A number people have reached out to me in the past few weeks, after I posted about passing the Salesforce NPSP exam, to ask about how to best prepare for the exam. Some asked “what resources did you use to prepare?” or whether I could offer pointers or tips. So here it is: this short blog contains all the resources I found most useful. No magic wands, you have to prepare, study and get your hands dirty! Get an NPSP trial org or a developer org (and install NPSP package from the NPSP Installer page).
Tip 1: Read the Salesforce NPSP Exam Guide
Know what is expected of you and the exam requirements, read the Salesforce NPSP exam guide.
If you want to focus on specific categories from the exam guide check out the resources for each categories here.
Tip 2: Use Trailhead to practise, then practise, and then practise again!
If you are new to Salesforce NPSP then Trailhead is the way to get started. Here are 3 highly recommend trails to get started with NPSP:
Tip 3: Read the NPSP Documentation
Bookmark these links if you have to. They are the source of truth! You will refer to this before and after your exam – during implementation:
- The NPSP documentation.
- The NPPS slide deck.
Tip 4: Watch some videos
Salesforce has provided a “How to Series” playlist on youtube, this is ideal if you want to get a general idea about a specific topic.
Salesforce has also provided a free comprehensive NPSP Salesforce videos from the NPSP Academy.
Tip 5: Consider various sample questions
These are the kind of questions you can expect – this is not a guarantee that such a question will appear. Just to give you a representative idea of what to prepare for.
1. A donor donates $500 to a nonprofit that is matched by his employer. How are the hard credits and soft credits listed in NPSP?
a. The donor has a hard credit of $500, the employer has a hard credit of $500, and there are no soft credits
b. The donor has a hard credit of $500, the employer has a hard credit of $500, and there are no soft credits
c. The donor has a soft credit of $500 and the employer has a hard credit of $500
d. The donor has a hard credit of $500 and the employer has a soft credit of $500
2. A nonprofit organization wants to use Salesforce to track community leaders, their constituents, and other relationships. Which account model should the consultant recommend?
a. Salesforce Standard Account
b. Individual (“Bucket”) Account
c. Person Account
d. Household Account
3. How often are updates to the NPSP pushed to production orgs?
a. 3 times a year
b. Once every 2 weeks
c. 4 times a year
d. Once every month
Good luck!
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