Salesforce Winter ’25 Release: Notable Features for Nonprofit Cloud

The Salesforce Winter ’25 release is here! You may have noticed some new looks and different features popping up throughout the platform. While the release is packed with plenty of enhancements, we’d describe this one as more of a “setting the stage” phase for some big improvements headed our way throughout the latter part of 2025. The release addresses several submissions from the IdeaExchange and paves the way for even more significant changes ahead. However, make no mistake, there is plenty to love in Winter ’25 for Nonprofit Cloud users. 

The Galvin Nonprofit Cloud team picked a few of the enhancements that got us thinking about client use cases immediately. Of course, new functionality that improves efficiency and effectiveness always makes the top of our list—and Winter ’25 has a lot of great stuff that ticks both those boxes. 

So, let’s take a look at what’s “cool” in the Winter ’25 release for nonprofits. 

Fundraising

Fundraising in Nonprofit Cloud is an end-to-end solution designed to help fundraisers do their jobs more efficiently. The platform offers features designed for organizations and donor pools of all sizes. Salesforce Winter ’25 release introduces additional functionality to help nonprofits streamline raising money instead of wasting time on manual tasks.

Bulk Source Code Creation

Source Codes represent every unique combination of message, channel, and audience within a fundraising effort. An annual giving campaign could have dozens of them to record each form of outreach, which can get messy and time-consuming. With the new release, Nonprofit Cloud now includes a Bulk Outreach Source Code component accessible right from the campaign record. That means users can spend less time on campaign structure and more time focused on strategy without compromising data quality. Simply click on the component, populate the channels and amounts, and create up to 200 Source Codes at once. Plus, users can customize Source Code lists to capture various fields, set permissions, and establish requirements.

Acknowledgements and Receipts

Salesforce made some exciting changes to acknowledgments and receipts in the Summer ’24 release and now is doing it again with improved visibility and logic. When processing multiple donor acknowledgments, users can check a box that generates a report of all donors included in the batch. The report folder houses the latest list, which staff can use to see who was included, create mail merges, and produce mailing labels for sending acknowledgments. 

Building off the previous release, which allowed users to check a box to update a donation as acknowledged, now the same thing can happen for tax receipts. Simply click the checkbox to update the record that a tax receipt has been sent. 

Donor Briefs

Wouldn’t it be nice if Nonprofit Cloud included a straightforward way to pull together key donor details to help a gift officer tailor their pitch instead of having to build a customized report or taking pen-and-paper notes prior to a meeting? It’s something we’re asked for a lot here at Galvin. Well, say hello to Donor Briefs, customized PDF documents summarizing donor profile information like contact details and giving history. Work from an existing template or create your own. Use the quick action feature from the Person Account to pull the brief, then print or email it as needed. It’s all the big, important donor details in one little click. Just make sure DocGen is enabled to take advantage of this timesaver. 

Soft Credits on Commitments

In fundraising, knowing who is influencing donations is just as important as tracking the donors themselves. Nonprofit Cloud attributes these influencers with soft credits and now users can add and track them at the gift commitment level (not just the transaction level). The improved functionality provides better visibility to those people who are helping bring in donations, like volunteers and board members. Note that this update applies to new gift soft credits and not to commitment schedules retroactively. 

Multiple Address Management

Getting a fundraising letter into the hands of a donor is challenging, especially when that person has multiple addresses. The Salesforce Winter ’25 release introduces automation to manage these addresses by providing a sync between the mailing address field on the person account and contact point address objects. Turn on the multiple address sync feature in Fundraising Settings and activate the corresponding flow. With the feature live, when creating or updating a primary address, the system will automatically sync the information to the mailing address—no manual keying necessary. Conversely, marking a primary address as undeliverable will remove the information from the mailing address fields automatically. Currently, this new feature applies only to person accounts, not business or household accounts.

Programs Suite

In Nonprofit Cloud, the Programs Suite is a collection of tools built for overseeing and tracking programs. This includes managing participant information, activities, outcomes, and impact metrics. While the Winter ’25 release includes many Program Suite enhancements, we are highlighting the most significant update to case management.

Provider Management – Data Model

No nonprofit can do it all, which makes managing an external provider network so important. Now case managers can do that inside Salesforce. The Provider Management Data Model captures key third-party details—such as provider names, facilities, staff, specialties, and hours—all in one place. Nonprofits can use the feature to build a network and identify providers based on specific constituent needs as part of the broader care plan.

Provider Management – Provider Search

With so much data on third-party providers in the platform now, users need a way to find the right partner based on the benefits provided. Provider Search is fully configurable to offer a tailored experience based on different organizational needs. Customize search fields, criteria, and the results list. Admins can even add a specific action on the results page that users can take. Enable Criteria-Based Search and Filtering and set up the Data Processing Engine to activate Provider Search.

Grantmaking

We’ve touched on donations and programs, now it’s time for grants. Grantmaking in Nonprofit Cloud is an A-to-Z platform for managing the entire grant lifecycle, from creating funding opportunities all the way to tracking impact. Salesforce Winter ’25 release introduces some nice improvements to the grant review experience. 

Application Reviews

Pulling data from multiple places wastes grant managers’ time. Salesforce streamlined the application review process in Winter ’25 by creating one screen for the most important information. Now users can view submissions and complete the assessment process on the new Application Review screen. But grant managers won’t be the only ones saving time. This platform enhancement limits the hours admins spend configuring application screens. Instead, they can easily set up this out-of-the-box feature and move on to other tasks. 

Progress Reports

Salesforce applied the same timesaving framework to Progress Reports. Now grantees can easily submit updates through a sectioned form and grant managers can review the details. Once admins add the Progress Report to the funding award requirements in Salesforce, the form is ready to go without much (or any) customization required.

Learn More About Sales Winter '24 Release

These Winter ’24 enhancements and upgrades are powerful improvements today and have us excited about what’s to come in Nonprofit Cloud. To learn more and discover additional release features, check out these resources: 

• Winter ’25 Release Notes – offers a high-level overview of what’s included in the latest release
• Winter ’25 Release in a Box – a digital resource for Admins, Business Users, Developers, Community Groups, and more 
• Winter ‘25 Release Demos – introduces features of the new release with highlights and demonstrations from the Trailblazer network. 

See a feature that’s too “cool” to pass up? Let’s get it off ice and into production. The Galvin team will analyze your needs, configure the solution, and train your staff. From consulting to development to admin support, we’re here to help you make improvements that will take your nonprofit to the next level.

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