Announcing Gender Pronouns in NPSP Trials

At Salesforce.org, our core values are trust, customer success, innovation, and equality. We believe that everyone has the right to bring their true, authentic selves to work, and to be addressed however they choose. However, it’s you, our community, who compel us to act on these values every day, as recently illustrated by sharing best practices on incorporating equality into your CRM.

How do our clouds evolve?

One way that Salesforce.org is different is that many offerings start as open source. We also continue to incorporate open source contributions and actively support an engaged, trusted, sustainable community. This means our global community of customers and partners have the ability to contribute directly to the products you use on a daily basis, whether through the Power of Us Hub community, Github, or most often via an Open Source Community Sprint event, which are free “hackathon” type unconferences held four times a year in North America and Europe. Our Sprints create a safe, diverse and inclusive environment where our Nonprofit and Education community can donate their time and energy for the benefit of everyone. In fact, there’s one coming up in Detroit July 10th – 12th, and we’d love to see you there.

Our product development schedules often include suggested enhancements from the community, and one such enhancement was recently introduced to the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) Trial to include additional options for gender in the standard Salutation field, as well as the NPSP-included Gender field.

Updates to Gender Pronouns in NPSP Trial Installations

To this end, we’re pleased to announce that the NPSP Trial now includes a modification to the Gender field, to now reflect Male, Female, Non-Binary, and Prefer Not To Say.

Updates to Salutation in NPSP Trial Installations

During the Amsterdam Open Source Community Day event held on April 4th, attendees suggested that Mx. be added to the standard Salutation field as part of the NPSP Trials.

Curious about Mx? This non-gender specific title was first proposed in the late 1970s, and has been gaining usage since, including with governments (starting in the UK), banks, newspapers, etc. It can be found in both the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries. See Wikipedia for more information.

We believe it’s important that our products reflect preferences and voices from all customers and partners everywhere, and highlights the value of holding Community Sprint events in new and diverse locations on a regular basis. Although these may seem like small changes, they represent larger values: yours.

Why Personal Pronouns Matter?

It’s common to make assumptions about a person’s gender based on their name or how they look. However, these assumptions can be incorrect and potentially be offensive. It can also perpetuate a false assumption that one needs to embody a certain “look” in order to be a specific gender.

These iterative changes to better represent the diversity of our worlds are important, not just because they were requested by our community, but because they demonstrate through action that software development and the Open Source community are parts of a greater pursuit of equality. Personal pronouns and salutations matter because they enable more of our world to see that there are greater expressions of gender than binary, and while both including these folks, also offer visibility to their lives and experiences in a simple, direct manner that creates inclusion.

At Salesforce.org, we strive to create an inclusive workplace where everyone feels they can bring their full, authentic selves to work and not leave a part of their identity at the door. Learn more about the Salesforce commitment to Equality for all.

Pronouns in the Power of Us Hub

When the Hub recently moved to Lightning, improvements included adding gender pronouns to profiles, such as the one above!

“As a nonprofit label intent on amplifying the creative works of women and gender non-conforming artists, using proper pronouns is critical to our mission. Tracking and utilizing this data is essential to acknowledging, respecting and preserving an individual’s identity, marking another step towards achieving gender parity in the music industry and beyond.”

– Ara Casey, This Could Go Boom!

Minimum Viable Data: Consider Privacy First

Data collection for nonprofits can be challenging, but don’t forget privacy. Does your organization need gender pronoun information in the first place? Why? What will your organization do with gender information? Consider working with a Customer Success Architect if you want to discuss this in detail for your nonprofit.

Reporting and Data Fields

NPSP has some functionality that depends on the gender field being a picklist in association with Relationships. This is a means by which data-driven functionality can be expanded to encompass a broader, more inclusive, world. However, should your organization require more in this area, NPSP is equipped to handle it as well. Reporting on data is an essential part of a CRM. Make sure to consider how your organization needs to do reporting and how you need to meet their constituents where they are at. However, these may not always be in perfect alignment.

We love hearing from our community, and we want to know we’re listening to you. Thank you again for continuing to contribute. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, head over to the Power of Us Hub and tell us all about them!