The Ohana Difference: Choosing the Right Implementation Partner for Your Salesforce Migration
- Peter, Ohana Focus Team
- Jan 22
- 4 min read
By Ohana Focus | January 21, 2025 | 20 min read
Your implementation partner makes or breaks your Salesforce project. The wrong partner leads to blown budgets, missed deadlines, and frustrated staff. The right partner delivers on time, on budget, and sets you up for long-term success. Learn critical questions to ask, red flags that signal trouble, and what separates excellent consultants from mediocre ones.
Why Salesforce Migration Partner Selection Matters
Seven Critical Evaluation Criteria
1. Nonprofit Expertise (Non-Negotiable)
Why it matters: NPC is fundamentally different from corporate Salesforce. Generalist consultants struggle with nonprofit nuances.
What to look for:
• 70%+ of practice serves nonprofits
• NPC certifications
• 50+ nonprofit implementations completed
• 3-5 recent nonprofit references
• Fundraising knowledge
2. Salesforce Migration Experience (Not Just Implementation)
Why it matters: Migrating from Raiser's Edge is harder than building from scratch. Data migration is complex and often underestimated.
What to look for:
• 20+ Raiser's Edge migrations completed
• Documented migration methodology
• Clear historical data handling approach
• Deduplication strategy
• Specific migration tools used
3. Senior Consultant Involvement
Why it matters: Many firms use bait-and-switch—senior consultants sell, juniors deliver.
What to look for:
• Named consultants in proposal
• Experience levels for each team member
• Consultant stability (tenure with firm)
• Percentage of time allocated to your project
4. Communication and Project Management
What to look for:
• Clear communication cadence
• Project management tools with your access
• Response time commitments
• Clear escalation process
5. Training and Knowledge Transfer
What to look for:
• Role-specific training included
• Mix of live sessions, videos, documentation
• Administrator enablement
• Process documentation delivered
6. Post-Implementation Support
What to look for:
• 30-90 days post-go-live support included
• Clear support format (office hours, tickets, dedicated time)
• Ongoing relationship options available
7. Cultural Fit and Values Alignment
What to look for:
• Collaborative approach (listen vs. dictate)
• Respect for nonprofit constraints
• Transparency and honesty
• Genuine mission alignment
Critical Questions to Ask Every Finalist
1. How many nonprofit Salesforce implementations have you completed? (Looking for: 50+ minimum)
2. How many Raiser's Edge to Salesforce migrations? (Looking for: 20+)
3. What is the percentage of nonprofit vs. corporate? (Looking for: 70%+ nonprofit)
4. Can you provide 3-5 recent nonprofit references? (Looking for: recent, similar organizations)
5. Who will work on our project day-to-day? Can we meet them?
6. Walk me through your data migration process step-by-step.
7. What's your approach to requirements gathering and workflow design?
8. How do you handle scope changes during the project?
9. What training is included? For whom? In what format?
10. What support do you provide after go-live? For how long?
11. How do you ensure knowledge transfer?
12. What's the biggest challenge we're likely to face?
13. Tell me about an implementation that didn't go well. What happened?
14. What would cause this project to go over budget or miss deadlines?
Red Flags That Predict Failure
No Nonprofit References (or All 2+ Years Old)
Either they haven't done nonprofit work recently, or recent clients aren't willing to recommend them.
Vague Scope or Timeline
Vague proposals indicate inexperience or the intention to expand scope after signing.
Offshore-Heavy Staffing Model
Creates communication challenges, time zone issues, and quality concerns.
Unrealistic Promises
Overly fast timelines or low budgets indicate they don't understand the work or are dishonestly low-balling.
No Discussion of Data Migration Strategy
Partners who treat data migration as an afterthought don't understand its complexity.
High-Pressure Sales Tactics
Pressure indicates desperation for business. Reputable partners let their work speak for itself.
Unable to Explain Their Process
The inability to explain detailed methodology indicates a lack of structure or experience.
The Ohana Focus Difference
100% Nonprofit Focus
We serve nonprofits exclusively. Every consultant, every project, every day. We speak your language, understand your constraints, and have solved your exact problems dozens of times.
Deep Migration Expertise
We've completed over 100 Raiser's Edge to Salesforce migrations using our documented 7-phase migration methodology refined over the years, including specialized tools for extraction, deduplication, validation and more.
Senior Consultants on Every Project
No bait-and-switch. The consultants you meet during sales work on your project. All consultants have 5+ years of NPC experience and 20+ implementations completed.
Transparent Communication
Weekly status meetings, a shared project management system, 24-48 hour response commitment, proactive alerts about risks, and monthly budget check-ins.
Comprehensive Training
Role-specific training, train-the-trainer sessions, a library of recorded videos, process documentation, administrator training, a practice environment, and more.
Committed Post-Launch Support
60-90 days of post-launch support included. Weekly office hours as well as dedicated support hours with the same consultants, ready to provide support and proactive check-ins.
Long-Term Partnership
Implementation is the beginning. We view client relationships as long-term partnerships. Many clients from 5+ years ago still work with us.
Making Your Final Decision
Use a Scoring Matrix:
Rate each partner 1-5 on these criteria:
• Nonprofit expertise and NPC specialization
• Migration experience and methodology
• Consultant experience and stability
• Communication and project management
• Training and knowledge transfer
• Post-implementation support
• Cultural fit and values alignment
• Proposal quality and transparency
• Pricing and value
• Reference feedback
Trust Your Gut: Beyond objective criteria, trust your instincts. Do you feel comfortable with this partner? Can you see working with them for 6-9 months?
Final Pre-Contract Steps
• Speak with 3-5 references
• Meet the actual consultants who will work on your project
• Review the contract carefully
• Clarify expectations
• Confirm start date
Partner with Ohana Focus
The implementation partner nonprofits trust. Schedule your free consultation today.
Ohana Focus is the implementation partner nonprofits trust for successful Salesforce migrations. Our 100% nonprofit focus, deep migration expertise, senior consultant model, and commitment to long-term partnership set us apart.
Why choose Ohana Focus?
• 100+ nonprofit implementations completed
• Exclusive nonprofit focus
• Specialized Raiser's Edge migration expertise
• Senior consultants on every project
• Transparent communication
• Comprehensive training
• 60-90 days post-launch support
• Long-term partnership approach
About Ohana Focus
Ohana Focus is a certified Salesforce consulting partner dedicated exclusively to nonprofit organizations. We've built our entire practice around NPC implementations and migrations.
The difference isn't just technical expertise—it's our commitment to your long-term success. We measure success by clients successfully using Salesforce years after implementation.
Topics: Implementation Partner, Salesforce Consultant, NPC Migration, Vendor Selection, Raiser's Edge Migration, Nonprofit Technology
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