Merging with DonorPro in 2015, SalsaLabs has two offerings - their original engagement tool, now called Salsa Engage and DonorPro’s software that is now called Salsa CRM. Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage work together to give nonprofits, “SmartEngagement Technology” to “mobilize advocates and change the world.”
In Use:
When selecting the right Salsa product, nonprofits can opt for Sales Engage or combine it with Salsa CRM. Among other integrations, Salsa Engage tightly weaves into Salesforce giving users a seamless bi-directional integration.
Depending on what option a nonprofit organization selects – SalsaLabs offers their clients numerous tools and services to communicate with donors and fundraise starting at $349 per month. Salsa CRM allows nonprofits to create donor profiles and see their donors’ giving history. Their reporting and analytics allow the nonprofit to have insight on whose donating, how much they are donating, and visualize year-over-year comparisons. Users can track the type of donations receives – whether it’s online donations or through a check or credit card. Salsa CRM integrates with QuickBooks to allow nonprofits to easily export data for accounting purposes.
In addition to Salsa CRM, Salsa Engage enables charities to communicate with both donors and volunteers through a wide variety of automated services. This includes easy-to-use, mobile-responsive templates; social media management; push notifications; and a landing page builder. The tool also allows for data and reporting analytics that track email open rates, landing page views, and engagement scores.
Technology Used:
Cloud based, Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage can be accessed wherever their users are – whether they are onsite at a fundraising event or at the office.
SalsaLabs products can also integrate with a number of different platforms such as other CRMs like Salesforce and Blackbaud; volunteer management platform Civic Champs; and Zapier, an online automation tool that lets customers connect with over 2,000 platforms and software.
Along with integrations, SalsaLabs offers a variety of consulting and digital agencies that provides additional services to get the most out of Salsa Labs products. Agencies in the SalsaLabs network include Media Cause, a digital marketing and communications agency; Courtland Consulting which provides system integrations; and Bear Brand Consulting that specializes in data management.
Ease-of-Use:
Throughout the years I’ve learned that CRMs are not intuitively easy-to-use. Good CRMs are powerful and robust and almost always have a learning curve. Salsa CRM is no exception. To ensure their users are getting the most out of their products SalsaLabs offers tutorials, and a customer service support center that is available by phone Monday through Friday from 8a-8p ET.
Recap:
A CRM and engagement tool, Salsa Labs provides their clients with “SmartEngagement Technology”. Their technology allows nonprofits to track donor retention rates, manage donations, and fundraise all within the same platform.
Advantages:
- The CRM allows users to group donors and track donors’ giving history to get a better understanding of who is giving to their nonprofit
- Customer support is attentive, and nonprofits get a “Salsa Coach” in case users have questions or need help utilizing a certain tool
- Numerous automation tools make it easy for nonprofits to create emails, send push notifications, and create online donation pages with the ability to add personal touches.
- All email and landing page templates are mobile-responsive, so they look great on any device
Disadvantages:
- Users feel the UX design is clunky and can be hard to navigate
- Users see the potential in the CRM, but feels it needs some work when it comes to navigating the platform
- Offer many tools and services – but none of them work particularly well
- Expensive – pricing starts at $349 per month
My Opinion:
I’d like to see Salsa Labs update their technology making it more user-friendly and intuitive. It’s by no-means the worst CRM out there – but I do think that nonprofits can get more “bang-for-their-buck” using other CRMs.
I do appreciate that Salsa Labs has a great customer support team and automation capabilities to make it easy for charities to communicate with their donors.
