegated permission management.
Reduced manual administration

Automated regional attribution, reporting deadlines, and disbursement schedules.
Modernized Trustee oversight

Simplified docket management and funding decisions within Agentforce for Nonprofits.

Project Summary

Otto Bremer Trust partnered with Fíonta to modernize its grantmaking platform with Agentforce for Nonprofits. Beyond replacing legacy customizations, the project extended the platform to support complex PRI loan management, streamlined Trustee workflows, automated grant administration, and delivered a more secure, intuitive experience for staff and grantees. The result is a scalable solution that supports OBT’s relationship-driven approach to philanthropy while providing a strong foundation for future growth.

Outcomes

By replacing years of technical debt with a modern, Flow-based Salesforce architecture, Otto Bremer Trust gained a platform that is easier to maintain and extend. Manual spreadsheet processes for PRI loan management were replaced with automated, auditable workflows, while grant administration became more efficient through automated scheduling, reporting, and regional attribution. Trustees benefit from streamlined review processes, and grantees have a modern self-service portal with secure, grant-level access, improving both operational efficiency and the overall user experience.