DonorAtlas for Salesforce — User Manual

1. Introduction

DonorAtlas for Salesforce brings donor prospect research directly into your CRM. When a Contact, Lead, or Account (Person Account) is synced with DonorAtlas, the integration matches that person against the DonorAtlas database and writes back a rich Donor record containing wealth estimates, giving history, education, employment, board affiliations, private foundation connections, and more — all viewable and reportable right inside Salesforce.

This manual is for day-to-day users of the integration. It assumes your Salesforce administrator has already installed the DonorAtlas package and added the components to your record pages. If you don't see the DonorAtlas component on your Contact, Lead, Account, or Campaign pages, ask your admin to follow the setup steps in the Technical Administration Guide.

Permission Levels

Your experience with DonorAtlas depends on which permission set your admin has assigned to you. There are three levels:

If you have the Viewer permission set, you can browse Donor records, explore child records, and build reports on DonorAtlas data — but the sync controls described in Sections 4–6 and 8 won't be available to you.

If you're not sure which permission set you have, try navigating to a Contact record page. If (after logging in) the DonorAtlas component shows a “Sync with DonorAtlas” button or a “Re-sync”, you have User or Admin permissions. If you see donor data but no sync controls, you have Viewer permissions.

2. Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure the following are in place:

• A DonorAtlas account. If you don't have one, contact your DonorAtlas account administrator.
• A DonorAtlas permission set assigned by your Salesforce admin. See the permission levels table above.
• The DonorAtlas component on your record pages. The DonorAtlas component should appear on your Contact, Lead, Account (Person Account), and Campaign record pages. If it's missing, ask your admin to add it via Lightning App Builder (see the Technical Administration Guide).

Where to Find Things

3. Logging In

Each user who wants to sync records (or see the status of a sync) must connect their DonorAtlas account once. This is a one-time setup that takes less than a minute. (Note that non-DonorAtlas users can still view the underlying DonorAtlas records in Salesforce, run reports, etc.)

How to Log In

1. Navigate to any Contact, Lead, or Account (Person Account) record page.
2. In the DonorAtlas component, click “Log In.”
3. A new browser tab opens and takes you to DonorAtlas. Sign in with your DonorAtlas credentials.
4. DonorAtlas will ask you to authorize access to your Salesforce org. Click Allow.
5. Once complete, you'll see a confirmation. Return to Salesforce.
6. The DonorAtlas component now shows the sync status, and sync controls if you have User or Admin permissions.

Your session persists across Salesforce, so you won't need to log in again unless your session expires. If you ever see the “Log In” button again, simply repeat these steps.

4. Syncing a Single Record

Syncing is the core action of the integration. When you sync a Contact, Lead, or Account (Person Account), DonorAtlas matches that person against its database and — if a match is found — creates a Donor record in Salesforce with enriched research data.

How to Sync

1. Navigate to a Contact, Lead, or Account (Person Account) record page.
2. In the DonorAtlas component, click “Sync with DonorAtlas.”
3. The component shows a “Pending” status while DonorAtlas processes the request. This typically takes a few minutes.

4. When processing finishes, you'll see one of two outcomes:
   • Synced — A match was found. The component displays a green “Synced” badge, a link to the full DonorAtlas profile, and a button to view the Donor record in Salesforce.
   • No Match — DonorAtlas could not find a matching donor. The component displays a gray “No match found” message.

The component automatically checks for updates while you stay on the page, so you don't need to manually refresh. If you navigate away and come back, the component will show the current status.

5. Bulk Syncing from List Views

You can sync multiple Contacts, Leads, or Accounts (Person Accounts) at once directly from a Salesforce list view. This is useful when you want to screen a segment of your database — for example, all Contacts in a specific state or all Leads from a recent event.

How to Bulk Sync

1. Navigate to the Contacts, Leads, or Accounts tab and choose a list view (or create a new one filtered to the records you want to screen).
2. Select the records you want to sync using the checkboxes. Click the checkbox in the header row to select all visible records.
3. Click the “Sync with DonorAtlas” button in the toolbar above the list.
4. DonorAtlas starts to process the records and displays a message indicating the number of records being processed.

What to Expect

• Records that are already synced are skipped and won't use additional DonorAtlas import credits.
• Records are processed in batches for efficiency.
• If you run out of DonorAtlas credits during a bulk sync, the system stops and reports a partial result (e.g., “Out of DonorAtlas credits. 150 of 500 records were synced.”).
• Once processing is complete, synced records will have Donor records attached to them with the research data.

6. Syncing from Campaigns

Campaigns are the best way to sync large groups of Contacts and Leads at once. Unlike list views (which are limited to the records visible on screen), campaign sync processes all campaign members regardless of how many there are.

How to Sync a Campaign

1. Navigate to a Campaign record page.
2. The DonorAtlas Campaign Sync component shows the current sync status, separated into a Contacts section and a Leads section.
3. Click the “Sync” button for Contacts, Leads, or both to sync all unsynced members of that type.
4. A toast notification confirms the sync started. The component refreshes to show the updated status.

Understanding the Campaign Sync Component

The component gives you a quick overview of where things stand:

• “All X Contacts synced” (green badge) — Every Contact in the campaign has been synced.
• “X/Y Contacts synced” (yellow badge) — Some Contacts have been synced but not all. A “Sync Z Contacts” button appears to sync the remaining records.
• “No Contacts synced yet” (gray badge) — No Contacts have been synced. A “Sync X Contacts” button appears.
• If any records are currently being processed, you'll see a count like “(3 processing)” appended to the status.

The same layout applies to the Leads section.

Resyncing Campaign Members

All synced records are automatically re-synced periodically by DonorAtlas to ensure all information is up-to-date in Salesforce. If some or all campaign members were previously synced and you want to refresh their data now, click the “Re-sync” button. This sends a background refresh request. A toast notification confirms the resync started.

7. Understanding Your Donor Data

When a Contact, Lead, or Account (Person Account) is successfully synced, DonorAtlas creates a Donor record linked to it. The Donor record contains the enriched research data, and it has child records that provide additional data like education, work, donations, and more. All users (Admin, User, and Viewer) can explore this data.

Viewing the Donor Record

You can get to the Donor record in two ways:

1. From the sync component: After a successful sync, the DonorAtlas component on the record page shows a “View Record” button that takes you directly to the Donor record.
2. From the related list: On the Contact, Lead, or Account page, look for the Donor related list. Click the Donor record to open it.

What's in the Donor Record

The Donor record contains demographics, address information, net worth estimates, giving history summaries, giving capacity scores, top issues, and links to the full profile on the DonorAtlas platform. For a complete list of every field and its description, see the Field-Level Data Dictionary in the Technical Administration Guide.

Child Records

Below the main Donor record, you'll find related lists with detailed breakdowns:

Viewing the Full Profile on DonorAtlas

For the most comprehensive view of a donor, click the DonorAtlas URL on the Donor record (or the “Open Profile” link in the sync component). This opens the full donor profile on the DonorAtlas platform, where you can explore additional data, charts, and insights beyond what is stored in Salesforce.

8. Resyncing and Unsyncing Records

Resync

Resync refreshes the data for a previously synced record. As a reminder, this happens automatically by DonorAtlas periodically. You can do it manually at any time as well. DonorAtlas re-fetches the latest information from its database and updates the Donor record and all child records in Salesforce.

Unsync

Unsync removes the Donor record and all its child records from Salesforce, and disconnects the record from DonorAtlas.

9. Building Reports with DonorAtlas Data

One of the most powerful features of the integration is the ability to report on DonorAtlas data using Salesforce's built-in reporting tools. You can filter, sort, group, and visualize donor intelligence alongside your existing Salesforce data. All users (Admin, User, and Viewer) can build and run reports.

Included Report Types

DonorAtlas ships with four report types that you can use right away:

All report types use inner joins, meaning Contacts or Leads without a synced Donor record will not appear in your results.

Running a Report

1. Go to the Reports tab and click New Report.
2. Search for “Donor” in the report type picker.
3. Select the report type that fits your needs (e.g., “Contacts with Donors”).
4. Click Start Report.
5. Add columns from the available fields. For “Contacts with Donors,” you'll see both Contact fields and Donor fields available.
6. Add filters. Some useful Donor filters include:
   • Net Worth Min / Net Worth Max — find high-net-worth individuals
   • Nonprofit Capacity — identify donors with high giving potential
   • State / City — segment by location
   • Age — focus on a specific age range
7. Click Save & Run.

Example Reports

The package installs three example reports in the DonorAtlas Example Reports folder:

You can clone any of these reports (open the report → Save As) and modify the filters, columns, and groupings to fit your needs.

Creating Custom Report Types

The four included report types cover the most common scenarios, but you can create your own if you need to report on other Donor child objects — such as Donations, Work Experience, Board Affiliations, or Private Foundations. For step-by-step instructions on creating custom report types, see Reports and Report Types in the Technical Administration Guide.

10. Credits and Usage

Some actions in this integration consume DonorAtlas credits.

Only the first sync of a record costs a credit. Everything after that — manual resyncs, automatic refreshes, and unsyncs — is free.

What Happens When Credits Run Out

If you run out of credits during a sync operation, you'll see a message like: “Out of DonorAtlas credits. 150 of 500 records were synced.” Any records synced before credits ran out will have their Donor records created normally. The remaining records won't be synced until credits are available.

To continue syncing, contact DonorAtlas to upgrade your plan!

11. Troubleshooting

For common issues and their resolutions, see the Troubleshooting and FAQ section of the Technical Administration Guide.

If your issue isn't covered there, contact DonorAtlas support — we're happy to help!

12. Glossary

Account (Person Account)

A Salesforce record type that combines Account and Contact into a single record representing an individual. Supported by DonorAtlas for syncing, alongside Contacts and Leads. Person Accounts must be enabled in the Salesforce org.

Contact

A standard Salesforce object representing a person your organization has a relationship with. One of the three record types (along with Lead and Account) that can be synced with DonorAtlas.

Donor (Donor Record)

The custom Salesforce object created by DonorAtlas when a Contact, Lead, or Account is successfully synced. Contains enriched research data including demographics, wealth estimates, and giving history.

Child Records

Records attached to a Donor record that provide detailed breakdowns: Donations, Education, Work Experience, Board Affiliations, and Private Foundations. A "Child" record is a Salesforce-specific term.

Field Mappings

The configuration that tells DonorAtlas which Salesforce fields to read when matching a record. Configured by admins in the DonorAtlas Configuration tab for each object type (Contact, Lead, Account).

Lead

A standard Salesforce object representing a potential prospect. Along with Contact and Account, Leads can be synced with DonorAtlas.

Match

The process by which DonorAtlas identifies a person in its database based on the information provided from Salesforce. A successful match results in a Donor record being created.

No Match

The outcome when DonorAtlas cannot find a corresponding person in its database. No Donor record is created.

Permission Set

A Salesforce security mechanism that controls what a user can access. DonorAtlas includes three: Admin (full access + configuration), User (full access), and Viewer (read-only).

Report Type

A Salesforce template that defines which objects and fields are available when building a report. DonorAtlas includes four report types out of the box.

Resync

A free operation that refreshes the data for a previously synced record with the latest information from DonorAtlas.

Sync

The action of sending a Contact, Lead, or Account to DonorAtlas for matching and data enrichment. The initial sync of a new record costs one import credit.

Unsync

A free operation that removes the Donor record and all child records from Salesforce and disconnects the record from DonorAtlas.