Introduction: The Challenge of Funder Reporting
For many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other impact-driven entities, the ability to secure and retain funding is intricately linked to how well they can demonstrate the results of their efforts. Funders, whether private donors, governmental bodies, or international organizations, need transparent, detailed reports that show how their funds are being spent and the outcomes they are achieving. However, this process often becomes a logistical and technological nightmare for many NGOs, as their data is spread across multiple, siloed systems.
In many cases, finance, grant management, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems are not integrated, meaning organizations must manually collect, reconcile, and present data from different sources to generate funder reports. This disjointed approach is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and inefficiencies, leading to frustrations for both the organizations and their funders.
One organization that faced these challenges is Baytna, a Belgium-based NGO focused on providing support to marginalized communities. Baytna, like many other NGOs, was finding it difficult to manage its sub-grantee spends and align them with its funding in a way that could be easily presented to funders. The NGO needed a solution that could streamline its reporting processes by consolidating data from multiple systems.
The solution came in the form of Oracle NetSuite and Cloud Doing Good’s sub-grantee self-service portal. In this case study, we will explore how Baytna leveraged these tools to create a seamless, single-source data platform that simplified its reporting process and improved transparency and efficiency.
Want to learn more? Register for our virtual event: How Baytna, a Belgium NGO, simplified funder reporting on 24 October at 11:00 to hear how Baytna transformed its sub-grantee management through automation!
The Problems of Siloed Data
Before implementing Oracle NetSuite and Cloud Doing Good's sub-grantee portal, Baytna's reporting and financial management processes were typical of many NGOs. Baytna had three separate spreadsheets and systems for handling different aspects of its operations:
- Finance system: Baytna used a legacy finance system to track its overall budget, expenses, and cash flows. However, this system was not integrated with the grant management system, making it difficult to align financial data with project-specific funding.
- Grant management system: A separate system was in place for managing grants and sub-grantee activities. Therefore, cross-referencing financial data against grant reports was a laborious, manual process.
- CRM: A third system managed relationships with funders, tracking their preferences, communication histories, and reporting requirements. While this helped Baytna keep in touch with its funders, it was disconnected from the financial and grant management data, complicating the creation of comprehensive, data-driven reports.
These silos created a major obstacle for Baytna in preparing reports for its funders. To produce these reports, the organization had to manually gather data from different systems and spreadse, reconcile any discrepancies, and generate an overview of how funds were being spent and what outcomes were being achieved. This was not only time-consuming but also increased the risk of errors and inconsistencies, making it harder to meet funder expectations for accuracy and timeliness.
The Solution: Oracle NetSuite and Cloud Doing Good
Recognizing the need for a unified solution, Baytna sought a platform that could consolidate its data into a single source of truth. After exploring various options, the organization selected Oracle NetSuite, a comprehensive cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, and Cloud Doing Good’s sub-grantee self-service portal, a solution specifically designed to facilitate sub-grantee management and reporting.
Oracle NetSuite: A Unified Financial and Operational Platform
Oracle NetSuite offered Baytna an integrated system for managing its finances, grants, and CRM activities all in one place. With this platform, Baytna could easily track expenditures, monitor grant disbursements, and manage relationships with funders, without needing to switch between multiple systems.
NetSuite’s comprehensive financial management features provided Baytna with real-time insights into its cash flow, budget variances, and expense tracking, while its project management tools allowed the organization to link specific expenses to corresponding grants. This alignment was crucial for producing the detailed financial reports required by funders.
Additionally, NetSuite’s cloud-based nature meant that Baytna could access its data from anywhere, allowing its team to collaborate effectively across different regions and time zones. The ability to integrate NetSuite with other systems if wanted, such as an external CRM, further enhances the organization’s operational efficiency.
Cloud Doing Good’s Sub-Grantee Self-Service Portal
While Oracle NetSuite provided a robust financial and operational platform, Baytna also needed a way to streamline how it managed sub-grantees and their spending. This is where Cloud Doing Good’s sub-grantee self-service portal came in.
The sub-grantee portal allowed Baytna to give its sub-grantees direct access to a system where they could submit their expenses, track their own spending, and report on the progress of their activities. This eliminated the need for sub-grantees to send spreadsheets or manual reports, which often created delays and inconsistencies in the data.
Through the portal, Baytna could view real-time data from its sub-grantees and easily consolidate this information in the NetSuite system. This provided the organization with a complete, up-to-date picture of how funds were being spent at every level of its operations, making it much easier to align sub-grantee spending with the overall funding structure.
The Impact: Improved Efficiency and Transparency
By implementing Oracle NetSuite and Cloud Doing Good’s sub-grantee portal, Baytna was able to achieve significant improvements in both efficiency and transparency.
- Centralized Data Source: All financial and grant-related data was now stored in a single platform, eliminating the need to manually reconcile information from multiple systems. This provided Baytna with a clear, unified view of its operations and made it easier to generate accurate reports for funders.
- Real-time Reporting: With real-time access to financial data and sub-grantee spending, Baytna could produce up-to-date reports at any time, rather than having to wait for quarterly or annual reconciliation processes. This was particularly beneficial for meeting funders’ growing demands for more frequent, detailed reporting.
- Reduced Administrative Burden: Automating the reporting process through the sub-grantee portal reduced the administrative workload for both Baytna and its sub-grantees. Sub-grantees could now submit their expenses directly through the portal, while Baytna could review and approve these expenditures in a streamlined fashion.
- Increased Transparency: By providing funders with detailed, real-time reports, Baytna was able to build stronger, more transparent relationships with its supporters. Funders could clearly see how their money was being used and what impact it was having, which in turn helped Baytna secure more funding.
Conclusion
For many NGOs, the process of reporting to funders is a complex, time-consuming task made even more difficult by the use of siloed systems for finance, grant management, and CRM. However, by adopting Oracle NetSuite and Cloud Doing Good’s sub-grantee self-service portal, Baytna was able to overcome these challenges and create a single, unified data platform. This allowed the organization to streamline its reporting processes, improve transparency, and ultimately secure more funding to support its mission.
For any impact organization looking to improve its funder reporting, this case study demonstrates the importance of investing in integrated systems that provide a single source of truth for all operational data.
Want to learn more? Register for our virtual event: for our virtual event: How Baytna, a Belgium NGO, simplified funder reporting on 24 October at 11:00 to hear how Baytna transformed its sub-grantee management through automation!