Salesforce for Nonprofits – Salesforce.com Inc. has made a rather unusual acquisition – buying its own independent philanthropic org Salesforce.org in a $300 million deal. The merger will see Salesforce.org transition from a public benefit corporation to a business corporation, along with the $300 million going to the Salesforce.com Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization that plans to distribute the cash philanthropically. While the alliance was a well-timed strategic move made to have a greater influence on the company’s endeavors into Salesforce for Nonprofits vertical, it brings a host of new benefits to the Salesforce customers. Here’s a sneak peek into the nitty-gritty of the new acquisition and what it has in store for the Salesforce Nonprofit customers.
Salesforce for Nonprofits: How the California Public Benefit Corporation turns into California Business Corporation
Salesforce.org had provided nonprofits, educational institutions and philanthropic organizations free or very discounted licenses to use its software, to the tune of about $260 million in grants distributed to 40,000+ organizations. Salesforce will continue that practice. However, the efforts will come in line with a more significant business operation in which Salesforce will develop and sell commercial software and services too.
The new organization will comprise of sales, marketing and the company’s Salesforce Customer Success Platform (CSP) customized for the nonprofit and educational institutions, and all future development of the company’s Nonprofit Cloud, Education Cloud, and Philanthropy Cloud applications.
What the merger means to Non-profit Customers
1. More Solutions from its diversified portfolio of Products
The new Salesforce for Nonprofits org will include sales, marketing and Salesforce’s Customer Success Platform (CSP) tailored for nonprofit and education communities, and all future developments of the Enterprise’s Nonprofit Cloud, Education Cloud, and Philanthropy Cloud vertical applications. With new and additional products of Salesforce for Nonprofits like Einstein, Salesforce Quip, CPQ, and Commerce Cloud, the 40,000+ customers of Salesforce.org now have better ways to manage some of their most critical technology challenges. And Salesforce partners can accelerate the platform to create new industry-specific solutions built around these products.
2. More Choice of Salesforce Partners who might get on the bandwagon
Salesforce Partners who might have been hesitant to sell to Nonprofit organizations and Educational institutions may now enter the vertical. Customers will now have a more extensive choice of Salesforce Consulting companies to help them in their digital transformation journey.
3. Partners’ Industry and Product Expertise will be even more Critical to Success
With the proliferation of Salesforce solutions available to the customers, there is an increase in customer expectations to accelerate their business value and to advance their mission. And customers who do not find the expertise across the entire range of Salesforce Clouds will need help. Salesforce partners will need to have an in-depth knowledge of the Salesforce technology and need the right combination of industry expertise, product expertise and deep knowledge of the Nonprofits and Education industries to create value to their clients.
According to Salesforce “Combining Salesforce and Salesforce.org into a new nonprofit and education vertical reinforces the strength of Salesforce’s philanthropic model. Salesforce will extend this model by continuing to provide free and highly discounted software to nonprofits and educational institutions around the world and investing in local communities through employee volunteering, strategic grants and matching employee giving up to $5,000 per employee annually.”
