Salesforce.com Seeks Nonprofit Input on Specialized Software

Cloud-computing company Salesforce.com is soliciting input from nonprofits on how to tailor its programs to meet charities’ needs, the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The firm has convened a series of events, called Community Sprints, at which nonprofit officials can suggest changes or even rewrite code to customize Salesforce services in areas such as tracking donors or analyzing giving data.

The Sprints, held to date in San Franscisco, Seattle, and Washington, aim to make such customization possible for smaller organizations that lack the resources to do it on their own. The events help “make Salesforce workable out of the box for nonprofits of all sizes,” said Rob Acker, CEO of Salesforce.org, the firm’s philanthropic arm, which provides cloud software at steep discounts to some 27,000 groups worldwide.