Case study: how MSU Research Foundation moved its venture and financing work from Salesforce to monday.com
MSU Research Foundation, which invests in startups, provides financing and runs research parks in Michigan, wanted its company records, its deals and its team’s day-to-day work in one place. We moved its Salesforce company data into monday.com, built a new venture investment workspace, set up leads and deals boards for each team with the right permissions, and recorded a video so the team can import data themselves. It took two engagements of 20 hours each, from November 2025 to September 2026.
| Organization | MSU Research Foundation, Michigan |
| Starting point | Company records in Salesforce, team work in monday.com |
| What we built | A venture investment workspace, Salesforce data moved in, leads and deals boards per team, permissions by team |
| Time | Two engagements of 20 hours each |
| Dates | November 2025 to September 2026 |
What wasn’t working?
The foundation runs several kinds of work side by side: investing in startups, supporting its research parks, and handling financing. Its company and relationship records lived in Salesforce, while its team already worked in monday.com. That meant two places to check for one answer.
The goal was one place where each team could see its own deals and leads, and leadership could see all of it.
What did we build?
We started the way we always do: a kickoff call, then a review of the workspaces they already had, so we built around how they actually worked rather than a template.
- A new venture investment workspace. We created a fresh workspace for the investment team and moved the boards they still needed into it.
- Salesforce company data moved into monday.com. We ported their company records across and recorded a short video showing the team how to import and clean Salesforce data themselves, so future imports wouldn’t depend on us.
- Leads and deals boards for each team. We copied the leads and deals boards from their main CRM workspace into both the venture investment and the research workspaces, so both teams work from the same structure.
- Permissions by team. The foundation sent us its access lists for each group, and we configured permissions so each person sees what their team needs.
- Meeting notes. We helped the team get monday.com’s AI notetaker switched on for their account, so meeting notes land where the work is.
Along the way, the team also looked at a forms app for collecting loan payment requests, so that work can follow the same structure.
When an urgent CRM need came up mid-project, we held a dedicated build session for it rather than waiting for the next scheduled call. In January 2026 we built mock-ups from the team’s own meeting so they could react to something real before we built it.
How did the project run?
| Phase | When | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Kickoff, review of existing workspaces, new venture investment workspace, Salesforce data, permissions | November 2025 to April 2026 | 20 |
| Second engagement to keep improving the setup, including new mock-ups | April to September 2026 | 20 |
Both engagements were a fixed block of hours, with the work broken into small tasks we could finish and show between meetings. See what a monday.com implementation costs.
What changed?
The foundation’s records and its team’s work now live in the same system, organized by team, with permissions that match who does what. And when the first engagement ended, they came back for a second one, and a third is under way now. To us, that’s the most honest measure of whether a system is being used.
What should another foundation take from this?
To be honest, moving off Salesforce isn’t the hard part. The hard part is deciding what each team actually needs to see. Here’s what I’d tell any small foundation:
- Start with a new workspace. Moving everything as it was brings the mess with you.
- Get the access lists first. Permissions decided up front save a lot of rework.
- Teach the team to import their own data. A short video beats a dependency on your consultant.
- Show mock-ups before building. People react better to something they can click than to a description.
Frequently asked questions
Can monday.com replace Salesforce for a small foundation?
For a small team, often yes. It depends on how much of Salesforce you actually use. If you mainly track organizations, contacts, leads and deals, monday.com can hold all of it next to your projects.
How long does it take to move Salesforce data into monday.com?
For this foundation, the move was one part of a 20-hour engagement that also covered a new workspace, boards and permissions. Larger or messier data takes longer.
Can different teams have different permissions in monday.com?
Yes. We set up permissions from the foundation’s own access lists, so each team sees its own boards and leadership sees the whole picture.
Do we need to keep paying a consultant to import data later?
No. We recorded a short video showing the team how to import and clean Salesforce data, so they can do it themselves.
Does Wild 6 work with nonprofits and foundations?
Yes. Foundations and nonprofits are a big part of our work. See how we set up monday.com for nonprofits.
Thinking about a similar move?
If your foundation is splitting its work across Salesforce and monday.com, book a 30-minute call with me. Bring a quick recording of how you work today, and I’ll tell you honestly what the move would take. You can also compare partners in our list of the best monday.com consultants for community foundations and nonprofits, or read more client case studies.
