January 2022
- If you want to exclude constituents from batch letter printing who only want to receive annual summary letters, you should set their Preferred Contact Method as Do Not Contact.
- If you need to change the Class value on multiple donation records, use the Advanced Query Wizard and use the Global Update function in Step 4 to set the Class.
October 2021
- We've renamed Returning Donors in the Performance Dashboard to Same Amount Donors to better reflect their definition.
- There is now a Last Updated field for Address or Addresses tables in the Advanced Query Wizard.
- In Step 4 of the Advanced Query Wizard, you can globally update certain fields for those records that returned in your query results. You can choose to move donations from one Class to another or to add the same Class to every record. NOTE this can only be done prior to exporting transactions for your Financial Edge export.
September 2021
There are a couple of new security upgrades for Salsa CRM.
My Account Page
The My Account page provides a secure way for a user to change contact information, password, and security questions after logging in to Salsa CRM. Password, user phone, and user email fields that used to be on the Access Control screen were moved to this My Account page.
Two-Factor Authentication
Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is a secure way to prove your identity when you log in.
July 2021
Schedule and Email Built-in Reports
We recently enhanced Salsa CRM's Built-in Reports. This release introduces scheduling and emailing customized built-in reports to staff members and other stakeholders, similar to existing Performance Dashboard functionality.
For example, you can configure a Donor Detail Report to find donors from last month, save that filter criteria, and run that report on the first day of every month, emailing the results to director-level staff.
Once scheduled, you can view all scheduled reports on a consolidated report page, so admins can filter, search, and edit report configurations.
May 2021
New and Updated Built-in Queries
There are several new built-in queries in the Advanced Query Wizard. Some queries have been updated or replaced.
New Queries:
- Engage Event/Peer to Peer-Tickets
- Engage Event/Peer to Peer-Donations
- Lapsed donor report(Any previous year)
- Lapsed donor report(1 Year)
- Active but lapsed recurring donations
- Deactivated Recurring Donations
- Active Recurring Donations
- Current Year Giving Report
- Previous Calendar Year Giving Report
- Constituents who passed away in current year
- Donations from Salsa Engage
- Donations created in Salsa CRM
- Mail-Merge for Soft Credit Donors
- Pledges with written off installments
- Matched donations that have not been fully paid
- Donations with split funds
- Pledges with split funds
- Merged Constituent Details
- Constituents in Groups
Updated/Deprecated Queries:
| Old Query Name | New Query Name |
|---|---|
| Donation Update Query(filter Fund/Campaign/Appeal) | Update Donations Query |
| Donation Update Query(filter on F/C/A/B) | Update Donations Query |
| Constituents with Email(Sync with Engage) | Constituents with Emails (Sync with Engage) |
| Constituents with Emails(Sync with Engage) | Constituents with Emails (Sync with Engage) |
| All Donations Made | All Donations Made (New query—just retaining the same name.) |
April 2021
Built-in Reports Just Got Better!
We've redesigned Built-in Reports to make them faster and easier to generate.
- Completely refreshed with a new look!
- Saved report criteria are available for all reports.
- Download report results now in PDF format.
- Gift, cultivation, and membership reports are consolidated on the new, built-in reports landing page.
Read more about Built-in Reports, and check out some common questions about this redesign.
October 2020
Constituent Notes Table Redesign
The Constituent Notes table redesign uses the latest technology to bring faster, more reliable response to Salsa CRM. This enhancement was used as proof-of-concept. Eventually this technology will make its way into all areas of Salsa CRM where tables report information.
Enhanced Soft Credit Reporting
Split Amounts allow you to define portions of a donation as belonging to constituents other than primary donors.
The constituent Donation History and built-in reports now include Split Soft Credit Amounts as part of a donor's total giving. If their credited amount is 100% of the gift or only $20 of the gift, the numbers are reported accurately.
The Constituent Dashboard Status now contains a Soft Credit total. Advanced Query Wizard Donation-type queries now contain Soft Credit addresses.
September 2020
SmartEngagement Technology
Salsa introduces machine learning tools for fundraising! With SmartEngagement technology, find mid to high-level donors (who are synced with Engage) you may not have realized you had. See the article section entitled "Constituent Status Indicators and Quick Links" for where to find the Smart Giving Level for each donor. Use an Advanced Query Wizard constituent-type query to find all Smart Attributes.
June 2020
Advanced Import Improvements
The Advanced Import tool is now the only constituent import tool in the Data Sync menu. A number of adjustments "under the hood" have improved performance and efficiency.
In addition to importing new constituents, the Advanced Import tool enables you to update existing constituent records. You can import the following information into both new and existing constituent records:
January 2020
Email Updates
Set a default REPLY-TO name and email address in your Email Configuration, so that replies to that email will go to an email address that you designate. Override this default REPLY-TO address while crafting any individual email or an email merge. That value will be retained for your use only in future emails. Override this default REPLY-TO address while crafting any individual email.
Summary Letter Improvements
- Year-end summary donation letters can be generated for more donors:
- Donors with Summary Letters assigned to their donations—Only donors that have a Summary Letter assigned to a donation during the time frame.
- All donors—All donors whether or not they have a Summary Letter assigned to a donation during the time frame.
- Donors in a specific group—All donors in a group whether or not they have a Summary Letter assigned to a donation during the time frame.
- A specific donor—A specific donor whether or not they have a Summary Letter assigned to a donation during the time frame.
- Labels can now be generated at the time you generate your Summary Letters, using Salsa CRM's Label Printing functionality.
- It is now optional whether you include in-kind gifts in the letter's itemized donations list. In-kind gifts are included by default.
Force Quit Long Running Processes
Whenever something will take a long time, such as formatting hundreds of summary letters, the data transfer proceeds through a Long Running Process. Now you can force a long running process to quit if it has stopped responding.
November 2019
We have made a slight change to the My Dashboard screen Contacts widget. Now, if there are more than 100 contacts in your filter, a Show All link displays at the top of the widget. This link takes you to the My Contacts page, where all of the contacts will display.
October 2019
Sync Donor Metrics to Engage
Salsa CRM calculates aggregate donation metrics for each constituent. These metrics are now shared with Engage so that they can be used as a Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Field (Under "Fundraise" type), or Donation Preset in Links. These metrics will be denoted as "from CRM" and will include offline and online donations. Some metrics can be viewed in the Advanced Query Wizard and on the new Performance Dashboard. Some are calculated especially for this integration. None of the values are stored in Salsa CRM but are calculated "on-the-fly".
Any change to the donor's donation history (like editing donation amounts or importing new donations) trigger a recalculation of each metric in real time and sync to Engage to be available within 5-10 minutes.
| Salsa CRM | Salsa Engage | ||
| CRM Field Name | Definition | Engage Field Name | Where used in Engage? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largest Gift Amount | Largest Donation Amount Ever where Primary Donor | Largest Donation Amount in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
| Largest One-Time Gift Amount | Largest Donation Amount that's NOT an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Largest One-Time Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (One-time Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Largest Recurring Gift Amount | Largest Donation Amount that's an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Largest Recurring Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (Recurring Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Average Gift Amount | Average Amount of all Donations Ever where Primary Donor | Average Donation Amount in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
| Average One-Time Gift Amount | Average Amount of all Donations that are NOT an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Average One-Time Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (One-time Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Average Recurring Gift Amount | Average Amount of all Donations that are an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Average Recurring Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (Recurring Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Most Recent Gift Amount | Most Recent Donation Amount where Primary Donor | Most Recent Donation Amount in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
| Most Recent One-Time Gift Amount | Most Recent Donation Amount that's NOT an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Most Recent One-Time Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (One-time Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Most Recent Recurring Gift Amount | Most Recent Donation Amount that is an installment tied to a Recurring Donation where Primary Donor | Most Recent Recurring Donation Amount in CRM | Suggested Next Ask, Dynamic Ask Array Base Value, Email Merge Fields, Donation Presets in Email Links (Recurring Options Only in Link Presets) |
| Lifetime Gift Amount | Total Amount of all Donations Ever where Primary Donor | Lifetime Giving Amount in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
| Lifetime Number of Gifts | Count of all Donations where Primary Donor | Lifetime Number of Donations in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
| Most Recent Gift Date | Most Recent Donation Date where Primary Donor | Date Of Most Recent Donation in CRM |
Email Merge Fields |
Donation History Metrics for Donors, Co-Donors, and Soft Credit
These constituent's donation history report changes make it easier to tell whether the constituent was the "hard credit" (Primary Donor or Co-Donor) or Soft Credit on a donation record. Donations, pledges/recurring profiles, and Matching Gift counts and amounts also report here.
For example, if someone donates $100 and they're the only donor, they are recorded as primary donor and will receive credit for 1 donation of $100 in the first column. If their company then double-matches that gift, their company will be the primary donor of the matching $200 gift, and the original donor will receive Soft Credit in the third column of 1 other gift for $200.
August 2019
Constituent Dashboard
A new, modern update of the Constituent main window brings valuable information to the Constituent record landing page. Campaign managers can now see important engagement and giving metrics at a glance with the Giving and Activities widgets. Development staff can now view active Cultivation steps on this main screen. Data entry staff can expand or collapse contact information and custom fields more easily.
If you wish to retain the classic constituent landing page look, you can modify a setting in the Tools > Options > Other menu. Eventually, the new dashboard view will be the default view for all users.
July 2019
Advanced Query Wizard Redesign
New Advanced Query Wizard tabs separate user-saved queries and Salsa-produced queries, and Saved Query Results now have a tab as well. New Query and Import Query buttons are now in the top right corner of the window.
"Need Help" Button
The Help menu now resides in its own Need Help? toolbar button.
Options When Deleting A Primary Email Address
An email address is required for Engage supporters and is a unique identifier. When a user attempts to delete a primary email on a Salsa CRM Constituent record, we now check to see if that Constituent is synced to Engage and offer solutions that keep an email for that constituent synced to Engage.
May 2019
Update Spouse Relationship When Adding Deceased Date
If you enter a Deceased Date on a record, and that constituent is related to another, living constituent with a valid Selected Spouse Value, a warning appears when you try to Save that record, "This constituent has a spousal relationship with [Spouse's Name(s)]. Would you like to change that relationship to Deceased Spouse?"
New Option Automatically Adds Spouses as Co-Donors
Automatically apply any living spousal record as Co-Donor for any new or edited donation entered in Salsa CRM (not sourced from Salsa Engage or imported), using a new global configuration setting in the Manage > Configuration menu: Automatically Apply Spouse As Co-Donor.
If only one spouse is recorded in the database, the spouse is applied automatically as Co-Donor. If there is more than one spouse (perhaps due to data entry problems), then you will need to choose which spouse to apply.
Minimum Charge to Preauthorize An E-Check
In banking, ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, which is a gateway that coordinates electronic payments and automated money transfers. E-checks are a type of ACH transaction. E-Check transactions are not part of the default Cardpointe merchant account. This needs to be subscribed to separately.
The electronic request to authorize an E-check, unlike credit cards, must be a non‑zero‑dollar transaction. CRM charges a $1 transaction to verify the authorization. That transaction would show in your merchant account, but the transaction was not recorded in Salsa CRM (unless you manually entered the $1 transaction). Now, we automatically generate a separate $1 donation record for that constituent. You will still need to fill in Batch, Fund, and optional information to save the record.
"Reversal Date" Field Added to the Donation Record
A Reversal Date has been added on the main donation screen as an indication that the donation has been reversed. This indication means the donation has possibly been reentered so that the current, valid donation may be another record.
New Offline Batch For Engage Sourced Offline Donations
Salsa Engage "online" credit-card donations automatically sync with Salsa CRM and are automatically added to their own CRM donation batches, labeled SED [date], where SED stands for "Salsa Engage Donation". "Offline" (cash, check, or complimentary) donations previously synced to Salsa CRM in the same batches, but it made reconciling transactions with the bank difficult. We have moved offline donations into their own automatically created batches, labeled SEOL [date], where SEOL stands for "Salsa Engage Offline Donation".
"Class" Added As Remembered Donation Setting
When you add donations to Salsa CRM, it will remember Fund, Campaign, Appeal, and Letter settings between Donations. Now Salsa CRM will also remember the Class for subsequent donation entries.
New Authorized Account Fields
On the Account Authorization screen, we have added the following fields:
- Stored Date—The original timestamp that indicates when the card or checking account was authorized.
- Customer ID—The constituent's ID in your merchant account.
- Account ID—Your gateway account number. In TEST mode, Account ID always appears to be "1".
Built-In Gift Report Filter Changes
Some clients had hundreds of groups, and it was taking a long time for Groups to load in this filter. Now, the Refresh button loads that part of the window so you can see your Funds, Campaigns, Appeals, Groups, and Batches.
We've also made this filter consistent in all built-in Gift reports.
You can also now exclude those values in all built-in reports.
March 2019
Relative Date Filters
This new functionality adds to the absolute date filters already in place that use fixed dates in the Advanced Query Wizard, such as January 1, 2018-December 31, 2018.
This is especially useful when creating queries which feed into Smart Groups. These Smart Groups would automatically populate with supporters that meet a range of dates and then sync every 12 hours as normal. Every time the query automatically runs, the date range automatically moves along in time.
The 'Calendar' functionality is pre-selected by default. If the user selects "Relative" it will replace the calendar picker with an option to select the number of day(s), week(s), month(s), year(s) ago.
| New Operators | New Values | New Date Range Options |
| is during the is not during the |
current previous next current and next current and previous |
day week month year |
| is before is after |
X | day(s) ago |
| is in the past is not in the past is in the future is not in the future |
N/A | N/A |
NOTE: Relative date filters do not work currently with italicized Aggregate date fields or custom aggregate date fields.
New Engage Transaction Tracking in CRM Advanced Query Wizard
Use the new donation-related field in Advanced Query Wizard called 'Originated from Engage?' to search for donations that came from Engage. In constituent queries, this field is in the Donation Info table.
In donation queries, this field is in the main Donation table.
New Engage Supporter Tracking in CRM Constituent Record
The new 'Synced from Engage' link on Constituent Record makes it apparent which Constituent records have originated in Salsa Engage. The link is a shortcut to the supporter record in Engage. Clicking this link opens a new browser tab, logs the CRM user in to Engage, and displays the corresponding supporter record on that browser tab.
January 2019
- We are proud to introduce support for Blackbaud's Financial Edge accounting package within Salsa CRM's Finance Export screen.
Salsa CRM's new Financial Edge export includes features designed to track posting dates and adjustments, and export data in two Financial Edge compatible formats. See this article for full documentation. - We have replaced the Summary Letter query results with aggregate information on the number of donors, donations, letters, and receipts. It is now much faster to process summary letters.
However, keep in mind that the speed of generating summary letters depends on the size of the original template and whether it includes many, large images. - We have added a {{Total Amount}} field to the Donation Variables for summary letters only. This represents a donor's total giving for the previous calendar year. You may find using this variable preferable to using the summary table in your summary letter.
- We have fixed an issue so that the Print All button on the Letter Processing screen is now responsive to print printable letters or to email all emailable letters. You still need to configure your Email server in order to email summary letters.
November 2018
When importing data using the Advanced Import functionality that updates existing constituent records, the Resolve All Constituent Update now produces a Long Running Process in the database (Tools > Long Running Processes) that works behind the scenes to update data. Check that menu to see when your processes complete for large datasets.
The Fund Items table has been added to a Constituent Advanced Query as a sub-table of Donation Info. Now, Constituent queries can output and filter on data like Fund Name and Payment Type.
October 2018
Standard Donation Form Updates
We have updated our look-and-feel of our standard donation form for Salsa CRM and added many new customizable options to changing the design of the form. This web donation form is generated automatically when the Credit Card configuration is saved and made "live" in the Manage > Configuration menu. NOTE: Previously applied CSS files need to be adjusted based on new <div> and <class> definitions.
September 2018
Salsa CRM introduces a new word processing integration with Google Docs to create and edit Documents for things like mail merges, donation thank you letters, summary letters, receipts, and donation batch printing. These documents will be able to utilize the CRM Donation, Constituent, or Membership variables you have come to expect. You will be able to start a new Word document from scratch or open a file already located on your hard drive, in Google Drive, or in Google Docs, and add this to your CRM Document list.
Click here for help with our new Google Docs feature. Also be sure to check out training in Salsa Scholars.
NOTE: email communications from Salsa CRM like emailable donation form letters will still utilize the CRM default word processor, which is optimized for HTML authoring.
July 2018
We've added a Mail Merge option to the Pledge Reminder report, so you can send a CRM mailing to those in the report who need to be reminded about their pledge responsibilities.
May 2018
We've enhanced our new Performance Dashboard so that you can now schedule reports based on the parameters you set. You can also view, edit, and delete reports that have already been run. Click here for more information.
March 2018
PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD
We’ve built a brand new, graphical Performance Dashboard. Click here for a 2-minute video overview!
The CRM Performance Dashboard provides important metrics and trends that an organization can use to gauge its performance over time. The initial release of the CRM Dashboard focuses on fundraising. Future releases will include other metrics. The CRM Performance Dashboard enables you to see...
- A high-level view of your fundraising progress.
- How your fundraising is performing this year compared to the same point in time last year.
- A snapshot of the performance of your active funds, campaigns, and appeals.
- Trends in your donor growth vs. churn over time.
- The progress of your outstanding pledges.
To get to the Performance Dashboard, click Reports > Performance Dashboard.
Many of the graphs enable you to drill down to see campaigns, funds, and appeals for individual donations. Play around with the interface to discover how much information we've made accessible.
The CRM Performance Dashboard is restricted to users with the "Salsa CRM Admin" role or users that have roles assigned with the "All Permissions" and "All-Level Access" options checked. Click here for online help.
ACTIVITY CUSTOM FIELDS
Salsa CRM now stores Activity Custom Fields from Salsa Engage for Constituent, Donation, and Advanced Queries.
SECURITY UPDATE
Salsa Labs is actively working on disabling TLS 1.0 for Salsa’s Services. In the interest of improving internet security and to employ best practices, TLS 1.0 is being sunset across the web in favor of TLS 1.1 and 1.2. Click here for everything you need to know.
October 2017
The new Constituent Update feature enables you to determine how data is handled when there is a potential conflict between data in Salsa CRM and data being pulled down from Salsa Engage.
The Constituent Update feature comprises two new screens:
- Constituent Update Rules
- Constituent Update Management
Constituent Update Rules define how Salsa CRM handles updates to existing constituents that are pushed from Salsa Engage. Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage rely on UUID (a universally unique identifier) to ensure that records are matched correctly. The settings defined here will determine what data, if any, show up in the Constituent Update Queue. Click here for help.
The Constituent Update Queue enables users to determine what data (including non-Activity custom fields) gets written to Salsa CRM when there are potential conflicts with data pulled down from Salsa Engage. The data that is seen here will depend on how constituent update rules are defined. Click here for help.
August 2017
You can now create "Smart Groups", which update automatically twice a day. A group is a static collection of constituents that meet certain criteria. A smart group is a collection of constituents--that is updated twice daily--that meet certain criteria. When new constituents meet the criteria of a smart group, they are added to the smart group automatically when Salsa CRM updates it.
You can...
- Use the Advanced Query Wizard to create a smart group from a query.
- Convert an existing group into a smart group.
- See the success/failure rate of a smart group.
Smart groups can sync with Salsa Engage - If a smart group is synced with Salsa Engage, constituents will be pushed from Salsa CRM to Salsa Engage when the smart group runs.
Click here for direction covering how to create a Smart Group.
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