NetSuite and TechSoup Global target NGOs

NGOs are an obvious target for utilising SaaS services. By their very nature, Non-Governmental Organisations are generally strapped for cash, especially when it comes to investing in IT resources rather than the services they were established to provide. So the deal just struck between Netsuite and the TechSoup Global network looks like an obvious step that needed to be taken.

As a major worldwide provider of SaaS-delivered financials/ERP and omnichannel commerce suites, Netsuite is well-positioned to help the NGO clients of TechSoup Global, which provides an international network that leverages technology to help build the capacity and operations of the NGOs. The partnership between them brings NetSuite’s suite of cloud business management applications, including ERP, CRM, ecommerce, professional services automation (PSA), TribeHR for social human capital management (HCM) and the LightCMS content management platform, to nonprofits worldwide.

Currently, the partnership gives qualified nonprofits access to a donation of NetSuite’s powerful cloud-based management suite of applications on TechSoup.org through the company’s corporate citizenship program. This enables these organisations to conduct their mission-critical business operations like accounting, social impact reporting and the nonprofit business processes unique to their organisations, as well as ERP, grants management, donor management and fundraising.

In addition, the partnership can eventually make NetSuite available to organisations worldwide through the TechSoup Global Network of 52 partner organisations around the world.

“This partnership fills a very specific need for our community that has not been addressed up until this time. It goes a long way toward helping TechSoup Global deliver on its promise to provide technology information and resources for nonprofits and to help mission-driven organisations change the world faster,” said Gayle Samuelson Carpentier, Chief Business Development Officer, TechSoup Global.

NGOs across the globe have shown a clear desire for cloud-based technology, according to a 2012 TechSoup Global survey of more than 10,800 NGOs in 88 countries. The survey revealed that 90 percent of respondents worldwide reported using at least one cloud application, and 53 percent reported plans to move a `significant portion’ of their IT to the cloud within the next three years.

NetSuite is the first cloud-based financial solution to be available through TechSoup Global’s product philanthropy platform and TribeHR and LightCMS are the first cloud-based human capital management and content management systems respectively to be made available.

Qualified NGOs can also benefit from NetSuite.org’s unique grantee support programs like SuiteVolunteers, which pairs NetSuite employees with grantees to tackle the NGOs’ back-office challenges through ongoing pro-bono projects.

NetSuite’s cloud-based delivery model also spares nonprofits the high upfront capital expenditures and ongoing maintenance and IT staffing required by traditional on-premise software, allowing these organisations to devote those resources to fulfill their missions.

TechSoup Global is an international network of 52 partner NGOs in Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. For over 25 years, it has leveraged technology to build NGO capacity towards solving problems in local communities and fostering global social change.