A nonprofit organization was looking for a way to manage the information associated with its financial grants. The foundation was started by an area family to fund cultural and educational events in the local Jewish community. At the time of the new software acquisition, it was a relatively young nonprofit with a small staff but it dealt with very large sums of money and worked with established financial companies.
The organization’s goal was, and still is, to provide funding to concerts and other activities that promote Jewish culture. The foundation does not take in grant money. It is self-financed with a very large sum of capital from a private family fortune. It must work with the investment firms that control the money to ensure it’s going to worthy recipients in a timely manner.
Selecting Microsoft Dynamic GP and The TM Group
A new member of the organization had transitioned over from a much larger nonprofit. She recommended the use of Microsoft Dynamics GP for Foundations as the financial solution for her new organization’s accounting needs. She confirmed that the software had helped integrate the office of her previous employer and had eased the workflow. The nonprofit chose The TM Group as their software provider to ensure implementation of the new management solution would go smoothly.
The benefits of the software
The organization is using Microsoft Dynamics GP for Foundations as the financial solution which generates their financial statements and manages general ledger updates. The nonprofit uses GP to download information from the family’s investment companies, such as JP Morgan, and integrate it with the existing general ledger data. The organization has unique needs, in that it does not need to track much incoming capitol but must stay on top of accounts payable. The software was able to create an Excel ledger exported directly from Dynamics GP that could be easily used by their staff.
Microsoft Dynamics has been used by the organization to generate monthly reports. The data is hosted as a cloud deployed solution so the nonprofit does not have to host it in-house and it is accessible online. Only a small number of staff members work directly with the software but the information generated is used by the nonprofit’s program managers, volunteers and board. It is important, since they are working with very large sums of money, that the software provides the heads of the organization with the visibility needed to supervise which funds are going where.
The foundation has also used Microsoft Dynamics GP for Foundations to automate some of its operational processes. To keep up with the large number of accounts payable, the program has been designed to either print or electronically generate payables checks. For large checks, it is preferred that they are signed by hand, but for smaller checks, it makes use of electronic automatic signatures. This has enabled them to streamline their process.
In the future, the organization is looking to import financial information from American Express. The TM Group has made the nonprofit aware of its partnership with American Express and how the software provider offers a free app that can be used to easily integrate the new data to their existing Microsoft Dynamics GP for Foundations solution.
The TM Group advantage
One reason this organization was able to successfully implement a Microsoft Dynamics GP for Foundations solution was because they appointed a manager in charge of the software’s adoption and use. A member of the organization spoke with The TM Group’s software implementation consultant and engagement manager beforehand and communicated her particular needs. As implementation progressed, the project manager worked directly with a TM Group contact to address any possible issues that arose.
Using this method, the nonprofit said they found the entire process very simple and they were very satisfied with the software implementation’s results.
