As you collect more member data and use more technology systems, security and reliable performance become more important.
Here’s what you need to know about how Salesforce can help you ensure your data is secure and your systems are running and scaling smoothly as your association grows. 
Your association collects and stores personal and sensitive information about members and employees. And, like for-profit companies, you can’t afford to ignore data privacy and protection laws – such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At the same time, as you collect more data and use more technology systems, performance becomes even more important.
For these reasons, using association management software (AMS) like Nimble AMS, built on the Salesforce platform, offers many advantages. That’s because Salesforce helps ensure your data is secure and your system is up and running and can scale smoothly as your association grows.
Here are some examples of Salesforce data security and performance benefits that are available to your association when you use Nimble AMS:
- Data security
The Salesforce platform supports data security best practices, including two-factor authentication, login IP ranges, adjustable session timeout thresholds, custom domains, and the latest authentication and encryption protocol, Transport Layer Security (TLS), for browser encryption. Also, data can be secured at the object, record, and field levels – which addresses a common concern for many associations. Salesforce also offers educational content and security advisories to help keep you up to date on the latest in security best practices.
TIP: The Community Brands Digital Evolution Study found that 71 percent of members say they worry about data privacy and security. One way to better protect your members’ data and ease their minds is to use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). As of February 1, 2022, all Salesforce users will be required to use MFA. To help you prepare for the MFA requirement, you can use the MFA Rollout Pack.
- Data recovery
To safeguard your data from simple data storage errors, catastrophic failures, and everything in between, Salesforce backs up client data on a rotating schedule that lets the company restore service more efficiently should the need arise. And, you can export your organization’s data when you need it, without restriction. - Reliability
With a long-term track record of 99.9+ percent uptime, Salesforce has thousands of computers with redundant data centers throughout the world and advanced protection for the company’s facilities.
With the Salesforce platform, you also get access to a “sandbox” (a copy of your production site), so you can test configurations and integrations without risking your member data. Some vendors of AMS systems built on Salesforce might give you the option of not purchasing a full Salesforce sandbox, but having one is critically important.
A full sandbox allows you to copy your entire production organization and data, including standard and custom object records, documents, and attachments. Sandboxes are completely isolated from your Salesforce production environment, so operations you perform in your sandboxes do not affect your Salesforce production environment and vice versa. With Nimble AMS, you always get a full Salesforce sandbox at no additional cost. - Transparency
Salesforce has created the site trust.salesforce.com to provide live status details on service availability, performance, security, privacy, and compliance. The site also includes updates on any recent phishing, malware, or intrusion attempts, so you can easily learn the state of your data at any time.
Learn more
The Salesforce platform offers Fortune 500-class customer relationship management (CRM) functionality. And using Nimble AMS, built on the Salesforce platform, you can gain the association management software functionality your organization needs with all of the benefits of the leading CRM platform.
Find out more: Read the guide, The Association’s Guide to All Things Salesforce, 2022 edition.
