Marketing Tool Options for Nonprofits in Salesforce CRM

Nonprofit organizations often rely on Salesforce CRM to manage donor relationships, streamline operations, and drive their mission forward. While Salesforce offers robust functionalities for managing data, it's crucial to complement it with marketing tools to reach donors, volunteers, and supporters effectively. In this blog post, we will explore various marketing tool options available for Salesforce CRM users in the nonprofit sector, including standard Salesforce list views and campaign emails, Campaign Monitor, MailChimp integration, HubSpot integration, and Pardot/Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE). We'll delve into their features, the pros, and the cons to help you make an informed decision.

Free Tier: Standard Salesforce List Views and Campaign Emails

List Views and Campaign Emails are included with Salesforce and are available at no additional cost. Here’s what you can do with them. 

Features:

• List Views: Salesforce provides a list view feature that allows users to filter and display specific sets of data, including donor information, contacts, and leads. You can create custom list views based on criteria like donation history, location, or engagement level.

• Campaign Emails: Salesforce also offers basic email marketing capabilities. You can create email templates, send bulk emails to contacts and leads, and track email engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates.

Pros:

• No Integration Needed: Since these two tools are native to Salesforce, using standard list views and campaign emails requires no additional integration efforts. It's readily available within your CRM, ensuring data consistency and accuracy.
• Cost-Effective: For small nonprofits with limited budgets, the standard Salesforce email features can be a cost-effective way to manage basic email campaigns without investing in third-party tools.
• Data Integrity: All data is stored within Salesforce, maintaining data integrity and ensuring that your marketing efforts are based on accurate donor information.

Cons:

• Limited Features: Salesforce's native email capabilities are basic compared to specialized email marketing tools. You may lack advanced features like A/B testing, automation, and in-depth analytics.
• Limited Scalability: As your nonprofit grows and your marketing needs become more sophisticated, you may eventually outgrow the basic email features of Salesforce.
• User-Friendliness: Some users find Salesforce's email interface less user-friendly compared to dedicated email marketing platforms.

Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor is an email marketing platform and service that integrates with Salesforce. It offers various plans and pricing options at a relatively low-cost compared to other marketing software. 

Features:

• Email Campaigns: Campaign Monitor is a dedicated email marketing tool that offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder, making it easy to create visually appealing emails. You can also segment your audience for highly targeted campaigns.
• Automation: Campaign Monitor provides robust automation features, allowing you to set up drip campaigns, trigger emails based on user actions, and send personalized content.
• Analytics: Campaign Monitor includes detailed reporting and analytics that provide insights into email performance, helping you refine your email marketing strategy.

Pros:

• Ease of Use: Campaign Monitor is known for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even for users with limited marketing experience.
• Design Flexibility: The drag-and-drop builder and customizable templates allow for visually appealing emails that can engage your donors effectively.
• Personalization: You can create highly personalized campaigns based on donor preferences and behavior.
• Budget-Friendly: Despite being a paid service with no free plan option to choose, Campaign Monitor is still on the budget-friendly end given its features and capabilities. 

Cons:

• Limited CRM Integration: While it can integrate with Salesforce, the level of integration may not be as seamless as other options like Pardot/MCAE.
• Learning Curve: Despite its user-friendliness, there may still be a learning curve for those new to email marketing software.

MailChimp

MailChimp is a versatile and more well-known digital marketing tool. MailChimp offers a free plan with basic functionality and three higher plan tiers with more advanced features to choose from.

Features:

• Email Marketing: MailChimp is a popular email marketing platform that provides a wide range of features, including email campaigns, automation, and A/B testing.
• Segmentation: You can segment your donor list based on various criteria, ensuring that your emails are relevant and targeted.
• Integration: The MailChimp integration with Salesforce allows for seamless data synchronization between the two platforms.

Pros:

• Versatility: MailChimp is versatile and can cater to nonprofits of all sizes, offering a free plan for those with limited budgets.
• Advanced Features: It offers advanced features–at a cost–like A/B testing, automation, and in-depth analytics to optimize your email marketing efforts.
• Integration: The Salesforce-MailChimp integration ensures that donor data is consistently updated in both platforms.
• Free Plan Option: For small nonprofit organizations with basic marketing needs, the free plan on MailChimp may be all you need. 

Cons:

• Learning Curve: While MailChimp is user-friendly, understanding and making the most of its advanced features may require some training.
• Limited CRM Features: MailChimp is primarily an email marketing tool, so it may not provide the full suite of CRM features that Salesforce offers.

HubSpot

HubSpot is another well-known and widely used digital marketing platform. Like MailChimp, HubSpot also offers a free plan option for individuals or small teams. The free version has limitations and does not include the full suite of HubSpot’s marketing tools. 

Features:

• Inbound Marketing: HubSpot is an all-in-one inbound marketing platform that covers email marketing, content creation, social media management, and more.
• Marketing Automation: HubSpot offers powerful marketing automation capabilities, allowing you to create automated workflows for lead nurturing and donor engagement.
• CRM Integration: HubSpot's CRM integrates seamlessly with Salesforce, ensuring that your marketing and sales efforts are closely aligned.

Pros:

• Comprehensive: HubSpot provides a comprehensive suite of marketing tools, making it suitable for nonprofits looking to manage all aspects of their marketing in one platform.
• Automation: Robust automation capabilities can save time and increase efficiency in donor engagement.
• Integration: The tight integration with Salesforce ensures data consistency and alignment between marketing and fundraising efforts.
• Free Plan Option: For small nonprofit organizations with basic marketing needs, the free plan on HubSpot may be all you need.

Cons:

• Cost: The paid plan options of HubSpot can be expensive and may not be budget-friendly for some organizations. 
• Complexity: The full suite of HubSpot features can be overwhelming for users who are new to marketing automation.
• Training: Proper training is essential to fully utilize all the features HubSpot offers.

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, aka Pardot

Formerly known as Pardot, the somewhat newly named and revamped Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE) is a Salesforce product. We’ll refer to it as Account Engagement in this article, but know that it is very common for “Pardot” to be used interchangeably still. 

Features:

• Marketing Automation: Account Engagement, by Salesforce, is a powerful marketing automation tool that has helped nonprofits reach greater audiences.
• Lead Scoring: It offers lead scoring to prioritize donor prospects and identify the most engaged supporters.
• CRM Integration: As part of the Salesforce ecosystem, Account Engagement provides seamless integration with Salesforce CRM.

Pros:

• Deep Integration: Account Engagement is tightly integrated with Salesforce, offering a unified platform for both marketing and fundraising efforts.
• Scalability: It can scale with your nonprofit as it grows and your marketing needs become more complex.
• Advanced Features: Account Engagement offers advanced automation, lead nurturing, and reporting features.

Cons:

• Cost: Account Engagement is one of the more expensive options, which may be prohibitive for smaller nonprofits.
• Complexity: Like HubSpot, Account Engagement can be complex, and users may need training to utilize its full potential.
• Overkill for Some: For very small nonprofits with simple marketing needs, Account Engagement may be more robust than needed and not cost-effective.

Conclusion

The choice of marketing tools for nonprofit organizations using Salesforce CRM is a critical decision that can significantly impact their outreach, engagement, and ultimately, the success of their mission. 

Ultimately, the best choice depends on the unique requirements, budget constraints, and growth plans of each nonprofit. It's crucial for organizations to carefully evaluate the features and drawbacks of each tool, considering their current and future marketing needs to make an informed decision that aligns with their mission and goals. 

Looking to discuss these options with someone? Drop us a message and we’ll be happy to chat about these marketing tools and how they integrate with Salesforce.