Is Salesforce Experience Cloud a Fit for Nonprofits?
Imagine this: A longtime donor wants to check their past contributions but can’t find an easy way. A volunteer who tries to sign up for an event but gets stuck and gives up. A grant applicant looking for updates but finds nothing. What’s common here? Visitors who are frustrated, confused, and dissatisfied.
As a Nonprofit, the last thing you want is to create obstacles for your community members. But let’s face it—these gaps happen. And when they do, they impact your reputation, weaken supporter trust, and discourage future engagement.
To truly meet the needs of your constituents, you need to stay ahead—constantly finding ways to improve the experience for your staff, supporters, and donors. Salesforce Experience Cloud is one such tool that you can consider building custom portals of your needs, taking your engagements with external users to the next level.
Read through the blog as we discuss the unique ways of using the best CRM for Nonprofits - Salesforce Experience Cloud. We’ll discover creative ways of using Salesforce Experience Cloud for Nonprofits and whether it can address your organizational aspirations.
Salesforce Experience Cloud for Nonprofits
Think of Salesforce Experience Cloud as your Nonprofit’s digital front door—always open, always welcoming. It’s a powerful digital experience platform (DXP) lets you create custom portals, communities, and hubs where donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries can easily connect with your organization.
Instead of relying on endless emails or clunky spreadsheets, Experience Cloud brings everything together in one place—making interactions seamless, self-service, and engaging.
With features designed for Nonprofits, you can build customized, branded experiences without heavy development work. Here’s what makes Experience Cloud a game-changer:
Drag-and-drop site builder for easy customization
Prebuilt templates and Lightning components to speed up deployment
Mobile Publisher for seamless branding across mobile apps
Built-in content management system (CMS)
Personalization tools like audience targeting and role-based access
Einstein bots for instant, AI-powered responses
Gamification features including badges and leaderboards
Google Analytics 4 integration for deep insights into engagement
Advanced security tools such as Lightning Locker and Clickjack protection
and more…
📖Read more: Salesforce Experience Cloud Features - Top 13
Nonprofit Technology Solutions You Can Build with Salesforce Experience Cloud
Program Application / Intake / Portals
Managing program applications can be a nightmare without the right system in place. With Salesforce Experience Cloud, Nonprofits can create a seamless self-service portal where applicants can submit forms, track their application status, and even receive automated updates. No more messy paperwork or endless email threads!
With features such as Dynamic Forms and Flow Builder, you can ensure that every application is structured properly, while automation speeds up approvals and rejections. Since everything syncs to the Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), so you always have a clear view of who’s applying and how your programs are making an impact.
2. Volunteer Applications / Portals
Managing volunteers shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. Imagine a Volunteer Portal where people can sign up, pick shifts, and track their hours—all on their own. No more back-and-forth emails! You can even set up automated background checks and approval workflows, so everything runs smoothly.
Want to make it more engaging? Use Chatter feature in Experience Cloud to create a space where your volunteers can connect, ask questions, and stay motivated. Based on previous engagements and the recommendations you’ll get with Experience Cloud, you’ll be aware of key questions like: who’s active, who’s burning out, and who might need a little nudge to get involved again.
2. Community Partner Portals
Nonprofits don’t work in isolation, they thrive on partnerships! Whether you’re working with corporate sponsors, community groups, or local businesses, a Community Partner Portal keeps everyone connected.
With Community Partner Portals, partners can log in, access shared resources, submit funding applications, or track the progress of joint projects, right from their desk or mobile. Moreover, with features such as role-based access, a partner can control who sees what, ensuring that sensitive data stays secure while collaboration remains effortless
Source: Salesforce
3. Member Portals
If your Nonprofit has a membership program—whether for donors, beneficiaries, or supporters—you need an easy way to manage it. With Experience Cloud, you can build a Member Portal where people can renew memberships, update their information, and access exclusive content.
You can even gamify engagement by introducing badges, leaderboards, and personalized event recommendations. And because it’s all integrated with Salesforce CRM, you get real-time insights into member activity and preferences, helping you keep engagement levels high.
4. Grant Management Portal
Applying for and managing grants shouldn’t feel like a never-ending email chain. Experience Cloud lets you build a Grant Management Portal where organizations can apply for funding, track their application status, and submit reports—all in one place.
You can even use Einstein AI to prioritize applications based on predefined criteria, making the review process faster and more efficient. Moreover, grantors can log in to see real-time reports on how funds are being used, building transparency and trust.
5. E-commerce / Donations
If building a portal for selling Nonprofit merchandise or accepting donations is on your mind, Experience Cloud is a great tool for that? With Experience Cloud, you can create an e-commerce storefront that seamlessly integrates with Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Whether it’s selling branded T-shirts or setting up recurring donations, everything can be automated for a hassle-free experience.
Through your E-Commerce/donation portal, supporters can easily make one-time or recurring contributions, track their donation history, and even get personalized thank-you messages. For ensuring a secure transaction experience and track donor activity with ease, you can also integrate your Experience Cloud portal with payment processors like Stripe or PayPal.
Source: Salesforce
6. Voter Registration Portals
If your Nonprofit is involved in civic engagement, you might require building a Voter Registration Portal. With Experience Cloud, you can create an easy-to-use site where users can check their registration status, sign up to vote, and receive automated election reminders.
What’s more? Experience Cloud also supports geolocation tools so voters can find polling places accurately? Since Experience Cloud can be integrated with Marketing Cloud, you can even send timely updates to your voters, ensuring they stay informed and engaged in the democratic process.
Implementing Salesforce Experience Cloud for Nonprofits: Understanding Different Scenarios
Experience Cloud is a great tool you must already have in your armory. It provides all the flexibility and customization you need to build portals, dashboards, and custom sites to continuously engage and retain constituents.
But how exactly should you implement it for your Nonprofit? Do you need a Nonprofit Cloud or Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) license, or can you use Experience Cloud with a third-party Nonprofit CRM? The answer depends on your current system and the level of integration you require.
Let’s break it down into different scenarios to find the best approach for your organization.
1. Standalone Experience Cloud Implementation
If your Nonprofit already uses Salesforce CRM, you can still implement Experience Cloud independently without necessarily adopting Nonprofit Cloud or NPSP. This means you can build a self-service portal, volunteer hub, or grant management dashboard while maintaining your existing CRM as the system of record.
However, going the standalone route does come with some considerations:
Custom Configuration Required: Since you won’t have prebuilt Nonprofit features from NPSP, you’ll need to set up custom objects, workflows, and automation tailored to your operations.
Permissions & Access Management: Experience Cloud requires well-structured user roles, security settings, and access permissions to ensure data integrity and proper governance.
Integration with Your Existing CRM: If your Nonprofit is using a non-Salesforce CRM (such as Blackbaud or Kindful), you’ll need to set up API integrations to sync data between systems.
Note: This approach works best for Nonprofits that already have a structured CRM and want to enhance engagement with an external-facing portal—without fully shifting to the Salesforce Nonprofit ecosystem.
2. Experience Cloud with Nonprofit Cloud / NPSP
If you’re already using Salesforce’s Nonprofit Cloud or the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), integrating Experience Cloud becomes much easier and more powerful. For such a scenario, Nonprofit Cloud/NPSP serves as your foundation, managing donors, volunteers, and programs, while Experience Cloud acts as the front-facing platform for your external users.
Here’s what makes this combination powerful:
Seamless Data Sharing: All donor, volunteer, and grant data lives inside Salesforce, ensuring real-time syncing with Experience Cloud portals.
Prebuilt Nonprofit Features: Since NPSP already includes donor management, fundraising, and program tracking, Experience Cloud can extend these capabilities with donor portals, self-service dashboards, and community forums.
Automation & Reporting: With Salesforce Flow and Einstein AI, you can automate donor follow-ups, volunteer engagement, and grant application tracking—all within an integrated system.
3. Experience Cloud with Third-Party Nonprofit CRMs
If your Nonprofit is already using a third-party Nonprofit CRM like Raiser’s Edge NXT, Neon One, or DonorPerfect, you might wonder if you can still use Experience Cloud. The short answer is: Yes, but integration is key.
In this scenario:
Experience Cloud can act as a donor, volunteer, or program portal, allowing external users to interact with your organization.
However, since your primary CRM is outside the Salesforce ecosystem, you will need custom integration solutions to sync data between the two platforms.
You can rely on tools such as Mulesoft, Zapier, or custom APIs to help connect Experience Cloud with non-Salesforce CRMs to ensure seamless data exchange.
The above option works well for Nonprofits that want the flexibility and user experience of Experience Cloud without fully migrating their backend to Salesforce. However, it may require additional implementation effort to ensure smooth data flow between systems.
Which Approach is Right for You?
The right implementation approach depends on your Nonprofit’s current technology stack, budget, and long-term strategy.
If you’re already using Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or NPSP: Experience Cloud is the perfect extension to boost your interactions with your donors and supporters.
If you’re using Salesforce but not NPSP: Experience Cloud works, but you may need custom Nonprofit-specific configurations.
Using a non-Salesforce CRM: Experience Cloud implementation is possible but requires strong integration solutions.
While Experience Cloud implementation can be game-changing, its implementation requires a well-thought-out plan. Salesforce Experience Cloud services of a partner firm can give you the strategic guidance and expertise you need to optimize user experience so it best aligns with your Nonprofit’s goals.
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