A Nonprofit Guide to the Salesforce AppExchange

Happy 10th Birthday AppExchange!

Quite a bit has been said about the amazing Salesforce ecosystem lately. According to a recent study, compiled by IDC, the Salesforce partner ecosystem generates 2.8 times the revenue of Salesforce itself and is expected to grow 3.7 times as large as Salesforce in the coming years. This ecosystem would not exist without the AppExchange.

The AppExchange is the world’s leading marketplace for business applications and consulting services. What I love most about the AppExchange is that its apps are empowering Salesforce customers and partners to expand the capabilities of Salesforce to every department and within every industry. Rather than the concept of “forcing” a customer to use one packaged service (which is a common practice by leading nonprofit technology vendors), nonprofit organizations can pick and choose the best features or applications to help them meet their missions.

We have been hosting Apps for Good webinars over the last couple of years and we have written many great articles about the different apps that are commonly used by nonprofit organizations. I have compiled a quick guide to outline some of these incredible apps that can help you maximize your Salesforce instance.

Online Donations:

1. Click and Pledge
2. Brickwork by IATS
3. Network for Good

Recommended Resources:

• Webinar: Force Off Webinar: Online Donation Tools for Salesforce
• Blog: Online Donation Tools for Salesforce
• Blog: Merchant Accounts, Payment Gateways, Virtual Terminals, Oh My!

Peer to Peer Fundraising:

1. Classy
2. RallyBound
3. Donor Drive
4. iDonate

Recommended Resources:

• Webinar: Apps for Good Webinar Series: StayClassy
• eBook: Salesforce Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Mail Merges/ Document Generation:

1. Conga
2. Apsona
3. Drawloop

Recommended Resources:

• Webinar: Force Off- Mail Merge Applications for Salesforce
• Blog: Salesforce Mail Merges: What Are My Options?

Online Forms and Surveys:

1. Form Assembly
2. GetFeedback
3. ClickTools

Recommended Resources:

• Webinar: Force Off- Online Forms/Surveys
• Blog: How to Integrate Online Forms with Salesforce.com?
• Blog: Integrating Your Surveys with Salesforce

Event Management:

1. Click and Pledge Event Management
2. Eventbrite Sync
3. Cvent

Recommended Resources:

• Webinar: How to Build an Event CRM Strategy That Pays Off
• Blog: Event Tickets and Registration – Part 1: Determine Your Needs
• Blog: Event Tickets and Registration – Part 2: Selecting a Tool

Email Service Providers/ Marketing Automation:

1. Pardot
2. Marketing Cloud
3. MailChimp
4. Vertical Response

Recommended Resources:

• Blog: What is the best way to mass email with Salesforce.com?
• Blog: Choosing the Right Email Provider for Your Salesforce
• Blog: Making Sense of the Marketing Cloud

Advocacy:

1. Soapbox Petitions  
2. KnowWho (maintaining a complete directory of Congress, state, and local elected officials in Salesforce)
3. Cloud for Organizers (by Cloud for Good)
4. CQ Roll Engage

Recommended Resources:

• Blog:  Advocacy Tools for Salesforce

Cloud for Good Apps – Yes, we have apps!

1. Over the Edge or read more about migration from Raiser’s Edge to Salesforce here.
2. Nonprofit 101 – The only Salesforce manual for nonprofits.
3. Donation Split
4. Congregation Connect – Manage your church or synagogue in the cloud.

Wait, there are more:

1. Volunteers for Salesforce  and make sure to check out our Apps for Good Webinar Series: Volunteers for Salesforce
2. Auctions for Salesforce  and make sure to check out our webinar about it.
3. Cirrus Insight to integrate your email with Salesforce and watch our webinar.
4. Workato for Quickbooks integration and read our post here or watch our webinar here.
5. WealthEngine

We hope that you will share this guide with your peers. Are you using an app we haven’t referenced? Let us know about it in the comments section below.