Salesforce vs Plinth: Grant Management Showdown

Salesforce is a powerful CRM platform; Plinth is a purpose‑built grant system—most funders ship faster with Plinth.

• Fewer customisations and lower risk of complexity.
• Built‑in due diligence and reviewer workflows.
• AI features tuned to grant text and impact.

Time to live and total cost

Purpose‑built usually means quicker wins.

• Weeks to launch core processes in Plinth.
• Extensive configuration often needed in Salesforce.
• Avoid bespoke code for maintainability.

Key takeaway: start delivering outcomes sooner.

Assurance and reporting

Grant workflows need specialised controls.

• Conflicts, decision notes and audits by default.
• Payment schedules and evidence packs.
• Impact dashboards and case‑study generation.

Key takeaway: Plinth focuses on funding outcomes.

When Salesforce can complement

Use CRM for fundraising and stakeholder management.

• Sync key grant fields to CRM for a full picture.
• Keep the system of record for grants in Plinth.
• Export data for enterprise BI.

Key takeaway: use each tool for its strengths.

FAQs

Can we integrate the two?

Yes via exports or light middleware.

What about long‑term flexibility?

Plinth is configurable without code and evolves quickly.

Is vendor lock‑in a risk?

Full data exports ensure portability.