Insights from Salesforce’s Membership Solutions Day in London

On 6th March 2025, Intercloud9 had the privilege of attending Salesforce’s Membership Solutions Day at Salesforce Tower in London. A dynamic showcase of how digital technology, AI, and data strategies can revolutionise the membership sector.

The event delivered a host of insights relevant to associations and non-profits alike. Below, we present a comprehensive summary of the day’s content, with added context on how Intercloud9 can support membership organisations on their transformation journey.

Opening Remarks: The Pace of Change and Semantic Models

Mark Godfrey, Salesforce RVP UKI, opened the Membership Solutions Day with an observation on the rapidly increasing pace of change faced by modern membership bodies. He touched on the role of semantic expansion—the idea that emerging technology can understand context and therefore provide more accurate information. From virtual agents serving customers to robust AI-driven front-office support, the more technology can be leveraged to handle routine tasks, the more time membership staff can devote to higher-value, personalised member interactions.

With ever-increasing demand and member expectations, it’s no longer feasible to simply add more staff to address operational pressures. Instead, membership organisations must explore and adopt new technologies that streamline processes, reduce manual overhead, and amplify the impact of subject matter experts.

Peter Blakey, Salesforce Regional Director for Membership and Associations, underscored Salesforce’s strong foothold in the sector, mentioning clients such as the BCS, CIPD, the National Trust, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

He introduced Eviden—a strategic consulting partner to Salesforce, specialising in non-profit and membership transformation.

Eviden and the Membership Sector

Eviden is a systems integrator (SI) partner active in the membership sector and a strategic consulting partner of Salesforce. Yan Kasianczuk from Eviden UK emphasised their experience in enabling non-profit and membership organisations to fully leverage Salesforce’s capabilities.

Industry Insights and Top Tips from Eviden’s Matt McGinty

1. Acquiring, retaining, and delighting members remains the top priority for membership bodies.
2. Product diversification is crucial: offering freemium vs. premium services, professional recognition pathways, or seasonal and regional memberships helps address a wider range of member needs.
3. Member data is vital for personalisation in an ever-changing landscape. However, the quality and availability of data often presents challenges—multiple legacy systems, poor data governance, and a lack of strategy can exacerbate these issues.
4. Leveraging AI to drive mission and impact is increasingly relevant to membership organisations. From automated processes to personalised member services, AI can supercharge everything from marketing campaigns to behaviour prediction and risk analysis for lapsing members.

Matt cautioned that while data strategy can be daunting, the rewards are considerable once organisations establish effective data governance and unified technology platforms (through migration, integration, and strategic “platforming” on solutions like Salesforce).

AI: The Next Evolution for Membership Organisations

Beyond chatbots and rules-based recommendations, AI now encompasses generative AI, autonomous agents, and advanced predictive capabilities. The question is: How can membership organisations harness these innovations?

• Streamline complex systems and operations.
• Depersonalise or automate routine tasks to free staff for deeper engagement.
• Generate marketing campaigns at scale.
• Predict member behaviours and identify those at risk of lapsing.
• Use AI-driven virtual agents to handle queries.

By adopting these capabilities, membership teams can work faster and smarter, devoting more time to building trust, loyalty, and delivering real value to members.

Case Study: The National Trust

One of the day’s most prominent success stories centred on the National Trust, which engaged Eviden in 2020 to migrate from its legacy CRM to Salesforce. The key objective was to transform membership and fundraising activities, enhance supporter experiences, and optimise revenue streams. The complexity of the programme was significant:

• A 3-year timeline
• 1,000 user stories
• 22 business journeys
• 160 people involved

The outcome? More efficient processes, quick access to crucial data insights, increased fundraising revenue, and more streamlined membership workflows. The project’s excellence was recognised by the Management Consultancies Association in 2024.

Eviden’s Top Tips for Successful Salesforce Transformation

Eviden shared a set of principles and best practices for membership organisations embarking on a Salesforce transformation:

• Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and early value realisation, delivered via a phased approach.
• Roadmap creation to reflect these incremental phases.
• Business readiness is crucial—understand where your organisation is starting and what can be achieved. Prototype-based discovery can facilitate clearer vision.
• Agile delivery in a cost-controlled way (time-boxed and price-boxed).
  Define a strategy for how Salesforce fits into the wider technology ecosystem.
• Co-create ways of working, mindful of the significant cultural shift involved in adopting new systems.

How Eviden Can Support Salesforce Customers

• Prebuilt member journeys to automate processes and enable self-service.
• Single member view for unifying all personas and touchpoints.
• Digital engagement model with personalisation, data privacy, and preference management (also known as the “Membership 360 Accelerator”).
• Data Cloud Starter Pack for accelerated implementation of Salesforce Data Cloud.
• Single Door Access (SSO) for improved member experience and data security.
• Shield Template to quickly roll out security features like audit trails, encryption, and monitoring.
  Salesforce Centre of Excellence—including business change management, adoption support, and enablement journeys.
• Target Salesforce Operating Model with customisable templates for BAU processes, DevOps, and collaborative ways of working.
• Agentforce solutions (e.g., QE Assist for automated testing, Knowledge Pilot, Developer Assist) to accelerate adoption of AI-driven support channels.

Agentforce and the New AI Wave

Chris Lowe, Data, AI, and Digital Consultant at Salesforce, discussed how AI has progressed from a novelty to an imminent driver of business transformation. He noted that 41% of staff time is spent on low-value, repetitive tasks, while members increasingly expect zero hold queues, personalisation, and added-value services.

The Three Waves of AI

• Wave 1 – Predictive: Systems provide predictions but no direct action, sometimes adding more follow-up work.
• Wave 2 – Copilots: AI can offer advice or solutions but cannot yet act autonomously.
• Wave 3 – Assistive and Autonomous Agents (Semantic Reasoning): Systems can autonomously plan, learn, and execute, with the ability to make decisions based on predictions, requests, and reasoning.
  • 82% of businesses plan to adopt autonomous agents within 1–3 years.
  • 64% of companies expect these agents to replace human workloads in some capacity.

Chris emphasised that businesses need to rethink where and how work happens, especially if AI is to replicate or augment tasks currently performed by staff. Salesforce’s Agent Builder aims to democratise the agentic layer, simplifying the complexities around data access, permissions, and operational rules. However, a measured approach is essential—“building solid use cases, then gradually expanding”—to manage the risk of AI “hallucinations” and reputational harm.

New Revenue Opportunities

For professional bodies with extensive curated data, agentic AI might offer a premium tier of membership services, allowing members to utilise advanced AI to access deep industry insights. Regulators could similarly leverage these tools to ensure compliant, standardised services. The overarching message: harness AI to enhance rather than replace your workforce—removing mundane, low-satisfaction tasks and freeing staff to focus on members.

Panel Discussion: National Trust and Association for Project Management

A lively panel featuring:

• Tom North – Membership Director, National Trust
• Jo Connolly – Director of Service Innovation, Association for Project Management (APM)
• Mike Bonne – Director of Corporate Services, APM

It focused on how technology solutions like Salesforce have unlocked new membership models, data-driven engagement, and operational efficiencies.

1. National Trust
   • Membership represents 40% of the charity’s income.
   • Adopts a visitor-focused model but sees opportunities to diversify income streams.
   • Plans to leverage AI in the future to reduce cost-to-serve, create better visitor experiences, and predict member behaviour.
2. Association for Project Management (APM)
   • Serves project professionals seeking qualifications, resources, and community support.
   • Emphasises digital-first approaches to deliver a seamless member experience.
   • Recently launched on Salesforce, now gathering data in one platform for valuable insight generation.
   • Early in their AI journey; sees huge potential to facilitate growth without multiplying the workforce.

Both organisations recognise the need for robust ethical and organisational policies around AI usage. Attendees raised questions about mitigating risks associated with data privacy, “hallucination” issues, and brand reputation.

How Intercloud9 Can Help

Intercloud9 is an independent change management and technology transformation consultancy, specialising in the UK membership sector. We help associations, professional bodies, and charities implement these insights and drive sustainable change.

Our services include:

• Strategic Roadmapping: Defining clear goals, selecting the right platforms, and creating phased plans that unlock early value while minimising disruption.
• Implementation & Integration: Managing system migrations, data consolidation, and process digitisation, ensuring your teams have the tools they need to thrive.
• Change Management & Cultural Readiness: Securing stakeholder buy-in, training staff, and creating a positive environment for adopting new processes and technologies.
• Data Strategy & Governance: Addressing the critical need for robust data management, from architecture planning to ongoing governance, so you can confidently leverage AI and personalisation.
• AI Exploration & Adoption: Identifying high-impact AI use cases, responsibly rolling out chatbots or autonomous agents, and scaling them in line with your organisational capabilities.

Ready to Transform Your Membership Organisation?

Salesforce’s Membership Solutions Day highlighted an exciting convergence of technology and strategy—one that membership bodies cannot afford to overlook. From semantic models and virtual agents to the unprecedented power of autonomous AI, the future holds enormous potential for boosting efficiency, unlocking new revenue streams, and delivering a superior member experience.

Intercloud9 can help you navigate these opportunities—on your terms. If you’re ready to leverage data effectively, streamline day-to-day operations, or explore the cutting edge of AI-driven transformation, get in touch with our team today. Let’s work together to keep your membership proposition relevant, impactful, and resilient in an ever-evolving digital era.

Final Thoughts

By integrating robust data strategies, harnessing advanced AI capabilities, and embracing a culture of continuous change, membership organisations can deliver exceptional services and enhance their strategic value. Intercloud9 stands ready to guide you through this journey as an independent partner dedicated to delivering long-term success across the UK’s membership sector.