The Technopath Way: Productivity through tech for nonprofits

In the first guest episode of the new season of The Technopath Way, Sarah and Michael Kolodner, a Salesforce MVP and advocate for tech in the nonprofit space, dive into the realities, complexities, and costs of Salesforce implementation for nonprofits. They take a critical look at the new nonprofit cloud and its implications in terms of pricing and functionality for users.

Check out more of Michael's musings on his blog - Free Like a Puppy: https://www.freelikeapuppy.tech/

Learn about the Modern Classrooms Project: https://www.modernclassrooms.org/

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips, here: https://www.technopath.ac-page.com/the-technopath-way-sign-up


00:35 Introducing: Michael Kolodner
01:45 Michael's Journey into Salesforce Ecosystem
03:38 The Realities of Salesforce for Nonprofits
04:55 The True Cost of Salesforce Ownership
06:01 The Impact of System Robustness on Nonprofits
08:01 The Pressing Technology Needs for Nonprofits
11:39 Maximizing Impact for Salesforce in Nonprofit Setting
16:23 The Challenges of Salesforce Admins
24:08 The New Nonprofit Cloud: A Discussion
28:29 The Struggles of New Product Documentation
29:28 The Pressure to Sell New Products
30:04 The Challenges of Being a Small Partner
30:30 The Overwhelming Nature of Salesforce
32:23 The Push for Nonprofit Cloud
34:03 The Difficulties of Implementing New Products
36:38 The Complexity of the New Data Model
40:23 The Price Increase of the New Nonprofit Cloud
45:34 The Struggles of Learning New Features
48:39 Closing Thoughts and Gratitude
51:16 The Success Story of Modern Classrooms Project

In past seasons we’ve focused on decreasing overwhelm and increasing clarity when it comes to nonprofit technology. This season,we want to create a space to have more open unfiltered conversations around Salesforce and technology.

Salesforce is known for hosting events called True to the Core. These events, however, often fall short of providing concrete answers to the burning questions that attendees have. They leave us wanting more, yearning for a deeper exploration of the topics at hand. That's where season three of the Technopath Way comes in. We aim to uncover the truth behind these events and provide the honest conversations that are often kept behind closed doors.

For more information on Sarah connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahepting/.

For training resources on NPSP find resources on https://www.technopath.io.

Sign up for our newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips here.

#salesforce #alwaysbelearning

Take Away Tips:

The stories we tell ourselves about circumstances determine our emotional reactions and self-worth. Changing the stories is all about changing our mindset. One book Jackie recommended on mindset was "Mindset" by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

Figure out what you want -- this does not mean making a list of what you don't want!

Overthinking can hinder progress, and it is important to break down goals into manageable steps and not get overwhelmed. Breaking down goals into easily achievable steps increases the likelihood of success and eliminates the pressure of overwhelming tasks.

Learn more about Jackie’s Path to Purpose: 30-Day Intensive here.”

In general if you want to know more about Jackie, go here: Learn more about Jackie here: https://jackiecoley.com/

Interested in Sarah's joint - build and learn session with Jackie on August 31st at 1 pm. Jackie will give us some steps on getting yourself unstuck and Sarah will talk about how we can record those steps in a Salesforce dev org! Register here.

Sarah's NPSP Study Guide and preview can be found at technopath.podia.com.

Take Away Tips:
• At a small nonprofit if you've been hired on as a developer, expect to do a little bit of everything from administration, to BA, to solution architecht + developer.


• Nonprofits can run into the problem of developers, coding and then ghosting. If this happens to you -- take a step back from the code, map out what the system is doing, and document it. Then you can use a sandbox to turn off the code and see if you can manage the same thing declaratively. If you decide to alter the code in the sandbox and it works, great! Now document that too!


• You do not need to even know Salesforce to learn development. It helps, but once you understand how the data model works you can work step by step to be a coder.


• Start small by hitting the trails or getting on the waitlist for Warren's next Cloud Code Academy Cohort


• Chat GPT may be able to help you untangle code, but be aware that it may not always be right.
For more awesome tips, check at Warren's youtube channel, Salesforce Mentor website, and Cloud Code Academy. His first cohort sold out in 39 minutes, so keep your ear to the floor!

Sarah's NPSP Study Guide and preview can be found at technopath.podia.com.

INFO

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Take Away Tips:

• Have micro-goals to accomplish a big goal
  
  
• Work hard, even if it is tough
  
  
• You can learn anything if you give it enough time
  
  
• It takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something, but only 20 to get a fairly good understanding on how to do something.

Adriel's recording his "Road to the Pro" cornhole journey on his YouTube channel here.

Download free tools or enroll in our courses at technopath.podia.com.

INFO

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips here.

Take Away Tips:

• You do not need a Salesforce Certification to work in a Salesforce Career, Laurel knows many that don't
  
  
• Certifications demonstrate theoritical and technical knowledge and can be an asset in a job search
  
  
• Before you sit for a cert, spend time doing a self-assessment, finding adjacent roles, and building hands-on experience, but be wary of volunteer roles, because you may not be prepared
  
  
• Nonprofits, give any Salesforce volunteers a super-user mentor as they come into your organization.

Laurel's free career self-assessment is here: lm-consults.com/product-page/salesforce-career-self-assessment

Book a free 30-minute call with Laurel to get Salesforce career advice: www.lm-consults.com/

Need study guides? Laurel's got both for the visual and video learner: lm-consults.com/salesforce-certification-training


Sarah's NPSP Study Guide and preview can be found at technopath.podia.com

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips

Thank you to this week’s sponsor - Sunsama! Have you tried Sunsama? Get your first three weeks free with our link: https://www.sunsama.com/a/technopath

This week’s episode we have something special in store! We’re sharing one of our recent Salesforce Saturdays when Sarah talked all about technical debt and how to Spring Clean your systems. She dives deep into how you can get organized, clean up confusingly named reports and converting process builders to flows.

Take Away Tips:

• Start every flow’s name with the object it effects
• Use Scribe to document your changes
• Be careful about why a contact may not have any activity listed - is it a disengaged contact? Or is it a duplicate of an engaged member of your community?

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips, here: https://www.technopath.ac-page.com/the-technopath-way-sign-up

Thank you to this week’s sponsor - Sunsama! Have you tried Sunsama? Get your first three weeks free with our link: https://www.sunsama.com/a/technopath

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah hosted a very popular Salesforce Saturday session about building an app to track goals. We heard feedback about why it was so popular for two reasons. Reason number one is the geeky reason - people want to know how to build an app. Reason number two though is that other people are feeling behind on their goals not sure what to do about it.
Here are some of Sarah’s best tips for setting and working toward your goals:

• Outline your goals in detail
• Divide by category (fitness, relationships, career, etc)
• Create milestones to achieve along the way (break the goal down into smaller steps)
• Establish small daily habits that support you achieving the smaller milestones and in turn, the bigger goals
• Know your ‘why’ - why do you want to achieve this goal? For instance, you may want to lose 10 lbs so you can feel more energetic and less out of breath while playing with your dog. Having this ‘why’ in mind will help keep you working toward the goal even when your initial motivation flags.
• Track your progress toward your milestones
• Celebrate your wins! Decide on how you’ll want to celebrate yourself once you’ve achieved your goals. (Sarah’s go-to is ice cream!)

Until next time on the Technopath Way!

P.S. Looking for expert guidance, step-by-step visual instructions and comprehensive video explanations to help prepare you to take the Nonprofit Cloud Consultant Exam with confidence? Check out a free preview of the study guide here: https://coda.io/d/NPSP-Study-Guide-Preview-by-Technopath_dB7GHMLpEhi/Overview_su0UH

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips, here: https://www.technopath.ac-page.com/the-technopath-way-sign-up

One of the things that is often left out or at least not easy to organize when dealing with technology is documentation. Specifically training documentation. Last year around this time one of my students from our masterclass came to office hours and showed us this tool that blew my mind. I am so pleased to have the CEO of that amazing tool, Scribe, here to tell us about not only how the tool works and how it was developed, but also how it can benefit nonprofits and you!

Here are some of my key take-aways from our chat:

• Traditional methods of creating documentation can take hours, but using Scribe has given people HOURS of their lives back
• Iterate - the first version you create of anything is going to be simplistic. Keep building on it and incorporating feedback, whether that’s a tech tool you’re developing or a nonprofit program you’ve just launched.
• Think deeply about the problem you are solving and for whom, don’t just build something because you think it’s cool
• Share your knowledge! Your whole organization will benefit from your insider tips and short cuts
• Get started with Scribe here: https://scribehow.com

Thanks for joining us today, Jennifer!

P.S. Looking for expert guidance, step-by-step visual instructions and comprehensive video explanations to help prepare you to take the Nonprofit Cloud Consultant Exam with confidence? Check out a free preview here: https://coda.io/d/NPSP-Study-Guide-Preview-by-Technopath_dB7GHMLpEhi/Overview_su0UH

Have you tried Sunsama? Get your first three weeks free with our link: https://www.sunsama.com/a/technopath

Never miss an episode or recap again! Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The Technopath Way Tips, here: https://www.technopath.ac-page.com/the-technopath-way-sign-up

Thank you to this week's sponsor, Sunsama! Have you tried Sunsama? It's one of Sarah's favorite tools to organize her day and get everything done. Her favorite feature? The warning that pops up when she plans too many hours of work tasks to be able to accomplish in 8 work hours a day.
Get your first three weeks free with our link: https://www.sunsama.com/a/technopath

What do we mean when we say ‘program management’ in terms of Salesforce for nonprofits? Programs are what nonprofits are really all about. They are what nonprofits actually do to serve their constituents. For instance, a nonprofit vision clinic could have a program where they provide free eye exams to children, another program where they provide free eye exams to teenagers, and a third program that accepts donated eye glasses.

Today our discussion will focus on the current landscape of program and case management tools out there. Whether it’s a workforce development, a food bank, or an after-school program, any human service program needs to be able to track how the humans they are serving are doing as a result of the nonprofit’s programs. After today’s episode you’ll walk away with a better understanding of why process mapping is crucial to running a sustainable nonprofit, how to get started mapping your organization’s processes and how a program management expert translates these processes into Salesforce.

Joining us for this discussion is Matt Henry. Matt is an expert in technologies that help nonprofits run their programs more efficiently. He currently runs his own nonprofit consulting firm, Ascendably, where he helps nonprofits implement and maintain their Salesforce orgs and zero in on their processes.

Key Takeaways:

• Always start by writing out all processes. You’ll be shocked at how many different interpretations there are of certain steps between staff members.
• Once you’ve written out processes it’s much easier to figure out how to streamline them or even add in a completely new process or program.
• Try elements.cloud, Lucidchart, or draw.io to create a visual representation of your processes
• Watch Matt map out a nonprofit’s processes in real time in the free webinar pinned at the top of our free community NPSP Academy: https://npsp-academy.mn.co/share/nxvxYbrrqeCqJ_yb?utm_source=manual
• Matt uses Sunsama every day to organize his most pressing tasks and keep himself on track as an independent consultant with many projects going at once. Try it today: https://www.sunsama.com/a/technopath