Nonprofit Data Management: A Wealth of Data, A Maze of Systems

United Way British Columbia is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to vital causes such as food security, supporting seniors, and aiding children and youth. Like many nonprofits, it managed data across multiple platforms. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Marketing Cloud, iVolunteer - Volunteer Management system, and third-party demographic datasets (Environics).

Many organizations today sit on a mountain of information about their customers or constituents. The problem isn't a lack of data; it's that this valuable data is often trapped in isolated systems and at different levels of maturity. 

Each system told part of the story. But without a unified view, UWBC couldn’t tailor communications, deepen relationships, build customer profiles, or fully understand the communities it served. It was like having all the puzzle pieces, but no picture on the box.

Our Approach: Data Unification, One Step at a Time

When we partnered with UWBC, we didn’t start with the technology; we started with the people. They had the heart and the mission, and they had data. Our role was to help them bring that data to life. Our approach was rooted in a commitment to collaborative problem-solving and ensuring every step delivered tangible value.

Developing Reliable Fundraising Analytics

We started with a deep dive, working hand-in-hand with the UWBC team. We didn't just look at their systems; we looked at their day-to-day operations, their communication strategies, and their vision for supporter engagement. Salesforce Data Cloud quickly emerged as the clear choice for their business requirements, not just because of its capabilities, but because of its ease of data integration, harmonization, and activation with built-in Einstein AI machine learning features that support predictive modeling and smarter engagement. 

It was about finding the right tool for their challenge. From this collaborative discovery phase, we identified four key areas where we could bring immediate and lasting value:

• Identity Resolution: Supporters often exist in multiple places, as donors, as volunteers, as subscribers. We developed identity resolution rules to match records based on names, emails, and phone numbers.

• Result: UWBC could finally see each supporter as one complete profile enriched with every engagement touchpoint from donations to volunteer hours to email clicks.

• Segmentation with Precision: With a unified profile in place, the real power emerged. Data unification allowed us to create highly granular and personalized audience segments. This enabled UWBC to truly understand its different supporter groups and tailor messages directly through Marketing Cloud, enabled through artificial intelligence and machine learning models that surface patterns not visible through manual segmentation. 

Imagine being able to speak to a dedicated long-term donor differently from a new volunteer; that's the level of personalized engagement we unlocked, creating even stronger connections.

"The right message, to the right person, at the right time - every time."

• Unlocking Deeper Insights: Building on these unified profiles, we integrated extensive postcode demographics data. This took the profile enrichment to the next level. Now, UWBC could target campaigns with incredible precision. For instance, for a youth-focused initiative, they could specifically contact supporters living in postal codes with a high percentage of families. We also helped them create marketing scores based on profile fit and engagement, helping them prioritize their efforts where they'd have the most impact.

Making Data Actionable: Having rich data is fantastic, but it's only truly valuable if you can do something with it. We focused on ensuring UWBC's data was always actionable, surfacing it through different channels. Demographics and volunteering data were brought directly back into their existing Nonprofit Cloud, enabling their teams to perform additional data discovery and segmentation using their familiar tools and reports. Crucially, Data Cloud segments and activations also created rich, granular data extensions in Marketing Cloud, fueling their personalized outreach directly.

Lessons Learned: Navigating the Data Journey

Every project has its nuances, and we believe in sharing what we learned along the way:

• Getting the First Use Cases Right: Salesforce Data Cloud offers immense possibilities, which can sometimes be overwhelming. Our experience taught us that identifying the right first use cases is paramount. They need to be a blend of:

  • Impactful: Delivering clear business value quickly.

  • Foundational: Something you can build upon for future initiatives, such as AI/ML fueled predictive modeling and analytics, ensuring data model objects (DMOs) are extensible.

  • Realisable: Aim for a clear, deliverable timeframe, accepting that progress often outweighs perfection in initial deployments.

• The Power of Discovery & Design: This phase is the bedrock. We often say that Data Cloud deployments are 60% discovery and design; it's probably even more. Why? Because the foundation of everything, Data Stream Objects (DSOs), Data Lake Objects (DLOs), Data Model Objects (DMOs), their relationships, and identity resolutions, is built here. Get these wrong, and disentangling the dependencies later can be a significant headache. Investing time up front truly pays dividends.

A Foundation of Trust: Data Governance & Security

When working with sensitive information, trust isn’t optional; it’s the foundation. Salesforce analytics offers powerful capabilities to transform and enrich information, but it’s no substitute for disciplined data stewardship and strong governance practices. For UWBC, we partnered closely to create detailed data definitions and comprehensive data dictionaries, ensuring every data point could be traced to a clear business purpose. This upfront investment safeguards data integrity and privacy, instilling confidence in how information is handled. Our commitment to secure platforms is unwavering, providing peace of mind from the ground up.

The Impact: Deeper Connections, Greater Good

The initial configuration with UWBC felt like we only scratched the surface of what's possible. The ability to connect with their community on such a personalized level has truly transformed their engagement strategy. This work means more than just efficient data; it means more effective campaigns, stronger donor relationships, and ultimately, a greater impact on the causes they champion.

Future use cases are abundant and exciting. We envision leveraging this robust data foundation for:

• Predictive, generative, and agentic AI to further enhance UWBC's business processes.

• AI-Powered Engagement: Next Best Action delivered in real time.

• AdTech Acceleration: Real-time profile activation for prospecting.

• Look-alike audience creation to expand reach.

• Bringing in additional profile enrichment from preference centers and SMS channels to paint an even richer picture of their supporters.

The journey with UWBC is a testament to what's possible when data is unified and activated with a clear purpose.

Ready to Connect Your Data Dots?

Is your organization looking to unlock the full potential of your customer data? Let's talk about how a partnership with We Build Products can help you connect the dots and drive impactful results.