Choosing the Right CRM for Faith-Based Nonprofits

Whether you are a missionary program, a Jewish community center, a Christian seminary or a Quaker retirement community, faith-based nonprofits face unique challenges when deciding on a CRM platform. Your CRM must support many touchpoints — an email to a prospective donor, an intake form for a referred client, or the celebration of an important milestone in a community member’s life.

Most often, we see this information residing in data silos: spreadsheets, email tools and legacy systems that can’t fully report or capture the lifecycle of your members or accurately reflect the relationship you have with your congregants.

Why Should Faith-Based Nonprofits Use a CRM?

A CRM doesn’t just store data — it empowers ministry and mission. Here’s how faith-based nonprofits use it every day:

• Donor Development – Managing giving cycles, recurring gifts, donor portal, and major donor cultivation
• Congregant Engagement – Tracking participation, events, ministries, and pastoral care
• Community Outreach – Program delivery, mission trips, and service opportunities
• Transparency & Stewardship – Reporting on impact to donors, boards, and congregations

A scalable CRM consolidates these efforts into a single source, and thousands of faith-based nonprofits have chosen Salesforce to support their mission and purpose. When choosing Salesforce, faith-based nonprofits should consider their needs around:

• Donor and tithing management
• Congregant and family relationship tracking
• Ministry and small group management
• Milestone preparation and celebrations
• Event registration and attendance tracking
• Member and family portal
• Volunteer coordination and scheduling
• Global missions and program delivery

Features That Matter Most

• 360° View: Donors, members, program participants and volunteers in one record, as well as the ability for donors to engage and manage their gifts
• Automation & Workflows: Donor acquisition and nurture, program onboarding, milestone recognition and celebration, service delivery
• Mobile Access: Engage staff and volunteers anywhere
• Analytics & Dashboards: Real-time visibility on impact
• Integrations: Finance, email marketing, online giving, and ministry tools

Organizational Readiness

Successful implementations are not just about technology and tools, they’re about the humans that use them. Before investing in a project, faith-based organizations should determine how ready the staff and leadership team is to consider operational process changes and invest in adoption. Specific questions to ask are:

• Leadership Alignment: Is leadership committed to investing in technology to further mission?
• Data Culture: Do staff and volunteers see data as a tool for ministry effectiveness?
• Change Management: Are there strategies in place to support and sustain adoption?

How Should Faith-Based Nonprofits Select an Implementation Partner?

Powerful technology requires thoughtful implementation. Faith-based organizations need a partner who understands nonprofits and their unique needs, and should consider these three key criteria:

• Nonprofit Certifications and Experience – A core understanding of nonprofits and best practices in common implementation scenarios. You can review AppExchange profiles for each partner and discover areas of focus and types of certifications held by their staff.
• Faith-Based Expertise – A partner that has served similar organizations, both in their mission and solution approach, and can connect you with similar organizations.
• Partnership Fit - A team that provides strong communication, proven engagement methodology and alignment with the project goals.

Conclusion

For faith-based organizations, relationships are the heart of ministry. A CRM should help you track relationships, but Salesforce helps you honor those relationships at scale. With its nonprofit-focused tools, flexible architecture, and deep faith-based use cases, Salesforce provides an unparalleled foundation and is trusted by more than 40,000 nonprofits, including thousands of faith-based organizations worldwide.

About Galvin Technologies

Galvin Technologies is a Salesforce Consulting Partner dedicated to helping nonprofits and mission-driven organizations succeed with Salesforce. Our focus on helping faith-based organizations in the sector is unmatched, with clients across a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices. Our senior, onshore consulting team specializes in tailoring Salesforce for faith-based missions. Every project benefits from deep expertise and hands-on support. From CRM selection to implementation and training, we empower your team to fully leverage Salesforce in service of your mission.

Let’s start a conversation about how Salesforce can serve your ministry and mission.

WANT TO TALK WITH OUR CONSULTING TEAM?

We’d love to work with you on your Salesforce needs. Our team of certified Consultants can work closely with your team to close more deals. Call us at 317-297-2910 or complete the form below.