Start with the relationships the system needs to support.
The organization needed a way to connect individual contacts, household relationships, donations, and scholarship award history. I installed the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), began the initial configuration, and evaluated an implementation vendor at the board's direction.
My involvement spanned initial setup, vendor evaluation, and hands-on remediation and customization after the vendor implementation.
Translate operating needs into a usable configuration.
After the vendor phase ended in April 2024, I reviewed the configuration against the organization's operating needs. I worked directly in Salesforce to revise changes and align the instance with the records and workflows it needed to support.
That work continued through December 2024. It included custom contact fields, householding, and a named-scholarship database, with a focus on keeping related information connected and useful over time.
Contacts needed more context.
I added custom fields to contacts and introduced householding so individual records could sit alongside household relationships. The goal was to support continuity as a person's relationship with the organization developed.
A scholarship recipient might later become a volunteer, donor, or board member. The system needed to help preserve that context across different interactions.
Scholarships needed a history of their own.
I created a named-scholarship database to facilitate tracking awards across multiple years. The work connected individual stakeholder records with the continuing history of each scholarship.
The resulting customization addressed two practical needs: understanding the history of an award program and following a person's involvement over time.
Project milestones
- Initial setupInstalled NPSP and began configuring the instance.
- Vendor coordinationIdentified and vetted an implementation vendor at the board's direction.
- January-April 2024Initial setup and vendor implementation phase.
- April-December 2024Hands-on configuration review, remediation, and customization.
- Delivered functionalityCustom contact fields, householding, and a named-scholarship database.