Salesforce Release Spring ‘25 Edition

Welcome to the latest Salesforce release! We have curated the most impactful features from the Spring ’25 Release, which introduces features that can significantly benefit non-profits by improving efficiency, simplifying data management, and enabling deeper engagement with donors and constituents. Highlights include:

1. Fundraising Enhancements
2. Donor Management Improvements
3. New Administrator Configuration Features

We’ve organized these features based on their ease of implementation to help you plan your adoption strategy effectively. While the full release notes are available here, this brief focuses on updates we believe will most benefit your organization. We encourage you to review this document carefully to maximize the value of these new capabilities. The Sertus team is ready to support you in leveraging these enhancements for your organization’s needs.

Release Timeline
– The Salesforce Spring ’25 release will be rolled out on January 11, February 8, or February 14, 2025, depending on your Salesforce instance.
– Most features will be automatically enabled with the release.
– Our team will work with you to develop a tailored action plan for evaluating, implementing, and enhancing your Salesforce org based on the Spring ’25 release items.

AUTOMATICALLY ENABLED OR EASY TO TURN ON

1. Automation App Updates

The new “Monitor” tab in the Automation App provides a centralized view of Flow performance and status. This enhancement gives administrators
better visibility into automated processes.

Example: Track the performance of donation processing flows, automated acknowledgment sends, and constituent update processes all from one dashboard.

The “So What?”: This visibility helps identify bottlenecks in automated processes, reduces troubleshooting time, and ensures critical nonprofit workflows run smoothly.

REQUIRES SOME CONFIGURATION OR SETUP

1. Fundraising Enhancements

Fundraising Summaries: Enhanced Layout Customization

This update allows administrators to tailor summary layouts to match specific nonprofit reporting needs.

Example: Create custom summary views that highlight key metrics like donor retention rates, campaign performance, or program-specific giving trends.

The “So What?”: Better organized and more relevant fundraising data helps teams make informed decisions and report more effectively to stakeholders.

Fundraising Analytics: Automated Rollup Updates

Introduces automated Data Processing Engine (DPE) updates that maintain accurate rollup calculations while preserving custom configurations.

Example: Complex giving scenarios like recurring donations, soft credits, and matching gifts are automatically calculated and updated without manual intervention.

The “So What?”: More reliable fundraising data with less administrative overhead, ensuring accurate reporting and forecasting.

2. Donor Management Improvements

   Donor Management: Enhanced Gift Data Customization

   Expands custom field mapping capabilities for detailed gift documentation and donor
   preferences.

   Example: Track specific program designations, donor communication preferences, and
   impact reporting requirements at the gift level.

   The “So What?”: Better donor insights lead to more personalized stewardship and improved donor retention.

   Donor Analytics: Soft Credit Rollup Tracking

   Enables comprehensive tracking of indirect giving influence and impact.

   Example: Automatically track and report on matching gifts, household giving, board member influence, and volunteer fundraiser impact.

   The “So What?”: Complete understanding of giving networks and relationships helps identify and cultivate key supporters more effectively.

MAY REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT BUT WORTH A REVIEW

1. Agentforce 2.0 (AI for Slack and Beyond)

   Agentforce 2.0, released by Salesforce in late 2024, is an advanced AI-powered platform
   designed to enhance productivity and streamline operations for various organizations,
   including nonprofits. Key features include:

   1. Pre-built agent skills: A library of pre-configured tasks that work across CRM,
   Slack, Tableau, and partner-developed actions on AppExchange
   2. Volunteer management: Automates onboarding, training, and shift assignments
   for volunteers, improving efficiency and coordination.
   3. Donor engagement: Enhances donor interactions by automating responses and
   personalizing communications, potentially increasing donor satisfaction and
   retention.
   4. Resource allocation: Helps match donations to those in need more effectively,
   streamlining the distribution of goods and funds.
   5. Operational efficiency: Automates routine tasks, allowing nonprofit staff to focus
   on mission-critical work and strategic initiatives.
   6. Scalability: Enables nonprofits to handle growing memberships, increase donor
   engagement, and expand.

2. Salesforce and Slack Integration

The Salesforce and Slack integration offers seamless connectivity between the two
platforms, enhancing team collaboration and productivity. The integration allows users to
access Salesforce data directly within Slack conversations, enabling real-time updates,
instant notifications, and the ability to share or update Salesforce records without
switching platforms. Key features of the Salesforce-Slack integration include:

1. Effortless note-taking: Transfer messages directly to Salesforce records.
2. Simplified record sharing: Share Salesforce records in Slack channels or private
conversations.
3. Seamless workflow integration: Edit and enhance Salesforce data directly from
Slack.

Example: An organization creates a dedicated Slack channel for volunteer coordination.
When a new volunteer signs up through their Salesforce NPSP or NPC, an automated
notification is sent to this Slack channel. This real-time alert allows the volunteer
coordinator to quickly respond and engage with the new volunteer. In this example, Slack
and Salesforce improves volunteer engagement, and ensures all volunteer data is
accurately captured and easily accessible. It allows the nonprofit to create a more
connected and efficient volunteer management system, ultimately supporting their
mission more effectively.

The “So What?”: The Salesforce and Slack integration is crucial for nonprofits as it
enhances communication, efficiency, and overall effectiveness, particularly for
organizations using NPSP and NPC.

ADMIN FOCUSED ENHANCEMENTS

In addition to the main features highlighted above, the Spring ‘25 Release also includes
several enhancements that will be particularly useful for Salesforce admins. These
updates focus on improving the customization and management of your Salesforce org,
making it easier for you to create a tailored and efficient experience for your users.

Search Configuration: Improved search query configuration allows admins to create
profile-specific search settings.
Admins can now set rules for search results and allow searches based on filters.
Global search settings can be controlled from a single place, streamlining the
configuration process.

List Views: New ability to sort list views by multiple columns, enhancing data
organization.
Improvements to role list views and permission set list views.

Permissions and Security: Introduction of "View All Fields" permission at the object level, granting access to all fields for a specific object.
Enhanced permission set management with improved list views, offering better filtering
and search capabilities.

User Management: Updated user record view summary, displaying comprehensive
permission information including object permissions, custom permissions, and group
memberships.

Flow Enhancements: Introduction of responsive actions and validations in Flow

Dashboard Improvements: New beta feature allowing admins to choose which dashboard
widgets to refresh.

RETIRING FEATURES

foundationConnect (Subscription renewals end: January 31, 2025)

Enhanced Email Experience (Entering reduced support phase)
Legacy Chat
Salesforce for Outlook (December 2027)

NEXT STEPS

Contact your Sertus Partners project manager to:

1. Review these updates in detail
2. Assess impact on your current implementation
3. Plan feature adoption
4. Develop a timeline for retiring feature migrations

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