Philippine Nonprofits Hit the Ground Running Following Implementation Pilot

Posted by Teryll Hopper, Communications Manager, Corporate Citizenship, NetSuite

When it comes to nonprofit capacity building, the needs of nonprofit organizations are as varied as the issue areas in which they work. And while there is no one clear definition for nonprofit capacity building, we think Peter York, CEO of Algorhythm, said it well when he defined it as “any activity that strengthens nonprofit performance and impact.”

For NetSuite.org, the Corporate Citizenship arm of NetSuite, our commitment to strengthen nonprofit performance and impact is done by leveraging our core resources – our talented, passionate employees and our award winning technology. By combining these two assets, and sharing them with nonprofits and social enterprises, organizations can focus on their missions, not the complexity of their ERP systems.

Just last month, eight Philippine-based nonprofits and social enterprises participated in NetSuite for Newbies -- a live NetSuite implementation training at the NetSuite office in Manila. Designed for organizations who had recently been granted free or discounted software through NetSuite.org,NetSuite for Newbies took place over five days.

Specifically designed for nonprofits and social enterprises who had opted to “self-implement” their software donation, the training was facilitated by NetSuite’s Professional Services Department and offered targeted sessions where NetSuite experts assessed the goals and needs of each organization, shared best practices and options, and helped configure the use of NetSuite to streamline and simplify its accounting and reporting.

Among the organizations who participated were Stop Hunger Now (the Philippine chapter), Impact HUB Manila, and MUNI Cultural Creatives. While each nonprofit had their own reasons for choosing NetSuite, the desire to automate processes, maintain more control of their database, and get more visibility into their financials were common reasons for applying for a donation.

At the end of the five-day implementation training, nonprofit Single Drop Consultancy Services and Stop Hunger Now had successfully implemented NetSuite and “gone live” on the system, a milestone that typically takes three to four months due to the vastness of the system and the fact that many nonprofits lack a technical resource who can help them move data from the current system into NetSuite.

According to Jomar Fleras, Executive Director of Stop Hunger Now, “by using NetSuite, we can now easily track our donors and distribution of meal packs. This helps us improve our process of generating contributions and donations. We are also better able to track the beneficiaries of our feeding program.

Marvin Portillo, practice manager for professional services at NetSuite, who spearheaded this initiative said, “The Q4 SV ad hoc project was a great experience for my team. It allowed the new hires to implement NetSuite in a controlled setup and for my seniors to be challenged in creating solutions to match our grantee requirements. This win-win scenario means the program can be a consistent service offering we can give future Philippine grantees and help them achieve their organizational goals.”

Looking forward, NetSuite.org looks forward to strengthening our commitment to nonprofit capacity building with a web version of NetSuite for Newbies which will take place over 6 weeks.

For more information, visit our software donation and capacity building page.