With more than 150,000 businesses leveraging its software and over 3,000 apps built using its interface, Salesforce is one of the most widely used platforms in the world.
Salesforce’s power and scalability have made it the go-to platform for creating association management software. As an association professional, you’ve no doubt heard of its power to streamline association operations, but it may be difficult to wrap your head around how to begin using Salesforce.
To help you navigate Salesforce, we’ll cover the following topics:
- 4 FAQs About Salesforce for Associations
- 5 Ways to Use Salesforce for Associations
- Fonteva: The Ultimate Salesforce-Native AMS
Let’s get started by exploring the basics to prepare you to join the Salesforce community, navigate your current Salesforce association tools confidently, and even prepare for an upgrade.
4 FAQs About Salesforce for Associations
1. What is Salesforce?
Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software provider that allows users to manage their data, connect with constituents, and enhance internal efficiency and collaboration. Think of Salesforce as the core engine that organizations use to build out their management systems.
2. What is Salesforce used for?
There are many ways your association can use Salesforce. For example, your association can use Salesforce to manage memberships by personalizing members’ experiences and keeping their data safe. Salesforce can also help your organization adapt to changes in technology (like AI) and adjust to members’ needs and expectations.
While Salesforce itself is not an association management software (AMS), it provides a foundation used by Fonteva as a Salesforce-native AMS. For example, Fonteva is a Salesforce-native AMS, meaning it:
- Is built on Salesforce using Salesforce tools
- Stores its architecture, code, data, and other components in Salesforce
- Instantly shares data with the Salesforce CRM and other native solutions
Fonteva, an AMS powered by Salesforce, gives your association the flexibility it needs to grow, deepen relationships in your community, and manage financial data in a single platform.
3. How can Salesforce benefit your association?
An effective Salesforce platform can streamline operations for your association by providing the following benefits:
- High levels of customization. Salesforce offers a robust foundation of CRM tools, including constituent data reporting and constituent portals. Software developers can build on this foundation to create custom management systems for your association.
- Ease of use. While other popular AMS software requires users to have extensive coding and backend experience to customize their platform, Salesforce strikes a balance between extensive customization and user-friendliness. With drag-and-drop interfaces and dashboards, it’s easy to navigate an AMS system built on Salesforce.
- Member community capabilities. With powerful member portals, a Salesforce AMS enables you to host vibrant association communities. These online communities allow members to initiate conversations with one another, connect and explore resources, and engage more closely with your association.
- The AppExchange ecosystem. The Salesforce AppExchange is a robust library of software systems built on Salesforce. With a Salesforce-native AMS, you have access to the entire collection of 2,700+ apps that integrate with your AMS.
Salesforce can provide a customizable yet approachable option for streamlining your association’s operations, giving you more time to connect with members and plan engaging opportunities and events.
4. Can small associations use Salesforce?
Yes, small associations can use Salesforce to manage members and operations. However, configuring an existing Salesforce product to work for your association’s needs can be time-consuming, technically complex, and expensive to hire out. For example, configuration can involve data modeling, portal development, building custom functionalities, and extensive testing. Plus, the development and implementation process can take six to twelve months to complete.
Native association management solutions, on the other hand, can typically be used out of the box or with readily configurable features. As a small association, you’ll save time and money by leveraging a native AMS.
5 Ways to Use Salesforce for Associations
1. Personalize and Automate Member Communications
Communication is the building block of any effective member engagement strategy, and Salesforce’s comprehensive communication features hold the key to enhancing your member communications.
Using Salesforce, you can automate member communications like:
- Emails
- Certificates
- Event tickets
- Receipts
Use Salesforce to level up your existing email communication and marketing strategy. Rather than sending out generic email blasts that your members may tune out, incorporate Salesforce’s branded email templates into your messaging. This allows you to create unique, custom messages that can be automatically sent out to your entire member list, with their names and personal details filling in the gaps.
These emails are branded to your association and can be scheduled to be sent at any time. This means that you can automatically reach out to members with information about their dues, upcoming events, and other important messages at precisely the right time.
2. Embrace AI
In a 2024 study, 69% of association executives said they were very or somewhat likely to invest more time or money into AI in 2025—and for good reason. AI tools for associations have many use cases, such as:
- Creating marketing materials and high-quality branded assets.
- Managing events and analyzing post-event data.
- Deriving insights from member feedback.
- Leveraging chatbots and agents to provide 24/7 customer service.
- Curating content to appeal to each member’s goals and interests.
- Creating high-quality content that builds your reputation as a thought leader.
- Leveraging advanced data analysis capabilities to forecast revenue trends.
For many organizations, adopting AI hinges on finding integrated tools that don’t require intensive training to use. If you need intuitive AI tools, look no further than the Salesforce CRM for deep data analysis and automated service.
In 2025, Salesforce invested $15 billion into AI development, and it has consistently incorporated AI innovations into its products. Its AI agent product, Agentforce, offers advanced, autonomous agents that can respond to member questions and requests, perform tasks, and launch tailored communications. If you’re a Salesforce user, these tools are native to your core CRM.
2. Explore the Salesforce AppExchange
The Salesforce AppExchange is one of your Salesforce-native AMS’s most valuable resources. With the AppExchange, your association can discover and implement integratable tools to meet your association’s needs.
For example, while you may not currently have the bandwidth to host very many in-person or virtual association events, you could find yourself on the hunt for a dedicated association event management toolkit in just a few years. With the AppExchange, you can find the event management tools you need and further build out your own custom toolkit of membership software, from powerful e-commerce software to seamless membership platforms.
3. Create Thriving Member Communities
With a Salesforce AMS and membership platform, you can create a rich online resource for members to communicate, explore, and access resources. Leverage these tools to improve the online member experience:
- Self-service portal. A dedicated member portal gives online users access to guides, downloadable resources, videos, and other member content that helps them shape their membership experience.
- Group creation and collaboration. Enable members to form groups within your membership platform. From casual, special-interest chatrooms to formal member committees, your members will be able to take a more active role in your association and how they engage with it.
- Member directories. Membership directories can be used both to promote your association to the public and to provide members with networking opportunities.
From empowering members to drive their own engagements to freeing up time for your association team, a Salesforce-native AMS can create significant gains for any association.
4. Look Out for Upgrades
Make sure that your Salesforce AMS solution abides by Salesforce’s quarterly update schedule. With association technology constantly evolving, your AMS vendor should roll out frequent updates to keep up with advances in the membership sector.
With Salesforce, your AMS can install critical software upgrades with just the click of a button. Additionally, Salesforce operates on a true cloud system, meaning that an AMS system fully built on Salesforce should be able to perform upgrades on any device, at any time.
5. Leverage the Flexibility of Salesforce
One of Salesforce’s most popular features is its configurability—the ability to tailor the platform to your organization’s needs without costly custom development.
- Dashboards: Improve your team’s view of member data and allow each department to manage its workflows with configurable dashboards. By visualizing real-time data, staff can identify at-risk members, event registration trends, popular content topics, and other patterns without sifting through spreadsheets.
- Reports: Track specific key performance indicators (KPIs), schedule reporting, and manage your association’s unique data with custom reports.
- Messaging: From branded email templates to customizable surveys, personalize your member communications for maximum engagement. Using segmentation and dynamic data fields allows you to fill in information tailored to individual members, so each message is relevant and engaging.
- Process automation: Salesforce Flow allows associations to automate repetitive administrative tasks, such as triggering renewal reminders or launching onboarding processes for new members. This visual builder lets you design custom logic without writing code.
- Custom data modeling: Create “Custom Objects” to track unique data points that may not fit neatly into standard Salesforce objects like Contacts. For instance, you might create a “Committees” object to track standing groups like your Finance Committee. This ensures your database structure fits your needs rather than forcing you into a rigid box.
- Member portals: Using Experience Cloud, associations can build branded, self-service communities. Drag and drop components to create unique digital spaces where members can independently renew dues, access members-only content, interact with peers, and update their profiles.
Fonteva: The Ultimate Salesforce-Native AMS
Fonteva is 100% native to Salesforce, meaning that our suite of association, event, and membership management tools is built using the Salesforce engine. With perfect integration capabilities between other Salesforce applications, Fonteva is the best solution for association leaders looking for a streamlined Salesforce experience for their members and staff.
To learn more about Fonteva’s association and membership management software and how we can optimize your association’s operations, explore our membership page.
From simplifying internal operations to enhancing the membership experience, the right Salesforce AMS solution can completely transform how your association manages its operations and members. With these strategies and Salesforce-powered software, your association can take steps toward reaching its fullest engagement and management potential.
Additional Resources
Using Salesforce-native solutions designed specifically for associations will help you boost efficiency, member engagement, and overall growth. But you’ll need a comprehensive tool like Fonteva that will grow alongside your association. To learn more about how Fonteva’s AMS can meet your unique needs and help you achieve your goals, get a demo today.
For more information on how to enhance your approach to association management, explore these strategies:
- What Is an AMS System? Get Everything You Need to Know. Learn more about association management software, its essential features, and top AMS systems to invest in.
- How to Set Up Your Membership Directory + Key Elements. Discover how you can leverage your association management system’s directory to strengthen and engage your member community.
- Top Membership Management Software Options & Reviews. Check out this guide to membership management software to learn how to manage your growing roster of members.
