“With NorthStar 500 we’ve gained efficiencies across all functions of
our operation that simply would not have been possible in our previous
software
environment. Access to real-time account information has improved, donor
reporting has improved, grant processing and tracking have improved,
internal reporting
has improved and errors are much less likely due to the integration and
internal
checks of the system. Overall, we’re in a much better position to
continue growing
the organization and to realize significant cost efficiencies and
economies of scale
while providing our donors, grantees and other constituents with the
highest possible level of service.”
— Mike Rea, Managing Director,
Give2Asia
|
Give2Asia is a U.S. non-profit organization providing personalized
programs and
services that make giving to Asia as effective and efficient as
possible. In partnership with its founder, The Asia Foundation, and its
network of 18 field offices and
over 200 overseas staff, Give2Asia acts as a vital conduit for Asian
philanthropy,
providing individuals, families, corporations, and foundations with the
tools and
resources to fulfill their charitable goals in Asia. Give2Asia provides a
variety of
services including Donor Advised Funds, Fiscal Sponsorship Programs,
Special
Interest Funds, Advised Grants and other charitable vehicles that
increase the
quantity and quality of grantmaking throughout Asia.
Challenges
With year-over-year growth rates exceeding 50%, Give2Asia was at a
pivotal junction in identifying an administrative software platform that
would affordably
accommodate its current needs and business processes, while allowing it
to scale
up efficiently as the organization continued its rapid growth. Like many
flourishing
non-profit organizations, growth within its current technical
infrastructure had become increasingly cumbersome.
“The systems in use were not integrated across functional areas of our
organization. Information sharing among internal staff was an issue, and
communicating
accurate and timely information to donors and grantees was becoming an
even
bigger issue,” commented Ray Klinke, Finance and Operations Officer for
Give2Asia. “All of these problems required an increasing amount of staff
time to
manage, which detracted from our ability to pursue new opportunities and
expand
current programs and initiatives.”
In addition to integrating and streamlining the different functional
areas of
the organization, Give2Asia also
sought to enhance marketing capabilities by matching donors to specific
programs and fields of interest; and to
enhance donor services by providing a
“self-service” online account access
environment where donors could view
real-time balances, recommend
grants, track statuses of pending
transactions and view historical account information.
Solution
After evaluating other non-profit software systems, Give2Asia selected
NorthStar 500 and its integrated DonorWeb® component coupled with a
custom package of Outsourced Services from Stellar Financial. These
services include initiating fund transfers to international grantees,
managing all asset positions, generating account statements and full
financial reports in real time, month-end and year-end reconciliation.
“The overall package of software and
services was superior and more
closely attuned to our needs,” commented Klinke, “particularly the
ability
to integrate our marketing database
with the fund management system,
the ability to tailor the system to match
our reporting and workflow needs, the
DonorWeb component, and the outsourced services provided by Stellar
Financial.”
Results
NorthStar 500’s integrated back-office
allows Give2Asia to meet all their major administrative, donor services
and
marketing goals while the DonorWeb
provides donors with a real-time online
account access environment.
NorthStar 500 automatically tracks
the real time balances of donor accounts along with the statuses of
contributions, grants, fees and daily changes in investment pool values
that impact them.
Stellar Outsourced Services create
additional scalability by effectively extending human resources capacity
and
reducing the burden of routine administrative tasks on Give2Asia staff,
allowing them to better focus overall
resources on their core mission.
“We’re very pleased,” said Klinke. “We
were able to eliminate all the other
various software applications we had
been using and have seen vast improvements in operational efficiencies
and data integrity. Going forward,
we’re confident we can handle significantly more volume without having
to
add additional operational staff, will be
able to better service our donors and
other constituents and will be able to
more effectively market our initiatives.”
“Given the close level of administrative
interaction between Stellar and
Give2Asia, we very much view this as a
partnership – and one we’re very
proud of,” said John Coogan, Managing Director of Stellar Financial.
“Give2Asia is a group of tremendously
dedicated people working for a great
cause. To be able to contribute to that
is very rewarding for everyone at Stellar.”
For More Information: Stellar Financial
For more information about Stellar Financial products and services, call
570.517.3500 or email
info@stellarfinancial.com.
Give2Asia
Information and details regarding
Give2Asia contact Michael Rea, Managing Director at 415.743.3336 or
visit
www.give2asia.org.