Nonprofits are tasked with tracking and managing a variety of programs as their funding and organization grow. However, organizations can experience extreme inefficiency with their initiatives due to information silos and/or insufficient data management.
Programs and benefits can be created in Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud to support, track, and manage an organization’s initiatives, along with the activities or services that are part of those programs. Benefit types and units of measure are used to give you the ability to categorize and easily report on how many or how much of a type of benefit is delivered across various programs.
Before creating programs and benefits in the Salesforce environment, an organization should first clearly define and outline their programs. Identify the specific goals and objectives, target recipients, and key activities of each program. This is the foundation to determine the units of measure and benefit types needed to track progress and outcomes. Being strategic and laying out the groundwork before you begin helps to ensure the units of measure and benefit types are appropriately aligned to your program goals and activities, which will provide more accurate data collection and analysis.
Step One: Enable Program & Benefit Management
To get started, enable the setting to create and manage programs, benefits, and goals. This is found in setup: Program and Case Management Settings > Program and Benefit Management Settings
Start with creating units of measure and then create your benefit types. Once these are set up, add your programs and create their benefits.
Step Two: Create Units of Measure & Benefit Types in Salesforce
Note that fields may vary depending on your organization’s specific needs and setup.
Create a Unit of Measure
- Click the app launcher, then search and select Units of Measure from the app navigation results.
- Click the New button, complete the applicable fields, and save your work.
- Enter a name for the unit of measure. Examples include hours, percentages, pounds, kilograms, number of classes or people, etc.
- Under Unit Code, enter an abbreviation for the unit of measure.
- If needed, enter a description or select a type.
Create a Benefit Type
It is important to determine what type of a benefit is being delivered in the program. Use benefit types in conjunction with units of measure to report on how many or how much of a type of benefit your organization delivers across programs. Examples include classes, goods, services, meal services, counseling, etc.
- Click the app launcher, then search and select Benefit Types from the app navigation results.
- Click the New button, complete the applicable fields, and save your work.
- Enter a name for the benefit type.
- Select Program Management as the process type.
- Select a type and a unit of measure.
- If needed, enter a description and/or a category.
Step Three: Create Programs & Benefits in Salesforce
Create a Program
Programs represent initiatives offered by your organization. Each program is represented by a separate program record and can be linked to several benefits.
- Click the app launcher, then search and select Programs from the app navigation results.
- Click the New button, complete the applicable fields, and save your work.
- Enter a name for the program.
- Mark the status to Active.
- Select the start date.
- If applicable, enter an end date, summary, or additional context.
Create Benefits
Benefits represent the activities or services that a program offers.
- Click the app launcher, then search and select Benefits from the app navigation results.
- Click the New button, complete the applicable fields, and save your work.
- Enter a name for the benefit.
- Select a Benefit Type.
- Select a Unit of Measure.
- Select a Program.
- Mark the status to Active.
- Enter applicable Benefit Options, such as Start/End Dates, and Minimum/Maximum Benefit Amounts, or include additional context.
The Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud for program solutions helps nonprofit organizations run their programs more effectively to drive greater impact. It enables them to efficiently define, plan, deliver, and track their programs.
Organizations can map out what they want their programs to achieve, plan all the steps to get there, and track progress along the way. They can see in real time—and in one place—how the programs are running. Salesforce reports and dashboards give visibility to what is working well and where you need to make improvements.
Professional Assistance
Leveraging Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud for your organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) system can help support your nonprofit’s impact. This solution can help to improve program efficiency, benefit management, financial reporting, and more. Whether it be for system implementation or optimization of your current Salesforce platform, our team is ready to assist with design, implementation, and navigation of your Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud solution. If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to a professional at Forvis Mazars.