Not-for-Profit Navigator
With Nicole Aebi-Moyo - SalesFix For Purpose Practice Lead
Welcome to this month’s edition of the Not-For-Profit Navigator where we dig into the complexities of figuring out how much it will cost to deliver technology projects.
In the world of not-for-profits, every dollar counts, and understanding where that dollar goes is paramount. Being able to predict where your money will go is mission critical and can be one of the most frustrating aspects of project management for our clients. And for us!
We would love for all of our projects to be delivered on time and on budget, and the vast majority of them are, but there’s often a tension between what we’ve estimated a thing will cost to deliver versus the reality when we get into it.
I like analogies and I think the best analogy here is that of renovating a house.
Most people would expect a renovation to go over budget: it’s a running joke for anyone working with builders, right? But in reality, building projects SHOULD be much easier to estimate than a technology project.
Renovating a house, while complex, benefits from centuries of established processes, standardized materials, and a clear, tangible outcome. It’s a simple calculation to work out how much paint you need for a wall, or how many tiles you need for a bathroom. Your builder can give you parameters within which to operate when choosing your taps, lights and appliances. You can make choices and compromises: you want the fancy tiles, OK, but you’ll have to go with the cheaper bath tub.
There can, of course, be challenges that pop up needing to be resolved: a roof that needs replacing unexpectedly; termite damage that wasn’t anticipated; and so on. But we expect that, and we allow for a contingency. We also accept that if something takes longer than planned, it will cost more.
Now, imagine trying to estimate something far less tangible, something that evolves as you build it, and whose ‘materials’ are configurations, and where human interactions are paramount. That, in essence, is a technology project.
Why Technology Projects Defy Easy Estimation
Here’s why your next Salesforce implementation or digital transformation project is inherently harder to estimate than that dream home:
- Invisible Scope & Evolving Requirements: When building a house, you have architectural blueprints. They are detailed, measurable, and rarely change mid-construction without significant discussion. In technology projects, the “blueprints” – your requirements – are often a moving target. What seems clear at the outset can become a complex web of nuances as the project progresses. New needs emerge, existing processes reveal unexpected complexities, and what stakeholders said they wanted might differ from what they actually need once they see a prototype.
- Unique Customisation: While houses have standard components (walls, windows, doors), every technology project, especially in the not-for-profit space, has a unique set of requirements driven by specific missions, donor management strategies, and program delivery models. There’s not often a one-size-fits-all template. Each custom report, workflow automation, or integration with an existing system adds layers of bespoke complexity. Sure, if you’re a fundraiser than chances are you’ll do regular giving in a very similar way to another fundraiser but the nuances that you want to see, will be more significant than having a slightly different door frame.
- The Human Factor: Building a house involves tradespeople who follow established methods. A technology project, however, relies heavily on problem-solving, creativity, and constant communication between diverse teams: your staff, the implementation partner, and often third-party vendors. Misunderstandings, unexpected challenges, and even differing interpretations of terms can significantly impact timelines and effort.
- Technical Debt & Unknowns: Most not-for-profits aren’t starting from scratch. They have existing systems, data, and processes, some of which might be decades old. Integrating new technology often means untangling years of “technical debt” or discovering unforeseen data quality issues. These “unknown unknowns” are the hidden termites in your digital infrastructure, only revealing themselves once you start digging.
Common Pricing Models for Technology Projects
Understanding how partners typically price projects can help you navigate the estimation labyrinth. Here are three of the most common:
Fixed Price: This model offers a single, upfront cost for a clearly defined scope of work. It provides budget certainty for the client.
- Pros for Not-For-Profits: Predictable budget, clear deliverables.
- Cons: Requires an extremely detailed and locked-down scope (which is rare in tech projects). Any change requests will incur additional costs, potentially leading to scope wars. It often builds in a higher risk premium from the partner’s side (in the past, I’ve worked for partner organisations that will add in 30% to a Fixed Price project to cover their proverbial….)
Time & Materials (T&M): Here, you pay for the actual hours worked by the project team and any materials used, based on agreed-upon hourly rates.
- Pros for Not-For-Profits: Flexibility to evolve requirements, transparency in effort.
- Cons: Less budget certainty upfront. Requires strong project management from both sides to monitor costs and progress.
Milestone-Based Payments: This is a hybrid approach where payments are tied to the completion of specific project phases or deliverables.
- Pros for Not-For-Profits: Provides a degree of budget control and ensures tangible progress before payments.
- Cons: Still relies on a relatively defined scope for each milestone.
What Salesforce Partners Typically Use
For Salesforce implementations, you’ll often see a blend, but Time & Materials (T&M) or a T&M approach with capped phases is very common, especially for larger or more complex projects.
Why? Because the nature of Salesforce projects often involves:
- Discovery and iterative design: Initial requirements often need to be refined as users see the system in action.
- Configuration vs. Customisation: While Salesforce is powerful out-of-the-box, not-for-profits frequently need custom objects, workflows, or integrations that are difficult to fully scope until the core system is stable.
- Change Management: User adoption and training needs can evolve, requiring flexible support.
- People: the biggest “cost” to a project is not the technology itself, it is the people management. And this goes beyond the change management component. Projects are typically delivered on time and on budget when there is clear alignment between the people involved. Alignment around scope; process; communication; and so on.
Some partners might offer Fixed Price for smaller, well-defined projects, such as a basic Sales Cloud implementation with minimal integrations. However, they will typically build in a buffer for unforeseen issues.
Navigating the Budget Overrun Expectation
Just as house builders add contingency, technology partners understand the inherent difficulty in precise estimation. When reviewing proposals, don’t be afraid to ask:
- What assumptions are built into this estimate?
- What happens if we uncover new requirements?
- How do you manage scope changes?
- What is your recommended contingency budget? (A common recommendation is 10-20% for tech projects).
Ultimately, while estimating technology projects remains challenging, open communication, a flexible mindset, and a strong partnership built on trust are your best tools for navigating the journey. Embrace the iterative nature of technology, plan for unknowns, and understand that like building a house, sometimes the most beautiful outcomes require a bit of unexpected adjustment along the way.
Do you have a poor experience with project estimation you’d like to share? Connect with us on LinkedIn and join the conversation! `
If you would like to have a chat with me about how to successfully reach a broader audience, feel free to reach out I am always happy to help: [email protected]
Until next time,
Nicole
Useful Resources
Join our Fundraising Community of Practice: meeting virtually once a month to discuss all things fundraising and tech. Email [email protected] to join.
Upcoming Events to Attend
- Attend one of F&P’s fundraising events to keep up to date with trends.
- If you’re in Melbourne, buy a ticket for True Blue Blazing Melbourne, 14 November, Marvel Stadium. This all day conference will bring together Salesforce users from all walks of life to share learnings, ideas and best practice guidelines.
Australian Salesforce user groups
If you use Salesforce and you’re not part of a user group, you’re missing out! There’s over 30 groups in Australia and New Zealand alone, and many now meet online so there’s no excuse for not joining in and finding out more.