The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Enhanced Data Efficiency
With a Customized Salesforce Org

The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida (TCF) connects people who care with causes that matter. Since 1964, They have served the citizens of Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Baker, Clay, and Putnam counties through a range of charitable and civic activities, while helping individual donors achieve their philanthropic goals. They believe in Giving Back. Giving Forward. Their mission is to build a better community by stimulating philanthropy through civic and philanthropic leadership, as well as by providing products and services that help donors fulfill their philanthropic goals. Created by generous individuals, families, businesses and organizations, each of our more than 600 funds helps build stronger communities.

The primary challenges faced by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida stem from its rapid growth, fueled by both investment returns and donor acquisition. This substantial expansion has brought the organization to a pivotal point, prompting a comprehensive evaluation of its operational landscape. One key challenge arose from the evolution in the donor base, with heightened expectations for a more enhanced and personalized experience. Additionally, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s product line has diversified significantly, boasting over 30 investment pools and continuing to grow. This expansion necessitated a reevaluation of data collection and analysis methods concerning grantees and their community-centric initiatives.

The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s reliance on Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge and NPact’s GrantedGE revealed a critical need for improvement in technology utilization. While these platforms served as databases for storing information, they had not been fully leveraged to their maximum potential. Everyday tasks, such as reporting on donor advised grants, presented challenges, emphasizing the urgency of optimizing technological capabilities. Recognizing this, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida aimed to elevate its development team’s proficiency, enabling them to engage meaningfully with both prospective and current donors, as well as financial partners.

At the forefront of their priorities was the enhancement of the donor portal for donor advised funds and the streamlining of the competitive grants process through a dedicated grant portal. Furthermore, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida was committed to establishing a central source of truth in Salesforce. This central repository was envisioned to empower departments such as Development, Donor Services, Communications, Grants and Community Initiatives, and Finance to serve their constituents comprehensively, armed with rich insights. Addressing these challenges was crucial for The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida to not only meet the evolving expectations of its stakeholders but also to streamline its internal processes for a more efficient and impactful philanthropic endeavor.

To address the primary challenges faced by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, a comprehensive set of solutions has been implemented, leveraging advanced technologies and tailored configurations. The adoption of the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) and the installation of Outbound Funds packages are pivotal components of these solutions. These tools facilitate tracking of funds, distinguishing between donations to general funds and donor-advised funds. General Accounting Units have been developed as Funds, and Outbound Funds serve as a comprehensive platform for recording outgoing grants, managing applications, and documenting awards for competitive grants.

In tandem with these efforts, Account Engagement (formerly known as Pardot) has been installed and configured to enhance The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s communication strategies. This powerful tool is now utilized for targeted email marketing campaigns aimed at engaging donors and members effectively. Moreover, a meticulous data migration process from Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge (RE) and GrantedGE has been executed to ensure a seamless transition and consolidation of information within Salesforce.

A key aspect of the solution involves the creation of Experience Cloud Sites, each serving a specific purpose. The Donor Portal empowers donors with donor-advised funds to view fund balances and submit grant requests seamlessly. Simultaneously, the Grants Portal caters to nonprofits and individuals, providing a user-friendly platform to apply for competitive grants. The implementation also includes a Membership Portal designed for members of collective giving circles to interact with membership data, stay updated on events, and access relevant information.

To enhance automation and efficiency, custom sharing automation and code have been incorporated into the Experience Cloud Sites. Formstack has been installed to streamline data collection through forms and its word merging tool. This functionality extends to facilitating secure payment processing and eSign capabilities within the Experience Cloud Sites.

Efforts have been made to synchronize data between Salesforce and Sage Intacct through collaboration with a Workato vendor. This synchronization ensures that fund balances are visible in Salesforce, providing Account Owners with real-time knowledge, and keeping donor portal figures up-to-date.

Custom-built features further enhance the solution, allowing the secure collection of ACH information for grantees and the processing of this information in Sage Intacct. The customization extends to the quarterly statements for donors processed and saved within Salesforce. The Grant Disbursement process has also been customized, introducing additional granularity within Salesforce and seamless integration with Sage Intacct at a higher level. 

Through a strategic partnership with Redpath Consulting Group, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida has successfully overcome its primary challenges and has gained operational efficiency and enhanced stakeholder engagement. Redpath’s expertise in Salesforce implementation played a pivotal role in addressing The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s rapid growth and evolving needs.

One of the key accomplishments is the consolidation of a unified data hub within Salesforce, serving as the central location for collecting and tracking information related to donors and grantees. Leveraging automation, this solution significantly increases operational efficiency. Redpath migrated data from The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s existing Raiser’s Edge and GrantedGE instances into Salesforce, ensuring the preservation of historical data for ongoing member and grant management.

External portals have been developed for donors, memberships, and grantees, enabling data sharing with members and grantees while empowering internal staff to act on this information efficiently. This enhanced connectivity not only streamlines communication but also facilitates more informed decision-making.

Redpath’s implementation has revolutionized the generation of donor statements by integrating data from Sage Intacct into Salesforce. This integration ensures that statements are not only accurately created but also made visible through the donor portal. The result is a dynamic and responsive system that enhances the donor experience and strengthens transparency.

A secure ACH process has been established, allowing for the secure entry and validation of ACH data within Salesforce. This information is synchronized with Sage Intacct, providing a robust yet protected system for managing financial transactions. Redpath’s attention to data security ensures that sensitive data is safeguarded throughout the entire ACH process.

In summary, the collaborative efforts between The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida and Redpath Consulting Group have produced tangible results. The Salesforce implementation has not only addressed the Foundation’s challenges but has also laid the groundwork for a more streamlined, transparent, and secure philanthropic operation. The innovative solutions implemented by Redpath have positioned The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida for sustained growth, increased donor satisfaction, and more impactful community initiatives.