Dec 12, 2022 4:10:56 AM

How to Get More Time Back with Volunteers for Salesforce

Technological tools are now available for dozens of administrative processes, including volunteer management. One of the best tools is Volunteers for Salesforce (V4S), which enables nonprofits to incorporate a number of volunteer tracking processes on its cloud-based system. More than 40,000 nonprofits are now taking advantage of Salesforce donations and discounts to streamline their processes!

Volunteers 4 Salesforce is free to any nonprofit user. However, it is more effective if used in combination with volunteer management software because V4S allows storage of volunteer data in your Salesforce instance, but still requires you to record that data in Salesforce by hand. Golden automates all the collection of that data directly into Volunteers for Salesforce, so you don’t have to do any data entry manually. One of the best software systems out there is Golden, the go-to resource for nonprofit giants like the United Way and Habitat for Humanity to create beautiful websites and mobile apps for your organization to publish volunteer opportunities, recruit, retain, track impact data, and more related to your volunteer program - whether it’s a grassroots initiative or a global program.

Not only does Golden integrate data with Salesforce, but it helps you do so in meaningful ways that increase the efficacy of volunteer management. At the same time, it makes the process simpler. All you need to do is fully understand the implications and spend a few minutes setting it up.

What Exactly is Volunteers for Salesforce?

Volunteers for Salesforce (V4S) is an open-source tool developed in 2007, worked into the Salesforce nonprofit suite of services, and is free to qualifying organizations. It helps digitize and automate different administrative processes, such as:

It uses calendar functions and other tools to help nonprofits itemize volunteer jobs that they need to be filled.
It allows for manual data entry to track hours for volunteer shifts and in concert with events.
It can allow the organizer to update volunteer profiles to store more details on the volunteers than a Salesforce “contact” record alone would allow.
It can store volunteer contact information.

What is the Purpose of a Golden-Salesforce Integration?

Salesforce is a powerful tool, but its focus is on customer relationship management (CRM). Volunteers 4 Salesforce helps nonprofits keep data integrated, but it lacks certain features.

The easiest way to think of Salesforce is as a central place for all of your data to live, so it can automate other processes you may have such as fundraising, data visualization, and marketing communication, but none of those processes will yield meaningful results unless the data powering them is timely, complete, and accurate. Automation will give you high quality data instantly, and will also give you all your time back that you would have sent entering it in by hand to Salesforce.

Golden’s integration fills the gaps in those service areas and makes Salesforce tools easier to use. It also helps nonprofits take greater advantage of the data from the CRM in Salesforce to maximize recruitment potential and improve front-facing details of the volunteer management process.

Golden-Salesforce integration helps you better match your volunteer opportunities to potential recruits with similar skills and interests.

How Nonprofits Benefit from a Golden-Salesforce Integration

You can save 90% or more of nonprofit administrative time on volunteer management since Golden is compatible with Salesforce. Time-saving is found in the following ways:

No more inputting. Since volunteers provide their personal data on Golden, Golden’s technology validates their participation metrics, and Golden integrates directly with Salesforce, you never have to input data! Nonprofit managers can spend more time on their programs, their volunteer recruitment, and their relationships instead of data entry, while still maintaining the authority to determine if they believe the automated data to be accurate.
Auto-tracking. Golden automatically tracks signups to events, hours tracked, impact contributed (like miles of trail cleaned, meals served, and pounds of food collected) and two-way feedback.
Auto-updating. Golden data automatically updates existing or new reports in Salesforce to help with impact measurement and accountability. This way you do not need to run reports by hand, compare them by hand, or wait for your reports to be complete before applying business intelligence tools like Tableau over them.
Marketing automation and donor conversion. Data from Golden will automate your Salesforce rules and triggers, so if you prefer to send email, SMS, peer-to-peer, or push communications to your volunteers or donors at a specific moment in time or once they show a certain pattern of behavior, Golden can automate the entire process for you, so you get higher volunteer-to-donor conversion rates.

At the same time, you receive a much stronger interface to work with and recruit volunteers.

Golden complies with or exceeds all standards for privacy, including GDPR, CCPA, COPPA, and other major regulations.
You can automate background checks, parental consent, waivers and more to make your systems easier to use and ensure compliances are met.
Golden makes communication with volunteers even more personal, yet more automated, by working across media and platforms and syncing with volunteer preferences.

Salesforce Recommends All Enterprise and Network-Scale Organizations use Golden with or without Volunteer 4 Salesforce.

Golden is the top-recommended volunteer management solution by Salesforce, System Implementers (“SI’s”), and independent parties, alike.

Golden is the top-level Independent Service Provider (“ISV”) for Salesforce, meaning it has gone through several years of product, security, technology, and business planning review by Salesforce’s internal team and external partner community.

Golden’s Salesforce Integration has been built natively with APEX code (Salesforce’s own programming language), and Lightning-ready user interface (Salesforce’s own design language), so that it looks and works seamlessly within the Salesforce environment, is easy to find and install, and can be configured by anyone with administrative permissions - not just programmers.

Golden handles use cases that would otherwise be impossible, such as support for hierarchical organizations with chapters and programs, multinational regulatory compliance, branded products, Single Sign-on (“SSO”), payment processing, robust user profiling, multi-channel notification delivery, volunteering with the #1 rated iOS and Android apps, and much more.

Golden supports many of the most demanding Salesforce users on the planet, including UNICEF, the State of California, and Remote Area Medical.

How Golden Works with Volunteer 4 Salesforce

What Golden does is automate the data collection itself.

Information entered into Golden is seamlessly integrated with a nonprofit’s Salesforce data, and vice versa in some instances. Every time a volunteer enters data into Golden, Golden links the information to an existing Salesforce contact or creates one.

Also, a nonprofit can import lists, records, and some other data from Salesforce for initial data sets later on to Golden Groups. For example, if new volunteer data is collected through your website, you can push their contact information and hours to your volunteer event or group set up on Golden.

Limited time offer! For a limited time, organizations can access a free demo of our advanced volunteer management software.

Request A Demo

Once the integration is complete, Golden automatically syncs contact information, volunteer opportunities and time slots, and attendance status with completed hours.

You can set up even more advanced features, mapping particular data points to different destinations within Salesforce.

Installation Guide for Linking Golden to Volunteers 4 Salesforce

Since Golden is compatible with Salesforce, the process is simple and will only take a few minutes of your time.

Make sure you are subscribed to Golden’s professional plans.
Go to AppExchange, find Golden Volunteer Application, and install it.
You will need to assign a user so that they have permission to integrate data. You can optionally assign more users for Golden from within your team to allow permissions for more people to access the data.
Ensure the integration settings are as you like in the Settings tab of the Golden application. It allows for customization based on your needs. You can skip this step if you do not need to customize the process.
Now all you need to do is connect your Golden account with Salesforce. Log into your organization on Golden’s dashboard and select the integrations tab. When you click “integrate” next to the Salesforce icon, you’ll need to authenticate the transaction by signing in as the primary user (step 2).

Golden will do the rest!

Volunteer management software can help you automatically integrate event attendance and hours logged into your Salesforce.

Top Tips for Maximizing Salesforce CRM and Golden for Better Volunteer Management

Now that you have your data integrated, you want to make use of it to maximize your volunteer management system. Here are some top ways you can take advantage of technological integration within your processes.

Improve recruiting. Only 2 in 3 volunteers (65%) stick with a nonprofit year-on-year, so you have to find ways to recruit new volunteers effectively and constantly. One way to recruit is to try to convert donors and others in your CRM to volunteers. Another way is to try to market outward to find new contacts for your nonprofit. This is where Golden can really help you. Golden’s platform allows for volunteers to design their own personal profiles. These profiles include volunteer-generated information on skills, capacities, and interests. Golden allows you to search through volunteer profiles and connect with volunteers who align with your mission and the types of opportunities you have available. When you post on a resource like Golden, you are automatically connecting with a huge pool of potential new volunteers. If they sign up for your events, the data will be integrated automatically with your Salesforce system.
Improve retention. Now that you have all this data integrated, you can take measures to improve retention of your volunteers. Golden allows for you to automate thank-yous, recognitions, and communication to volunteers in the way through which they like to be communicated. You can send SMS or social media posts, or receive notifications to call them. This way they always feel valued, and they never miss learning of a new opportunity. Golden also allows volunteers to earn “Karats,” which are points toward rewards. You can customize Karat rewards or use preset awards with a larger volunteer pool.
Improve analytics. Salesforce has some of the best data visualization programs available. However, if you aren’t effectively communicating the data to those programs, it is difficult to take advantage. Since Golden makes data integration so simple and allows for you to map information as desired, you can automate your impact statements and reports.
Improve the volunteer experience. A cloud-based management software like Golden takes Volunteers for Salesforce to a new level of a long list of volunteer benefits. Volunteers can link with you through their mobile apps anywhere in the world, enabling you to customize their training programs and revolutionize the way that they communicate with you and provide feedback on programming.

Frequently Asked Questions about Volunteers for Salesforce

If you’re wondering any of the following questions, you are not alone!

Can Salesforce track volunteers? Salesforce will help you track your volunteers, but it requires a good amount of data entry. This is why a tool like Golden is helpful to use in concert with Salesforce.
How do nonprofits manage volunteers with Salesforce? Salesforce is a cloud-based tool, so you can access it from anywhere in the world on a computer or mobile phone with an Internet connection.
Is Volunteers for Salesforce free? Yes, for up to 10 volunteers. Then there are discounted programs.

Why Golden is the Best for Volunteers for Salesforce Integration

Volunteer management is time-consuming and often not rewarding! Yet nonprofits need to keep up with their systems to assure that they have the best help available.

Salesforce is a powerful CRM agent, but it works even better with a little bit of help from a smarter, integrated tech platform. This is why you need Golden.

Golden is compatible with Salesforce and improves the value of your data to new levels. With Golden, data becomes your friend instead of an administrative nightmare, because it is completely automated. You will be able to develop nuanced impact reports while successfully recruiting and retaining your volunteer base.