The Foundation Center Powers Social Mission With NetSuite Cloud

PR Newswire Association LLC

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- NETSUITE SUITEWORLD 2014 — NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel software suites, today announced that the Foundation Center, a New York City-based nonprofit that is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide, has deployed NetSuite to transform its social mission effectiveness. The Foundation Center replaced a myriad of systems and processes with NetSuite. The Foundation Center is relying on NetSuite for CRM, donor management, ecommerce, order processing, financials, budgeting and forecasting – all within one unified platform and without a huge IT infrastructure and staff. This modernization effort has helped the Foundation Center get rid of antiquated, disparate software systems that were affecting the organization's operational efficiency. NetSuite has streamlined and transformed the Foundation Center's mission-critical business processes, resulting in operational efficiency, a real-time 360-degree constituent view and a single source of information.

The Foundation Center, which offers a large array of resources to enhance the impact of philanthropy and aid nonprofits and individuals seeking philanthropic grants, received an initial software grant from the NetSuite.org corporate citizenship program, which offers free and discounted subscriptions to qualified nonprofits and social enterprises.

"We have made huge strides by implementing NetSuite to replace our many legacy systems," said Crystal Mandler, Director of Business Systems at the Foundation Center. "With NetSuite, we now have a single coordinated effort across the organization and strive to make the most of every interaction with our donors and customers with a 360-degree view."

The initiative got under way in 2010, when the Foundation Center began looking for an ecommerce solution to replace an outdated on-premise ATG Dynamo system. Exploring the NetSuite SuiteCommerce platform, the Foundation Center realized that NetSuite's comprehensive cloud solution could also address challenges the organization faced in donor and customer management, order processing and financials. The Foundation Center had struggled with disparate information silos that limited its ability to strengthen relationships with its two constituencies—customers who access and/or purchase a variety of educational, training and research resources, as well as large donor organizations such as the Gates Foundation and Ford Foundation that help to fund the organization and its research. With multiple applications in use, management lacked a single, reliable data source and faced challenges in making informed decisions.

"It was very challenging for management to have different sets of numbers from different departments that were inconsistent," said Robert Yaeger, Vice President for Finance and Administration. "It's hard to make strategic decisions on the future when you don't have consistent information about what happened in the past."

In a multi-phase implementation, the Foundation Center has replaced ATG Dynamo with NetSuite SuiteCommerce for its ecommerce site, followed by the elimination of several Microsoft Access databases for CRM, a mainframe system for order processing and a Macola financials application. With the legacy modernization project about 75 percent complete, the Foundation Center is set to bring the Foundation Directory Online, its largest revenue-generating product, into NetSuite and plans to implement NetSuite for donor management. The NetSuite Financial Planning module has been implemented for budgeting and planning, replacing Excel-based processes and the Foundation Center hopes to integrate NetSuite with a Tableau visual business intelligence solution for enhanced dashboard-based tracking and decision-making. The NetSuite solution is delivering dramatically greater efficiency, visibility and control for the Foundation Center, which operates regional centers in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and works with over 480 Funding Information Network partners in public libraries and other physical locations in 18 countries.

The Foundation Center credits the NetSuite.org program for its role in supporting the legacy modernization effort. "NetSuite.org has been a huge value for us," Mandler said. "The discount has really made it possible for us to eliminate all those legacy applications." The benefits achieved by the Foundation Center include:

Cost savings.The Foundation Center is currently forecasting net savings of $500,000 to $1 million over five years in reduced IT infrastructure and personnel expenses and software licensing, and through the elimination of redundant manual work required within its fragmented IT environment.
Improved customer management. With NetSuite CRM, the Foundation Center is capturing all constituent interactions through all touchpoints, including ecommerce, call center, events and its 480 Funding Information Network partners. With the 360-degree view, the Foundation Center is able to drive better customer engagement and adoption of its products.
Improved donor management. NetSuite's single unified record enables the Foundation Center to better manage and cultivate important relationships with large philanthropic foundation donors, giving personnel across department a real-time view of status and history with these critical constituents.
Better tactical and strategic decision-making. With consistent, real-time information available on demand, Foundation Center managers are able to make informed, data-driven decisions that enable the organization to better fulfill its mission and heighten the social impact that philanthropy has across the world.
Reduced reliance on IT and super-users. NetSuite's ease of use broadens access to critical data across the organization, eliminating the need for staff to engage with IT or super-users experienced with the intricacies of a legacy system, and improving productivity and accuracy across the board.

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and at more than 470 Funding Information Network locations nationwide and around the world. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.

About SuiteCommerce
NetSuite SuiteCommerce enables B2C and B2B merchants, manufacturers and distributors to seamlessly connect every step of a multi-channel, multi-location business—from ecommerce, POS and order management to merchandising, marketing, inventory, financials and customer support. Featuring an advanced web store that allows the creation of uniquely branded and personalized shopping experiences optimized for multiple devices, SuiteCommerce empowers businesses to run across multiple touchpoints—web, brick-and-mortar stores, social, mobile—all from a single, unified cloud-based commerce system that provides unprecedented visibility into your business and customers. Please visit www.suitecommerce.com for more information.

Today, more than 20,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-class cloud financials/ERP suites for divisions of large enterprises and mid-sized organizations seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. NetSuite excels at streamlining business operations as demonstrated in a recent Gartner study naming NetSuite as the fastest growing financial management software vendor on a global basis. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud ERP/financials suites to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud is accelerating.

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