What combination of steps is recommended for a nonprofit with a new implementation of Salesforce and NPSP?

Using a development environment that aligns with production before releases is crucial in ensuring a smooth implementation of Salesforce and NPSP for a nonprofit. This approach allows for thorough testing of customizations, configurations, and integrations in a setting that closely resembles the live environment. It minimizes the risk of encountering unexpected issues when changes are deployed to production, ultimately leading to a more stable and efficient system for end users.

Engaging in a pre-release development environment helps the organization validate functionality, performance, and data integrity. This practice allows stakeholders to verify that new features or updates meet their requirements and facilitate user acceptance testing. By aligning development and production environments, the team can ensure consistency, thereby reducing potential disruptions to nonprofit operations once the system goes live.