Enhancing Nevada’s wildlife through conservation efforts, education, and public policy
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited uses Soapbox Engage to manage a robust membership program in support of Nevada’s wildlife.
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited (NBU) is a grassroots conservation organization with a mission to enhance Nevada’s wildlife resources for the nature enthusiasts of today and future generations. The organization consists of over 3,500 members who assist in habitat conservation, public education, scientific research, public policy influence, and the reintroduction of big game to natural habitats. NBU has raised millions of dollars and logged thousands of volunteer hours in support of Nevada’s wildlife.
As an organization that is almost entirely volunteer-run, NBU is able to put over 90% of their revenue “back on the mountain.” This unbelievable accomplishment makes having top-notch donor, member, and volunteer management essential. With Soapbox Engage and Salesforce, NBU is able to engage and cultivate supporters to fund and fulfill their mission.
“We searched for a cost effective solution that would allow us to more effectively and efficiently manage our membership program with the goal of eventually leveraging the advanced tools of software like Salesforce to add value to our members, stakeholders, volunteers, and ultimately, Nevada’s wildlife!”
Caleb Van Kirk, Director, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited
Prior to Soapbox Engage, NBU was operating on an antiquated membership process that was intertwined with their former accounting system. Of the old system, Director Caleb Van Kirk said, “We are a ‘roll up your sleeves’ grass-roots type of organization, so we managed to make the most of a system that wasn’t designed for our membership management needs.” That approach worked for some time but eventually became a major pain point for NBU as the organization outgrew the old system’s capabilities.
Setting up for success: learning Salesforce
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited decided to adopt Salesforce as their constituent relationship management tool (CRM), and Soapbox Engage for their user-facing web tools that integrate with Salesforce. As Salesforce experts, team members at Soapbox Engage were able to offer NBU staff Salesforce training and support as they migrated all of their valuable data into the CRM.
“At the end of the day, the membership committee at NBU is a group of passionate wildlife-focused individuals. We needed a solution and team of experts to bring us up-to-speed on Salesforce and the technology provided by Soapbox Engage. Ryan and his team were awesome at explaining, simplifying, and delivering a perfectly paced training program from Day One.”
Caleb Van Kirk, Director, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited
The Salesforce implementation was tackled in stages and training was provided at constant, digestible intervals. Caleb noted, “this was perfect since we are all volunteers with day jobs over and above our work at NBU…The Soapbox Engage team was patient and extremely professional.” By the end of the Salesforce training and implementation, the NBU team was confident in their ability to navigate and leverage the system.
Facilitating meaningful membership experiences with user-friendly Soapbox Engage tools
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited has a tiered membership program, with Bronze, Silver, and Golden Ram levels, as well as membership options for individuals, corporations, and outfitters. With user-friendly forms that integrate directly with Salesforce, Soapbox Engage makes it easy for supporters to select and activate the right membership for them.
“Our membership management processes are leaps and bounds above what we were doing this time last year…The ability to simply membership signups, renewals, and donations was huge for us. We’ve always taken credit card orders over the phone or by good ole’ pen and paper. Now we have portals to facilitate easy membership activities that are user-friendly and sync with Salesforce.”
Caleb Van Kirk, Director, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited
On the frontend, the Soapbox Engage Forms app serves as a user-friendly bridge between NBU and soon-to-be supporters; while on the backend, Salesforce is there to automatically store and organize the data from these users, making future communications and records a breeze!
Simplifying the fundraising process with the Soapbox Engage Donations app
Not only has Nevada Bighorns Unlimited been instrumental in the reintroduction of bighorns into more than 50 Nevada mountain ranges; they have invested in habitat conservation projects like range fire reseeding, water development in arid areas, and pinion/juniper chaining. Such massive undertakings require serious funding, and like any nonprofit, NBU relies on fundraising efforts and the generosity of donors.
The Soapbox Engage Donations app creates an intuitive donation process on the user-end, and offers time-saving organization inside Salesforce on the backend. With custom Salesforce fields, NBU is able to automatically store important donor data that then helps them cultivate lasting relationships with their donors. On their website, NBU has a specific donation page, and makes use of the Donations app on their paid membership page as well.
Through the superhero combination of Soapbox Engage and Salesforce, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited manages a compelling, accessible website, drives donations, and facilitates massive volunteer efforts to restore natural environments and support native wildlife.
“Soapbox Engage has allowed us to focus our time and energy on the activities that matter to us most; taking care of Nevada’s bighorn sheep and wildlife and taking the labor out of membership management.”
Caleb Van Kirk, Director, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited