Why NGO Connect is Great News for Nonprofits

This week the Salesforce Foundation announced the launch of a new product, NGO Connect, developed in partnership with roundCorner. With all the exciting new releases lately, we thought we might share these five key points to provide some clarity about NGO Connect.

NGO Connect is everything roundCause was and more

NGO Connect includes everything that roundCause includes today: Bios, Connect, Messaging, Giving, and Events. There will be a “lite” version of NGO Connect with a Bios-only version, similar to roundCause Bios. There will also be an Events-only version. Trial versions are not yet available but eventually will be an option offered through the Power of 10 program. NGO Connect should be well supported with the Salesforce Foundation behind it.

NGO Connect is a product, whereas Salesforce1 for Nonprofits is a strategy

Salesforce1 for Nonprofits was launched in May (see here for our take on what it meant). Salesforce1 for Nonprofits is a roadmap with four solution lines (community engagement, program management, fundraising, and marketing communications). More than anything, it helps facilitate conversations around how nonprofits can use Salesforce. NGO Connect on the other hand is a product: it is an app that you’ll soon find on the AppExchange.

NGO Connect is intended for enterprise or quickly growing nonprofits

We previously explained the Nonprofit Starter Pack as a “starter home” and roundCause as the next step up. NGO Connect is intended for the same audience that roundCause was intended for. It is likely not an appropriate choice for Quickstart customers. NGO Connect is now a clear choice for enterprise-level customers. There is no clear upgrade path yet for customers to migrate from the NPSP to NGO Connect, but please reach out to us if you wish to discuss this.

NGO Connect will get native Salesforce support

The Salesforce Foundation will drive customer enablement and support for NGO Connect. The roundCause team will be focused on product development, hopefully giving them more bandwidth to respond to support issues and requests. The Salesforce Foundation has described this as a “great win for existing roundCause customers” because they have the weight and force of Salesforce behind them now.

The Nonprofit Starter Pack isn’t going anywhere

The Salesforce Foundation is committed to maintaining the Nonprofit Starter Pack, which with its latest release is a better choice than ever for small to medium nonprofits. There is an extremely active Hub group on the Nonprofit Starter Pack and the Foundation has dedicated resources and will not be abandoning this. The Nonprofit Starter Pack roadmap will continue to be community-driven, and the Foundation has said as long as there are customers who like and use the NPSP, they’ll keep it.

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