Another totally new update! It's been a wild ride, and it's not over yet. But we're getting there.
The latest (as of September 2024):
To get you caught up, Salsa (and other companies) were acquired by a private-equity-backed group called Bonterra. When a company is driven by making a profit and not by nonprofit success, it's common that they will withdraw support from or sunset technology that isn't making them as much money as they need.
This happened with Salsa, which the company tried to sunset. Facing a nonprofit backlash, Bonterra reconsidered and decided to withdraw support for Salsa but still allow nonprofits to use it. So they weren't selling it, updating it, or innovating, but you could still use it.
In the latest development, current Salsa customers have access to the platform until the end of 2024. According to our sources, after that they must pay more to move to a new platform within Bonterra, or they have to find a new CRM.
We are still talking to concerned Salsa customers, and they're looking for a fundraising platform that offers:
- Unified data. At Salsa, data is split between the Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage. Having data from many fundraising tools in one place is ideal.
- Robust fundraising tools. The best way to get results is with multichannel campaigns, and Salsa customers would love to have all those tools in one place.
- Honest sales and reliable service. No overzealous salespeople promising the impossible and nonexistent customer support.
- A proven track record of nonprofits with fundraising success. Bonus points if they used to be on Salsa.
It won't surprise you that CharityEngine checks all those boxes and promises insane revenue retention as well.
If you want to chat or hear about some other Salsa customers that happily came over to CharityEngine, give us a call. We'd love to show you how great it is to have a real partner committed to your success.
The second-oldest post:
When we first published this post, Salsa had been acquired and was part of the newly formed conglomerate known as Bonterra. As often happens when there's a flurry of mergers and acquisitions, Bonterra decided to sunset Salsa and force Salsa customers to take action (see original post below).
Customers weren't happy, so Bonterra pushed the sunset date to 2024.
Customers still weren't happy.
Customers were coming to talk to us, so Bonterra wasn't happy.
And now we have the latest word on the street! This is not the official word from Bonterra, but we're pretty confident it's the truth.
Salsa will not be sunset; it will be maintained. Clients can use the platform, but it will not evolve...no new features or upgrades. We assume there will be a level of internal support for clients who stay on Salsa.
Is this good news for Salsa customers?
If you like Salsa and it meets your needs, then of course it's good news. At some point, though, you'll hear about other fundraising software that is evolving and making it easier for you to engage donors and raise money. And then you'll probably want to look around.
Two thoughts on this. One, did you notice how AI became all the rage and swept through nearly every industry? And as soon as we got comfortable with ChatGPT helping us with our holiday lists, a newer, vastly improved version came out. And then we found Bard. Technology moves at lightning speed. If you sit on the Salsa bus, everyone will pass you. As time goes on, it will be tougher to catch up.
And two, please pay attention to what happened here because it's happening all over the fundraising software industry. Private equity firms are taking over nonprofit technology vendors and making the plays that will make the most money. This means the focus is on profitability, not the success or satisfaction of your nonprofit.
CharityEngine was designed from the ground up to help nonprofits succeed. To this day, our clients' impact motivates us to show up and do better every day. We are always looking for new ways we can support nonprofits, and our goal is to help you do great things. That's it. We're a partner to nonprofits, not bankers.
So what's your takeaway? If you're a Salsa customer and you love the platform, stick with it, but know it won't evolve. And no matter who you are, ask yourself what motivates your technology vendor. If it's anything other than the success of your nonprofit, you might want to reconsider your choice.
The Original Blog Post
Okay, okay, we’re done with all the corn(y) chip, salsa, and margarita jokes. (Now we’re done.) Let’s speak plainly: the Salsa CRM is sunsetting, and having your CRM evaporate can be stressful for nonprofits.
There’s good news: you have a few options.
There’s cautionary news: you need a plan.
There’s dire news: time is running out.
Being cheerfully optimistic, we’d rather focus on the good news, help with the cautionary news, and avoid the dire news. There are options. Let’s look at what they are and weigh some pros and cons so you can make a plan.
Option 1: Choose EveryAction or Network for Good.
By the end of this year, you will be asked to migrate to one of Bonterra’s other platforms—EveryAction or Network for Good.
(A quick side note: Bonterra is a conglomerate. The business model is to purchase platforms and technology to create an “umbrella” of services. Bonterra is ditching Salsa but offering two solid choices for your next CRM.)
Is migrating to one of these a good idea?
In some ways, this is a good plan.
- Bonterra will try to make the migration seamless.
- EveryAction is a good CRM for small nonprofits. While your ability to customize dashboards, use marketing automation, or pull custom reports is limited, it has the basic features a nonprofit needs. Prior to its acquisition, users gave it high marks for support but noted it was “cumbersome to use.”
- Network for Good is also a good CRM for small nonprofits. It, too, has the basic tools you need, and users say that it’s easy to use. There are limits to reporting and customization, with comments about how hard you must work to make templates look polished.
Is migrating to one of these a bad idea?
Being railroaded is never a great feeling, and we’d offer a few words of caution:
- If you are anything other than a small nonprofit that intends to stay small, it’s unclear whether these two options can scale to enterprise-level growth without further acquisitions.
- Bonterra has proven they are quick to add companies to the umbrella but also quick to sunset them. Staying within the conglomerate is not your most stable option.
- Everything anyone liked about these two independent companies is likely to disappear. There’s a new boss making decisions for the good of Bonterra, which is different from a CEO making decisions for clients of a CRM vendor.
Option 2: Choose Another CRM...Like CharityEngine!
What if you took this opportunity to assess your nonprofit and the competitive landscape? Technology changes so rapidly that we always recommend a periodic review of your needs, and it's a good chance for you to see what’s out there that can make your job easier and your nonprofit more successful.
As we’ve been quick to point out, the CRM landscape offers many choices. As you can likely tell, we would not recommend you stay with Bonterra.
But shopping for a new CRM is a pain. We offer a comprehensive guide with editable worksheets that makes it easier to select a new CRM and find the perfect match for your nonprofit.
And, in the meantime, let us throw our CharityEngine hat in the ring and tell you why we’re the best CRM for your nonprofit.
From Salsa to CharityEngine
Lately, we’ve been talking to a lot of nonprofits that are exploring CRMs. At some point, they want to talk to us.
Why?
- Our implementation team is so good that clients have cried when it’s time to move on. (This is completely true!)
- Our training, customer success, and support teams are so good that clients can’t remember why they were sad to leave implementation. (We’re pretty sure this is true.)
- Both CharityEngine and Salsa use Cardpointe/Fiserv. There will be no interruption to your payments being processed, and your supporters will never have to open a new account or change anything.
- CharityEngine has proven success with the smallest nonprofits (hello, Merlin’s Magic Wand!), the medium-est nonprofits (hi, Rescue Village and Food Bank for the Heartland!) and even the wowza-biggest nonprofits (we see you, Wounded Warrior Project and Easterseals!). We scale to any-size nonprofit.
- We offer impressive stats. Our clients enjoy up to a 99% retention rate...that means we help you get donors and keep them. Average gift sizes increase almost 25%, clients are excited to grow their donor base at a rate of 32%, and we are 100% effective at preventing sophisticated fraud attacks. These numbers say a lot, and they translate into success for our clients.
- If you need targeted advocacy functionality, we’ve got you covered! Clients like Research!America depend on our advocacy modules to effect change.
- Our comprehensive CRM offers all the tools you need, but our robust APIs mean you can build a tech stack as intricate as you want. Importantly, all the data will be kept in one place, making your reporting, analytics, and even AI better than another system’s.
We’d urge you to take a look at what we’re offering. While our clients and statistics are impressive, it’s more impressive when we can show you what we’ll do for your nonprofit.
CharityEngine was created to give nonprofits the technology they need to succeed. That’s still our mission a few decades later. We’re here to help you, to partner with you, and to be right by your side while you change the world.
And, before you ask...
We’re not for sale.
No matter where you are in the CRM-shopping or decision-making process, give us a chance to show you what we’ve got. No pressure, no stress. Just a demo.
by Karen Rosen
