Salesforce for Nonprofits - World Tour New York | Salesforce

Well, good afternoon, nonprofit trailblazers. For those of you I haven't met yet, my name is Piper Sullivan, and it is great to be here today. The last time I was here with you in New York was eight months ago. Time really flies. Back then, I shared with you my experience in the nonprofit sector. I've been a nonprofit employee, I've been a board member, and of course, I work in support of nonprofits every single day here at Salesforce. But the most impactful experience that I've had with a nonprofit is when I was a beneficiary of services. A nonprofit helped me to preserve my fertility when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. And that meant that I would be a mother one day. Well, that day has come. Thank you. Now, we're not telling everyone yet, but I wanted you all to know that my husband and I are welcoming a baby girl in the spring of 2024 with the help of our incredible surrogate. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you do, and thank you for being here today. It's the most wonderful time of the year, but it is also one of the most impactful, busiest times of year for nonprofits. Fundraising is up. People are feeling generous, they're giving, and they are very aware of their tax burden this time of year. So your fundraising and marketing teams are firing on all cylinders to make sure they're getting the right message to. To the right person at the right time. Your operations team is making sure that your website is working and that your donation page is up and running so you can accept all of those donations. And your programs team is providing a warm meal or a warm coat to someone in need. This is important work, and we understand that this is the context you're in when you hear messages like you heard from Parker and Clara this morning about data for + AI +CRM +Trust. And so we want to spend some time today talking about what that means for nonprofits, specifically. Now, when we talk to nonprofits about how they're embracing AI, the reality is many are not. And this could be due to financial challenges or staffing challenges. But whatever the reason, if this is, you just know you're not alone. But some are embracing AI they realize that there is value in the efficiencies that it can create or the ability to connect with more supporters more quickly. Among those who are really embracing AI are our Salesforce AI accelerator grantees. Back at Dreamforce, we announced six nonprofits who would receive a grant from Salesforce, including Financial support, Salesforce volunteer support, and Salesforce products to help bring their AI dreams to life. Now, I had the opportunity to work with college possible, and they are doing amazing things. Did anyone see the showcase this morning? Of all of the ideas, a few people. Well, don't worry if you missed it, you can catch it on Salesforce Plus. So whether you're one of our grantees or you. You haven't really given AI much thought. It seems that there's a gap we need help getting From A to AI so for the next 30 minutes, we're going to talk about how a strong data strategy can help you fill that gap. We're going to talk to a nonprofit who has a strong data strategy in place and see how it's going. And then we're going to see how Salesforce can help you bring it all to life. Does that sound good? Awesome. I'm seeing a lot of head nods. All right, let's get started. So data is at the heart of you bringing your mission to life. And a strong data strategy can benefit everyone. Now, we know that one of the hallmarks of digital maturity is having a strong data strategy in place. And this has a ton of benefits, including being 3.0 times more likely to exceed at your missional goals. That is huge. That seems like something worth investing in, and that can be accomplished with a data strategy. So let's talk about it. What is a data strategy? Well, first, it is what data you have. So thinking about understanding, getting an inventory of what data you have, maybe what data you don't have and need, but getting that inventory put together, Number two, it's how. How do you plan to use that data? Think about one or two use cases that you have in mind that you can begin to tackle, right? And then finally, who. Who in your organization is responsible for governing this data and making sure that it's accurate and trustworthy? And spoiler alert, that is everyone in your organization. All right, so that's data strategy. Let's talk about data sources. So we've all heard of that single source of truth, or ssot. It's that magical unicorn that we're all chasing but no one can seem to catch. Despite your best efforts, there's always that one data source that lives outside of your CRM. Now, let's say you're using Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud for your fundraising, your program management, and your outcomes management. But you have another system for your accounting or your government reporting. Or maybe your volunteer coordinator down the hall has always used spreadsheets to manage your volunteers. And they're not changing. Now, nonprofits use an average of 30 data sources. That's a lot. And that throws a wrench in your SSOT plan, leaving you feeling defeated and behind your peers. But what if I told you, instead of having a single source of truth, you could have a single view of the truth? And that just means multiple data sources that are pulled together, and you can have them connected, but not just connected. Connected and harmonized. And when I say harmonized, it's just a really fancy way of saying multiple data sources pulled together, and they're matched and merged. So let me give you a really quick example. My name is Piper Sullivan, but my maiden name is Piper Lejeune, and I sometimes go by pipes. So you might have me by one of these three names in one of those 30 data systems. But you need to harmonize it. And this is what it looks like. You pull all of those different data sources together, harmonize it, and get one single, unified view of me. So with your data strategy in place and a single, unified view of your supporters, your data is now actionable. Now you can connect with your supporters in a way that feels very real and relational. You can identify a program participant that is may be struggling and need some help. And the data can help you know how to support them, and you can connect your programs to your impact. In just a few minutes, we're going to talk about how Salesforce Technology can help you bring this all to life. But first, I want to talk to a nonprofit who's got a data strategy in place, and they're doing some really cool things, and that is vibrant emotional health. And I'd love to welcome to the stage chief technology officer and and recent Golden Hoodie recipient, Grant Reve. Welcome to the stage, Grant.

Thank you, Piper. Good to be here.

How's it going today?

Oh, it's great. I love being back here at New York World Tour, and I love seeing all my friends here that I met at Dreamforce this last September.

Amazing. Amazing. Well, we love to have you here. Thank you so much. Tell us about Vibrant Emotional Health. Tell us about your organization.

Vibrant's large nonprofit. We're focused on mental, emotional, behavioral health. We are largely known for our national programs now, the 988 suicide in crisis Lifeline, formerly the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. We also have services that we provide out of our crisis contact center here in New York, called here to help. We provide services to both the state and the city, and then we are actively involved with direct community programs across the five boroughs.

Amazing. So does everyone know what 988 is? Show of hands. Okay, it's not everyone. So will you explain to us what 988 is?

Absolutely. I love to see the hands that were raised. So 988 is your lifeline. If you, a friend, a family member, or other loved one is experiencing some form of crisis. We talk about suicide, but there are many, many forms of crisis. Thinking about financial distress, housing distress, domestic abuse. All of those are reasons to call the lifeline. And what 988 gives you is a real human on the other end of that line to help you understand what services or coping mechanisms that you might need to. To de escalate and find your way back to stability.

Amazing. What a great resource. So I heard you talk about humanness. How does technology play into all of what you do?

Yeah, great question. The work that vibrant does around 988 is in partnership with SAMHSA, which is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA and Vibrant together are partnering to provide technology to all the crisis centers in the United states.

Wow.

All 50 states, all six territories. And at the centerpiece of that 988 unified platform that we're building for crisis centers is Salesforce.

Wow.

It is where counselors are working to engage with help seekers to get them the care they need.

Amazing. It sounds really important, integral to the work that you're doing.

It absolutely is.

Okay, so you said 50 cities in six different. The numbers. It's sounding like a lot of data. Grant, how are you handling all of this data?

Very, very carefully.

Yes, of course.

The data that we take through any of the programmatic services that we provide. 988, of course, but also the services for the city and the state or in community programs is some of the most safe, sensitive, personal data that someone might share with us. And so we take that very seriously. We think about safety, privacy, security, anonymity before we think about how we might use that data for any other interaction. And that's really what forms our key data strategy.

So tell me about that data strategy. What does it help you accomplish?

It helps us understand where the need is. So people don't call from the same place. They don't call at the same time of day. They don't call. They might text, they might chat. I'm delighted to see that we have an ASL interpreter here with us today. We provide a video phone solution for help seekers who prefer to sign and engage via that manner.

Wow.

And the data all tells us, how do people want to engage with us. It also tells us what do people want to engage on. So we provide an array of programmatic services, and knowing where people navigate, what they ask for help on allows us to invest further in programs, again in partnership with samhsa, on where Americans need help.

Wow. So it sounds like it's really that connection between your programs and being able to deliver on your mission. Would you say that's true?

Absolutely, Absolutely. Data drives our mission.

Oh, amazing. That's a quote right there. Data drives our mission. Okay, so this is a hard question because I know we're dealing with very sensitive information and when we talk about AI, there's always that concern about security and privacy. So can you tell us or share with us how you're thinking about using AI in such a sensitive space?

Absolutely. Piper. I'm going to start with where we're not going to use AI because it's important. Important for us to understand that. So while we've seen this emergence of generative AI and conversational AI solutions, that's really not appropriate for a clinical interaction where someone is in some form of crisis. We really need that to be human supported. And so we're not placing AI in that help seeker interaction. We're also not going to place that AI assisting the counselor. We don't want to distract the counselor. We want them to be focused on the person who is in crisis so that they can get the best help. That still leaves a lot of territory for us to think about where we might apply AI. The first is thinking about logistical applications. Vibrant overall is responsible for making sure something like 7 million interactions this year are getting to the community in which you call from.

Wow.

And so we have to figure out what state you're in, and then we have to figure out what crisis center is closest to you. We are using AI to not just think about how we might route to you, but also look at the capacity of the crisis centers to make sure that maybe we know the center closest to you. But if there's no counselor capacity, let's find one close by.

Sure.

Another thing that we're looking at is understanding where what demand or need there is in the network. And we are using AI to explore some predictive elements where we can look at the conversation that's happening across the United States and understand if we need to apply more counselors in a particular state or if we need to open up additional channels.

Amazing. So it sounds like you're still using it for missional delivery. Just. We're not replacing that human experience.

Absolutely, absolutely. We're assisting the human maybe in different ways than we often talk about with agent assist. In our case, there's so many ways in which we can use it which are going to be beneficial because our job is really to connect a human to another human, to find the help that they need.

Right. And AI can help with that.

Absolutely.

Okay, Grant, I need a point of connection. I'm feeling stressed. It's the end of year. We got presentations going on. It sounds like you're the right person to ask about some stress relief. I don't know if anyone else in the room needs it, but just for me, what are some tips you have to help relieve stress?

You made me a little bit nervous. I'm going to say that I'm not a clinician.

Okay, okay, okay. But just in your experience, here are.

Some things that I would say. Set down the screen. Get away from the tv. Get out. In nature, these things are sources of renewal for us. I also encourage acts of creation. I love that they are healing for the mind and the body. And acts of creation can be anything that's available to you. I love woodworking.

Oh, cool.

So I like to create things. I like to turn bowls.

Yeah.

I'm also a baker. I do a lot of sourdough bread. I'll say that that predates, the pandemic, though.

Okay.

So I've been doing sourdough for a long time. You want a recipe?

Got a good recipe? Yeah.

Candied jalapeno and cheddar sourdough.

Oh, my gosh. That sounds amazing.

But find time to create.

Sure.

And the last thing that I would say to you is whatever form of mindfulness works for you. Could be meditation, could be just taking a deep breath. Could be taking a walk outside with your kids or the dog. Whatever it is, get into a headspace that is less intense than what we're experiencing day to day, particularly at this time of year.

Yes. Well, I'm feeling better already. I'm trying to think of some creative things I can do. But in the meantime, final question. If someone was inspired by the work that you're doing today and wants to get involved with Vibrant, what should they do? How can they get connected?

Absolutely. So vibrant.org is our website. You can also engage through SAMHSA.gov which is our federal partners website. What I would ask is tell somebody about 988. Share what you've heard here. I want to underscore that 988 isn't just for the person in crisis. It's for the people around that person. So I want you to hold that knowledge with you and share that. If you're able to donate, we'd love to have that. If you're able to volunteer. There are volunteer services. But my ask to everybody here in this room with us today, simply have 988 in your brain and be able to share that when someone is in need.

Awesome. Thank you so much for your time today, Grant. I really, really appreciate it. So we've spent some time today talking about mental health, and we've talked about 988. So we just wanted to make sure that you could see these resources. If you or someone you know is in need of support, please take advantage of these resources. They are available to you. Okay, so we have talked about data sources having a single view of the truth. We've talked about a data strategy, and now we want to talk about how technology and Salesforce can help bring that all to life. And to tell us more about that, I'd like to introduce Senior director of Product management, Kelly Hudson.

Hey, folks. And Grant, thank you so much for sharing the tips and the resources. I'm sure everyone in this room has been on their own personal journey with emotional wellness. I know I have. And I think we could all benefit from putting our phones down a lot more. I'm Kelly Hudson and I lead a team of wonderful product managers on nonprofit cloud. And we're lucky to partner with organizations like Vibrant, Emotional Health and many of you in this room. I've been at Salesforce for 10 years and have been serving the nonprofit sector for more than 15. Piper and Grant talked about the importance of a data strategy. Let's talk about some technology you can use to get you there. We all know more data is being created than ever before. A data explosion, if you will. And that data lives all over the place. But that's okay. The important thing is not that it's in one place, but that you have a single view of a person, their complete engagement history. That's where Data Cloud comes in. Data Cloud is all about managing data. It takes your Salesforce data and your non Salesforce data and combines it together to harmonize it. To harmonize it and to create a single view of a person. Now you also get a strong data foundation. And with a strong data foundation, your data becomes actionable. You can use it to drive decisions, insights, segmentation, and even AI. We want all nonprofits to have a data foundation, which is why at Dreamforce, we announced that you could use data Cloud for free to get you started. Now, let's see it in action. So, thanks to our lovely demo drivers Kevin and Margo over here in the.

Log.

We'Re going to see Nonprofit cloud and data cloud together. Nonprofit cloud is all about managing your mission, from fundraising to programs to grants, everything. But I know you do more than that. You have more data than that. So we're going to harmonize some data, create a data foundation, and then drive some actions off of that data. Okay, so let's harmonize some data with data cloud. It makes it pretty easy to connect your systems. You can connect to your system endpoints websites, you can connect to marketing Cloud for its rich engagement data, your Amazon servers, and even a host of MuleSoft connectors on our MuleSoft AnyPoint exchange. Now, once we have everything connected, we see every data stream in one place. So what do we do now? Let's take some action on this data. It's end of the year time. Let's create a holiday appeal. We all know it's the season for it. So segmentation, everyone here probably knows how important that is to the success of your campaigns. Maybe you do that in house with a developer, maybe you do that in Excel, maybe you do that with an agency. Either way, it's not easy and it's not fast if you're like most folks. But data cloud segmentation was designed for a business user, so it means your fundraisers and your marketers can build their segments themselves. Let's do it together. On the left, we see every attribute we can use in segmentation, no matter the channel, no matter where that data is coming from. Let's say we want everyone who's given more than $1,000 on any channel across any of our systems. We can select donation amount $1,000 and that's it. Now maybe we want to put a time frame in. So same process, we grab date and then let's do this year. And because we're here, I only want my New Yorkers, so we're going to do the same. Let's grab state and enter New York. Once we save, gotta scroll down a little bit to save and scroll back up. We're gonna see our results immediately. But looking at that segment, that's not quite a big enough data pool for what I'm trying to achieve with my appeal. So let's play around a little. Instead of $1,000, let's drop that to 500 and just see what happens when we save it and refresh, we immediately see a larger segment population. That's what I'm looking for. We didn't have to send out a change request and wait for that data to come back. Your fundraisers can do this themselves. Now, I know this was a pretty basic segmentation example, but you can get as complex to your heart's content here. It's designed for that. But let's not end here. Let's use this segment in a journey. We can do that also pretty quick. We're going to activate this group of folks by selecting the segment we just created and connecting it to a journey we had already built. In this case, we're using marketing cloud. So we harmonized data and looked at how we can use that across a big group. But let's get a little more personal. Let's look at a single person. Let's look at Alex Garcia. She's an Alex Garcia's donor profile. Your major gift officers need to know everything about a person I'm talking every touch point, every engagement, historical data, consumer data, everything. And with data cloud, it doesn't matter where that data lives because you can still see it right here on her unified donor profile. That means your major gift officers have everything they need. They won't miss anything when they go into a donor meeting. Now, looking at her activity timeline, we see how she's been engaged with our organization on one view, no matter the system. We can also see how active she's been with us on any channel, from emails to website activity to how she's engaging with our Google Ads. I see every segment she's been a part of, so I know what type of big communication she's getting from our organization. And I see that she has a high engagement score. We didn't know she was that engaged before we harmonized our data. This lets your gift officers spend their time with the right prospects. Now, AI Thinks that, too. We see that, Einstein, our AI engine, is recommending that we solicit Alex for a large major gift. Truth be told, this is a little embarrassing. Before we connected our data, we thought she was more of a $20 recurring donor than a $20,000 donor. But because we connected all of our engagement systems, all of the data that we have in one place, AI has identified her as a prospective major donor. All right, so we're going to do something a little interesting. We're going to fast forward in time, which is a little uncomfortable and not something we want to do. And especially me, because I've got a big birthday in a couple weeks, but we're gonna do it anyway. Okay. So we have built our relationship up with this donor. We've cultivated her. We've built trust. We've decided it's time to make an ask. Next step, we've gotta create a proposal. I have talked to so many major gift officers who talk about the blank page problem. It can be hard to simply start writing. This is where generative AI comes in to draft content. And this summer in nonprofit cloud, we're doing just that. We're releasing a feature to draft a major gift personalized proposal right from a donor record. Now, all this technology isn't just cool. I mean, it is really cool, but it has massive impact on your mission. Today we talked about how AI found one new major donor prospect, and that major donor prospect donated $20,000. But imagine if that was 5 or 25 or 50, and we only talked about fundraising. This is just as impactful and important to programs and clients and grant making. Just imagine the possibilities. So we talked about how your data is just more actionable when you have a data strategy and technology that combines it together, creates a data platform and a harmonized, unified view. That one view to rule them all. That is data plus AI plus CRM plus trust. All right, Piper, wrap us up.

Yeah, thanks so much, Kelly. Well, that was awesome to see, and it really brings it all to life and makes it feel much more real when you can see it. So thank you so much to Kelly, thank you to Grant for being here today. Thank you to Margo and Kevin, our demo drivers. Another round of applause for them. We've had a great time here with you today. We cannot wait to see the innovation that you come up with at your organizations around data +AI +CRM +Trust. Hope you enjoy the rest of World Tour New York.