How to sign up for Salesforce as a non-profit
Your nonprofit has decided to use Salesforce as your CRM, hooray! So how do you actually go through and sign up for those 10 free licenses? In order to save you time, we'll go through the steps:
1. The very first step is to sign up for a '30-day Trial Organization'. You do this at the following URL: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/form/signup/freetrial-sales-pe/ by entering your contact and company information.
2. After your trial is active, it's time to get your paperwork ready. Salesforce is going to want to know who your designated administrator is (who on your team is going to be in charge of Salesforce), as well as paperwork to verify your 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 status. So make sure you've got your IRS determination letter, and your EIN number ready to submit.
3. Now it's time to apply for your free licenses. This is done through the philanthropic arm of Salesforce called 'Power of Us'. To do this go to this site: https://powerofus.force.com/powerofusapply
This application will guide you through the necessary steps. You will tell them more about your organization, attach the docs, type in your EIN, and designate your administrator.
4. Now you play the waiting game. In general, they will respond within 5 business days telling you if you have received your donation of 10 free licenses or not.
5. Once you receive your 10 free licenses, follow the instructions that they send you for any followup actions.
6. Next, you can install the 'Nonprofit Success Pack', which helps modify the standard Salesforce environment away from being a sales tool and towards being a nonprofit tool. This happens through the 'Appexchange', which is Salesforces marketplace for add-ons. The listing for Nonprofit Success Pack can be found here: https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N3000000B5Gx6EAF
That's it! You've signed up for Salesforce! Now you aren't done by any stretch, now is when the customization starts, in order to make sure your Salesforce does what you want it to.
P.S. I would HIGHLY recommend signing up for their training platform at https://www.trailhead.salesforce.com (pro-tip, use your Salesforce username that you created for your trial org, and now use for your full-fledged org, to sign up for trailhead. It will save headaches down the road). Then you can access all the trainings you might want or need to learn how to start using your salesforce. Here's a good place to start: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/content/learn/modules/nonprofit-cloud-basics
Feeling like you want some help?