Points of Light Institute

Points of Light, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to helping people get involved in solving some of the worlds greatest challenges, wanted to replace a legacy iMIS system used to manage fundraising and membership information that was outdated and too expensive to upgrade. Following a merger, they also needed an external application to support affiliates and partner corporations that had been working with different volunteer management solutions.

After considering all of their options, Points of Light chose to replace the iMIS system with Salesforce due to it’s flexibility, the benefits of the cloud computing model, and cost-effective pricing. With Salesforce CRM, Points of Light consolidated fundraising and volunteer data previously contained in Excel spreadsheets for easy access and reporting. They added a content library to make it easy to share departmental plans and budgets and facilitate the annual planning process. Using the Service Cloud, they added a customer portal to help their affiliates access fundraising, training, and technology information. And they used Force.com to develop a custom application — HandsOnConnect— to provide their 250+ HandsOn Network affiliates with an easily customizable application that helps them efficiently recruit and schedule volunteers via the web.

With Salesforce and HandsOn Connect, Points of Light has been able to access consolidated, real time data and reporting that has dramatically improved their business process and efficiencies. With the self-service portal, Points of Light improved service and information sharing with their affiliates. And they leveraged the out-the-box Force.com functionality for rapid custom application development so that their affiliates can quickly launch attractive websites to recruit and schedule volunteers.

Points of Light, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to helping people get involved in solving some of the worlds greatest challenges, wanted to replace a legacy iMIS system used to manage fundraising and membership information that was outdated and too expensive to upgrade. Following a merger, they also needed an external application to support affiliates and partner corporations that had been working with different volunteer management solutions.

After considering all of their options, Points of Light chose to replace the iMIS system with Salesforce due to it’s flexibility, the benefits of the cloud computing model, and cost-effective pricing. With Salesforce CRM, Points of Light consolidated fundraising and volunteer data previously contained in Excel spreadsheets for easy access and reporting. They added a content library to make it easy to share departmental plans and budgets and facilitate the annual planning process. Using the Service Cloud, they added a customer portal to help their affiliates access fundraising, training, and technology information. And they used Force.com to develop a custom application — HandsOnConnect— to provide their 250+ HandsOn Network affiliates with an easily customizable application that helps them efficiently recruit and schedule volunteers via the web.

With Salesforce and HandsOn Connect, Points of Light has been able to access consolidated, real time data and reporting that has dramatically improved their business process and efficiencies. With the self-service portal, Points of Light improved service and information sharing with their affiliates. And they leveraged the out-the-box Force.com functionality for rapid custom application development so that their affiliates can quickly launch attractive websites to recruit and schedule volunteers.