• Foundations have lost an average of 30 percent of their assets due to the plunge in the stock market, predicts the leader of a major association of grant makers. (from Chronicle of Philanthropy) 
• The economic downturn is battering nonprofits, first with a marked decrease in donations and now the ensuing layoffs because of the dramatically reduced revenue. In some cases, the layoffs are in the double-digits of percentage of workforce. (from The NonProfit Times) 
• The pipeline from corporate America to the nation’s charities is starting to dry up, as losses in the stock market mount and the U.S. recession deepens. With many large organizations depending on corporate largesse, their futures are suddenly uncertain. (from Wall Street Journal) 
• Requests for emergency food aid has escalated rapidly in the last year, according to a new survey of the nation’s food banks conducted by Feeding America, the Chicago umbrella organization that represents more than 200 food banks. (from Philanthropy Today) 

“We are seeing an increased need among middle-class people making $40,000 to $70,000 who are recently unemployed, having health problems, having difficulty managing mortgage payments, and going to soup kitchens and pantries for emergency food assistance,” wrote a survey respondent from Long Island Cares, a New York food bank. Another official from Community Food Banks of South Dakota wrote: “When you hear a client tell you that ‘I never thought that I would have to come to the pantry to get food’ or to have someone say that ‘I used to donate to the pantry and now I am using it,’ that is when you realize how tough things are.” 

It’s a time where all businesses, including nonprofits, must closely examine where they can be more efficient in their day-to-day processes. More efficient in marketing to constituents, more efficient in processing transactions, more efficient in reporting to key stakeholders and more efficient at tracking and forecasting donations. Technology offers a number of options for nonprofits to implement those efficiencies through accounting systems such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, through customer relationship management to track communications to and activity from constituents, and other Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint. Plus, Microsoft also offers grants that help nonprofits better serve their communities.

If you are a nonprofit organization located in the Arizona or New Mexico area, contact Sherwood Systems for assistance in determining if a technology solution can help your organization better serve your community.   (877) 943-9696

by Sherwood Systems – Arizona Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Microsoft Offers Grants to Help Nonprofits is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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It all sounds very cool and unstoppable – ERP apps such as Great Plains is offered that way, MS CRM and, of course, the granddaddy of online ERP and CRM, NetSuite. Looking at it a little closer, it seems to me that some companies approach this in a restrictive way. I found this excellent article while “working” at the airport waiting for my delayed flight, called Software + Service, The Full Story.

All I can say after reading this is that Microsoft sometimes comes late to the party but they have this one nailed. After you read this, you will see that software plus services is not just a marketing pitch.

Being from Arizona – don’t fence me in (software plus services) really resonates with me.

by Sherwood Systems – Arizona Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Should ERP Software Buyers Have Their Heads in the Clouds? is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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