Use this link to share with your colleagues:
PatronManager Recommends These Apps!: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/73648
One of the benefits of using PatronManager is that the Salesforce platform offers an app store of over 2,000 business apps that plug seamlessly into PatronManager. Many of these are free or discounted for nonprofit organizations, and new apps are being added all the time.
Learn more about...
- What the AppExchange is,
- How we curate our recommended apps,
- How to install an app you like,
- If apps not in our listings are compatible with PatronManager,
- Security considerations of installing apps
- The app categories we've devised for our recommendations,
- The icons we use within our recommendations,
- And where to find our wide range of tested apps!
To help set you up for success, we’ve put guidelines together to help you avoid interfering with PatronManager functionality, corrupting your data, and to prevent negative impacts to your customizations due to PatronManager product upgrades.
What is the AppExchange?
One of the benefits of using PatronManager is that the Salesforce platform offers an app store of over 2,000 business apps that plug seamlessly into PatronManager. Many of these are free or discounted for non-profit organizations, and new apps are being added all the time. You can browse apps by going to appexchange.salesforce.com.
Some apps are free, others have a fee
With paid apps, there is usually a limited-time free trial during which you can decide if you like the app, after which you will be contacted by the app’s creators about a contract/payment. Paid apps also typically come with additional customer support resources.
There are a lot of apps!
We know that sorting through hundreds of apps can be daunting, so we’ve created a curated list of apps to help you get more value out of PatronManager. We're continually adding to this list as we find and test new apps.
All of the apps listed here in the Help tab have been tested and approved by us -- but again, you are always welcome to visit the Salesforce.com AppExchange and “shop” for apps yourself.
If you’re currently using a Salesforce app that’s not on this list, tell us about it! We want to know what works for you, and we may add your suggested app to our list of recommendations in future. Suggest a Product Idea to let us know about the app and why you like it.
How do you decide what apps to recommend?
Before we recommend any app, we install it in a PatronManager test account and run it through its paces! In order to be considered, the answer to the following questions must be yes while the app is installed:
- Does the app itself work as described?
- Can the organization still sell tickets and subscriptions?
- Can the org still receive donations?
- Can Contacts still be qualified?
I found an app I want to install on your list - what now?
If you find an app you want to try out, just follow the steps in the AppExchange to install it. Installing apps usually comes with a list of set-up steps that you'll need to follow. Sometimes these steps are really simple; other times they're a little more complicated. To see what a standard installation looks like, check out our How to Install Apps article.
In some cases, an app may have configuration options that require specific settings in order to play well with PatronManager. We'll call those out in our Help Tab article about the app, so be sure to read our recommendation carefully.
Remember: it's always a good idea to test out a new app in a sandbox before you install it to your production account. This not only will help you confirm that the app will work with your specific configuration of PatronManager, but also will help you learn how to use it in a safe environment.
Are apps you don't list compatible with PatronManager?
Maybe!
If you encounter an app that you’d like to use on the AppExchange that hasn’t been recommended for use with PatronManager, we'd love to hear about it! Suggest a Product Idea for us to take a look. We use your suggestions to help us curate the list of apps that we periodically review.
Some apps only work with the Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), which is not compatible with PatronManager. Therefore apps that require the NPSP are also not compatible with PatronManager.
Are there security considerations for installing third-party apps?
Salesforce does their own security review of apps, prior to allowing them on the AppExchange. Please visit the this Trailhead resource if you’d like to learn more.
Liability with the use of any third-party app is determined by the Terms of Service as provided by the app publisher, so we strongly recommend reading those for any app prior to installation to confirm whether you and your organization are comfortable with the listed terms.
How are your recommendations organized?
Our list of recommended apps is divided into a few categories:
Little Time-Savers: These apps require little to no set-up time and there’s not much of a learning curve when it comes to using them. They won’t necessarily offer you extensive brand new features, but they will definitely save you some time in your day-to-day tasks.
Do More in PatronManager: When Ticketing, Development, and Marketing aren’t enough, these apps extend the reach of PatronManager, letting you do more of what you need to run your organization in one place -- the cloud.
Engagement Enhancers: If you're looking for ways to be more engaged with your patrons, these apps will help facilitate that.
Integrating Other Programs with PatronManager: These apps let you sync other programs with PatronManager to maximize efficiency and reduce the need to do things more than once.
Customizing Lightning Experience: These apps offer ways to customize and enhance Lightning for your organization.
Database Housekeeping: These apps help you keep your data tidy and useful.
What do these App Grade difficulty icons mean?
To help you decide if an app is right for your organization, we use a scale to indicate how challenging an app is to install and use.
Easy
Go for it! This app is easy to install, set up, and use. Be smart and read all the documentation provided by the app developer, but this should be relatively straightforward for any System Admin.
Intermediate
These apps are fine to install, but best handled by a certified PatMan Admin or a savvy System Admin. This may involve some configuration, but it should be doable with your own resources. Make sure you read all documentation provided by the app developer and proceed carefully. We recommend you install and test in sandbox environment first to make sure everything works as desired.
Advanced
Using this app effectively is a sizeable project. Make sure you have a dedicated resource - such as your own IT person or an outside consultant - to help install and configure. This app is on our recommended app list because it’s useful and we have clients who have used it successfully. However, we're not able to support installation and troubleshooting unless its configuration has stopped you from selling tickets or taking donations (and at that point, the extent of the support we can offer will typically be limited to helping you uninstall the app). Install and test thoroughly in a sandbox environment first - do not install directly into your live production account.
If you need assistance locating an external resource for an advanced app, you can also post in the Client Community forum to see if any of your peers at other PatronManager organizations have experience with the app.
Are these apps for use with Lightning or Classic?
Though some screenshots might be in Classic, the apps we recommend are all compatible with Lightning Experience, and we no longer check for compatibility with Classic.
Ready to discover the world of apps?
Check out our full listing of recommended apps.