When Salesforce unveils a new tool—like Salesforce Data Cloud—it can feel anywhere from very exciting (Finally! A solution!) to completely overwhelming (Not. Another. “Solution.”)
To figure out if Salesforce Data Cloud is truly a solution for enterprise nonprofits, like yours, we have to go back to why this offering came out. What issue is Data Cloud trying to address? And is it right for you?
Thinking About Data
This conversation really starts with data architecture, not with Data Cloud. For nonprofits, data is more than just numbers—it’s the key to understanding supporters, tailoring marketing, and optimizing campaigns. But the reality is, nonprofits often face challenges with disconnected data. That can look like marketing data here, donor engagement data there, and event data stored elsewhere. That’s often because the CRM isn’t the right tool for managing all that information.
Historically, nonprofits have used the “hub-and-spoke” data model, where their CRM (often Salesforce) serves as the central hub for data management, and other systems are integrated into it. However, this approach is increasingly showing limitations. Integrating every piece of marketing and event data into a CRM can be cumbersome, expensive, and inefficient—especially when the volume of data is high and constantly growing. As the world of CRMs matures and grows, so does the thinking: What if data is at the centre of the hub-and-spoke model, instead of the CRM? This revisioning changes everything.
Salesforce Data Cloud is a solution that places data at the centre, with CRM and other elements acting as spokes looking into and feeding the data, allowing organizations to more effectively manage and utilize their data across all channels. So let’s explore how it works, and if it can work for you.
What Is Salesforce Data Cloud?
Salesforce Data Cloud is a platform that allows nonprofits to centralize, unify, and harmonize their data from various sources into a single, actionable hub. It helps organizations simplify data management by enabling them to bring together data from CRM, marketing, programs, and even third-party systems like external data warehouses.
In simple terms, Salesforce Data Cloud gives nonprofits a way to manage their data more efficiently. Instead of having to manually organize or sift through data that’s spread across multiple platforms, or invest in complex integrations with the CRM, Data Cloud helps consolidate it all. From donor behaviors to program outcomes and marketing results, Data Cloud offers real-time analytics, data unification, and segmentation—all in one place. Which sounds amazing, but let’s see it in action before jumping on the Data Cloud bandwagon.
Data Cloud In Action: Oxfam America & White Mail
We recently partnered with Oxfam America to incorporate Salesforce Data Cloud into their tech stack. Here’s what happened:
Oxfam faced a challenge with integrating large amounts of marketing data from their external warehouse, Civis Analytics, into Salesforce. This data, including millions of rows from direct mail and email campaigns, was critical for tracking donor responses. However, when donors sent in white mail donations without the proper appeal code, trying to link the white mail to the campaign was cumbersome, if not impossible. That meant key campaign performance indicators were going by the wayside, undermining their ability to market as effectively as they’d like.
By using Salesforce Data Cloud, Purple Otter helped integrate Civis data directly into Salesforce CRM, allowing Oxfam to automate their white mail process. Now, when a white mail donation is received, the system automatically suggests the latest appeal and ties the donation to it, even if the donor didn’t use the tailored slip. This streamlined process improved data accuracy and efficiency, allowing Oxfam to make more informed, data-driven marketing decisions.
The Benefits of Data Cloud: A Federated Data Model
One of the key benefits of Salesforce Data Cloud is its ability to operate as a federated data model. This means that organizations can keep their existing data warehouses, like Civis Analytics in Oxfam’s case, intact while still bringing valuable external data into Salesforce. Instead of moving all your data into the CRM, Data Cloud allows you to apply automation and advanced analytics to data stored outside of Salesforce, making it easily accessible without disrupting your current system.
For nonprofits with existing data infrastructure, this federated approach provides a flexible and cost-effective way to manage and leverage their data. They can integrate disparate data sources, run real-time analytics, and drive automated processes all within Salesforce, without the need to overhaul their entire data architecture. This makes scaling easier and ensures that important data can still be used effectively without the high costs of centralizing everything in the CRM.
For nonprofits without an existing data warehouse, Data Cloud provides data warehouse capabilities on its own. It’s a quick way to get up and running with a data warehouse that is fully interoperable with your Salesforce CRM, if your data needs are primarily focused around fundraising and marketing engagement use cases.
But Is it Right For You?
Salesforce—like any big organization with a big marketing budget—can overpromise and underdeliver, so it’s crucial for nonprofits to clearly define why they want to implement Salesforce Data Cloud. Having a clear understanding of your objectives will guide your decisions throughout the integration process.
For many nonprofits, the goal might be to make external data more accessible, or to drive more data-driven marketing efforts. Data Cloud can help you capitalize on the data you already have, creating personalized and segmented audiences that will improve your marketing. This is only true if you have the data and the capacity to bring it into Data Cloud in a meaningful way.
Another important factor to consider is the unique cost model for Data Cloud, which operates on usage-based credits. Before moving forward, it’s essential to have an experienced expert map out your credit usage. This will help you get a realistic sense of the costs involved in building out your use case.
Fortunately, Salesforce offers 250,000 free usage credits when you first implement Data Cloud—a significant amount. This could be enough to build out a single use case at scale for most nonprofits, essentially allowing you to get started without any initial cost.
Moving Forward
All together, Salesforce Data Cloud presents substantial opportunity, but the key takeaway is this: don’t just implement Data Cloud because Salesforce says so. Carefully consider your needs and how this tool will benefit your organization before diving in. Understanding what Data Cloud will really do for you is critical to ensuring it aligns with your mission and goals. At Purple Otter, we are here to partner with you and determine if this is the right addition to your tech stack, not just for your current needs but to effectively grow your data ecosystem. Let’s talk.