Case Study: Pepperdine University achieves a unified brand and 360-degree constituent view with Salesforce for Nonprofits

Pepperdine Uses Salesforce to Unify Its Brand

Pepperdine University faced a fragmented experience for students because its five schools and Advancement operated like separate institutions with different systems, processes, and data owners. Siloed information meant schools couldn’t see a full picture of prospects and often contacted the same people with irrelevant messages, while IT had to maintain multiple systems. The university needed one campus-wide solution to create consistent experiences and protect its brand.

By adopting Salesforce Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud as a single data source, Pepperdine gave recruiters and staff a 360-degree view of constituents and automated outreach and access rules. Enrollment teams now see all prospect interactions in one profile—cutting undergraduate applicant call volume by 80%—and a Marketing Cloud campaign produced 650+ inquiries, packed info sessions, and enrollment applications. Automated workflows and Social Studio further reduced duplicate outreach, improved targeting, and support a campus-wide rollout to unify the Pepperdine brand.

Pepperdine University

Rick Gibson

Chief Marketing Officer