Salesforce will integrate with philanthropic arm Salesforce.org

April 15, 2019

Salesforce said on Monday that it’s merging with its independent philanthropic arm Salesforce.org. The CRM giant is paying $300 million for all shares of Salesforce.org, which will transition from a California public benefit corporation into a business corporation. The $300 million will go to the Salesforce.com Foundation, an independent nonprofit, and distributed philanthropically.

As part of the merger, Salesforce said it will create a new nonprofit and education vertical led by Salesforce.org CEO Rob Acker. The new business vertical will manage sales and marketing efforts for the Salesforce Customer Success Platform and also the development of new vertical-focused cloud apps for nonprofit, education and philanthropy organizations.

“Combining Salesforce and Salesforce.org into a new nonprofit and education vertical reinforces the strength of Salesforce’s philanthropic model,” the company wrote in a press release. “Salesforce will extend this model by continuing to provide free and highly discounted software to nonprofits and education institutions around the world and investing in local communities through employee volunteering, strategic grants and matching employee giving up to $5,000 per employee annually.”

Salesforce is also adjusting its fiscal year guidance, saying the merger will increase the company’s full year fiscal 2020 revenue by approximately $150 million to $200 million, depending on the transaction close date. Its non-GAAP EPS is expected to be between $2.54 to $2.56 per share, down from its previous forecast range of $2.74 to $2.76 a share.