What is the right salesforce.com version for your organization? Before we attempt to answer this question we should stress the fact that salesforce.com is configurable and extendible to specifically fit any business process for any given organization; this is one of the hallmarks of Salesforce.com technology. Against this backdrop, non profits are encouraged to consider two basic templates, or instances, as a base from which to configure salesforce.com to fit your organization's intrinsic needs.

• The non profit template was developed by the Salesforce Foundation and volunteer consultants to meet the specific needs for non profits who focus on fund raising. The non profit template is a salesforce.com CRM "instance" containing the non profit nomenclature. Containing tabs and fields such as Households, Donations, Grants, Fundraising Method etc, this template supports the non profit "business" process for non profits primarily focused on fundraising.
  
  Just like any other salesforce.com instances, the non profit template too can be configured and extended with additional functionality and fields to fit your organization's particular needs. If your organization's operations are oriented toward fundraising then the non profit template is most likely the version for you. You can sign up for a thirty day trial to learn more about the salesforce.com non profit template.



• The "generic" salesforce.com instance is essentially salesforce.com "out of the box". This instance is oriented toward the business world but can be extended to fit any required non profit "business" process. In some cases the generic instance might be the right fit for your organization.
  
  For example, if your organization provides free or discounted legal services or discounted loans for affordable housing but your organization is not involved, or marginally involved, in fundraising, then you might want to consider using the generic salesforce.com version rather than the non profit template. You can sign up for a thirty day trial to learn more about this salesforce.com version. When we speak over the phone, we can tell you more about the advantages and disadvantages of each salesforce.com instance as it is specifically pertaining to your organization.

After we’ve had a chance to learn more about your organization’s activities, we’ll be happy to recommend to you the most appropriate salesforce.com version for your particular needs.