Thought Leadership

Ideas and strategies to help purpose-driven organizations create greater, lasting impact.

Latest Posts

To CRM or not to CRM: Is that the question?

To CRM or not to CRM: Is that the question?

When evaluating your needs and choosing to implement a CRM solution, I recommend starting by asking the five W’s: Who, What, Where, When and Why....
Custom Code: Are you ready?

Custom Code: Are you ready?

It is an interesting dichotomy that while writing custom code allows you to manipulate the system in very sophisticated ways, every bit of custom code that...
At Project's End: Separation Anxiety and User Adoption

At Project’s End: Separation Anxiety and User Adoption

Some of the biggest angst for my clients comes at the end of a project. Wrapping up an implementation brings all sorts of mixed feelings: pride...
12 Ways Dreamforce is Hard

12 Ways Dreamforce is Hard

Read 12 reasons why Dreamforce is hard to wait for. See you at Dreamforce 2013....
Best (of the Best) Practice with Salesforce

Best (of the Best) Practice with Salesforce

There’s a lot of talk about Best Practice in the nonprofit sector, and having consulted on projects large and small, I want to take moment to...
Better Living Through Training and Documentation

Better Living Through Training and Documentation

As a system administrator, it’s not only your job to ensure that reports are created, data is kept clean, and new fields and workflows are created....
Ensuring Training Success

Ensuring Training Success

Whether you arrange for training from a consultant, manage it yourself, or use some combination of the two, there are a few techniques you can employ...
Using Salesforce to Cultivate Donor Relationships

Using Salesforce to Cultivate Donor Relationships

From finding new donors, growing gifts from existing supporters, or managing the back-end fundraising efforts, Salesforce helps organizations establish and grow donor relationships in addition to...
Ready To Start With Your Implementation? Think Again

Ready To Start With Your Implementation? Think Again

You choose a platform, signed with an awesome implementation partner who can translate your needs into technology, and you are extremely excited to get started. Wait…...
The Power of US Hub

The Power of US Hub

Are you sometimes confused about where to go to get the answers you need in using Salesforce at your nonprofit? As you may have discovered there...
Silhouette of a teacher pointing at a whiteboard, presenting to a class of students.

Finding a Trusted Advisor

When you hire a consultant to help you with your Salesforce implementation, you’re hiring them because you have a problem you need help with whether it...
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How Nonprofits Can Get Past Technology Culture Shock

We are in the midst of a major technology revolution and succeeding in this revolution does not mean consuming additional technology, or as many of our...
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MS Excel Tools for Salesforce

As a Salesforce Admin, you have to be responsible for creating Salesforce data, maintaining that data and even extracting it so it can be analyzed and...
Blue graphic with skiers, a mountain, and a sledder. Text: TAHOE 2016 Dreamin'.

Tahoe Dreamin’ –  The Advent of User Group Led Conferences

I had the pleasure of attending Tahoe Dreamin' – a Sacramento User Group sponsored event that took place at Lake Tahoe. This event was a jammed...
Blue wavy cloud logo with text Cloud for Good.

#BestTeamEver: A True Story of Virtual Working

“So what does that mean that your company is virtual? Is your paycheck virtual too?” Those were the first questions my dad asked me when I...
Pliers and a tape measure lying on top of architectural blueprints.

Before You Build the House: Preparing to Implement Salesforce

Start with a budget! With Salesforce, a lot of functionality is available right “out of the box” for the base price. There are some things, like...