Volunteering Your Salesforce Admin Skills for Good

I know that many of you are looking for ways to give back to your communities using your Salesforce Admin skills. So, with the help of the Salesforce.org Pro Bono team, I wanted to share some resources for you all to check out. First, know that you are amazing, and thank you for wanting to help! However, not every organization that you want to assist with your Salesforce skills will be ready for you. Right now, many organizations are simply looking for donations so they can continue to deliver their critical services during this time. Also, engaging with a volunteer may require too much bandwidth from the organization you’d like to work with, so make sure that your help is directed to the right place — if they are in financial peril, then I suggest donating your funds rather than your skills, for now.

Volunteering your time and talent is one of the most impactful ways to give back. However, it’s critical for you to commit to doing no harm before you start a pro bono project with a nonprofit or educational institution. Nonprofits often don’t have the resources to “undo” any mistakes that you might make during your volunteering engagement, even if it’s completely unintentional. At the very least, if you lack experience, then make sure to partner up with a mentor who can help guide you.

Let’s dive into some useful resources:

Complete the “Volunteer Your Salesforce Expertise” Trail

This is your first stop. This trail has everything you need to know about volunteering, where to go to connect with organizations that need assistance, and, most importantly, best practices for you as a volunteer so you can leave the organization with a sustainable solution once the volunteering project is complete.

Complete the Salesforce.org Product Trails

If you’re planning to volunteer with a nonprofit, then you’ll want to understand exactly how the Nonprofit Cloud works, and how it’s different from “standard” Salesforce.

• Fundraise with Nonprofit Cloud
• Manage Programs with Nonprofit Cloud
• Engage Constituents with Nonprofit Cloud
• Administer Nonprofit Success Pack
• Install the NPSP in a Trailhead Playground Project

If you’re planning to volunteer with an educational organization, then you’ll want to understand how the Education Cloud works, which is different from both Nonprofit Cloud and standard Salesforce.

• Manage Your Education Data with EDA
• Build a Connected Campus with Education Cloud
• Achieve Advancement Goals with Education Cloud

Listen to the Jason Wurtz episode of the Salesforce Admins Podcast

This is a podcast that I recorded with Jason Wurtz, Pro Bono Marketing Manager at Salesforce, where he discusses his personal journey and gives a ton of useful guidance for volunteers looking to give back to the ecosystem. Give this a listen before embarking on your volunteering.

Extra credit — Earn additional credentials

If you’d like to really go above and beyond, take a look at the Nonprofit Cloud Consultant and the Education Cloud Consultant Certifications. These are designed for individuals who are consulting with nonprofits and educational organizations. Although likely overkill for a volunteering engagement, if you plan to do a series of volunteer projects, I highly recommend that you earn these additional credentials. You’ll find them very helpful in covering a lot of different use cases you might encounter, and you’ll get another notch on your certification belt.

Find an organization that needs your skills

There are several places you can go to find organizations that are looking for Salesforce volunteer assistance:

• Catchafire
• Taproot Foundation
• VolunteerMatch
• All for Good
• Your local Nonprofit and Education Trailblazer Community Groups
• Your local community! I bet you know of at least some nonprofit organizations in your area that you can reach out to. If they don’t know how to work with pro bono volunteers, feel free to share this workbook with them.

Finally if you’re looking for specific suggestions of nonprofits that are responding to COVID-19 to donate to, or to do other virtual volunteering with, here is a great list from Taproot Foundation.

Let us know what volunteering projects you’re working on with @SalesforceAdmns, @Salesforceorg, and #AwesomeAdmin.