For more than 70 years, The Arc has existed to support and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Today, the Minnesota-born organization spans all 50 states and boasts more than 700 chapters. Each is dedicated to supporting their clients and advocating for inclusion within their local communities.
Six Minnesota chapters merged in 2018, joining forces as The Arc Minnesota. Combined, they employ 130 people and operate three thrift stores to help fund the nonprofit’s programs.
Dynamics SL: No longer relevant
When they merged in 2018, The Arc Minnesota relied on Boyer & Associates to configure Microsoft Dynamics SL for their nonprofit ERP software needs. At the time, they anticipated operating as separate entities under one larger umbrella.
It quickly became apparent that they were better off operating as one single entity. This made much of the existing multi-company setup in Dynamics SL overly complex and unnecessary, according to CFO Jessica Thompson.
When Thompson joined the organization in 2020, The Arc Minnesota’s operations had shifted so dramatically since their merger that the ERP system no longer met their needs. It was time for a change.
“We had different ideas of what the organization would be at that time,” Thompson said. “So many assumptions had changed that the accounting system was completely different from how the organization actually operated. It just created more confusion and problems.”
As with many organizations at the time, The Arc Minnesota had also switched to mostly remote operations during the coronavirus pandemic. They wanted to continue that flexible work environment, but performance within their system was subpar. Because Dynamics SL is server-based, staff had to connect to the actual servers virtually. Staff was frustrated with how long it took to do simple tasks due to the slow VPN hookup.
Dynamics 365 Business Central: A completely new nonprofit ERP software
“We went with Business Central because it’s cloud but also because it’s the same Dynamics type organization. We thought that moving to that would be simpler than moving to something totally different,” Thompson said.
In hindsight, she added, moving from SL to Business Central was actually quite similar to moving to an entirely different system. That said, Thompson still believes Microsoft’s cloud ERP software for nonprofits was the right choice for The Arc Minnesota.
“I’ve gone through a lot of system implementations. This was probably the smoothest in terms of the support that we had, the response time we had, the training that we received.”
Jessica Thompson, CFO at The ARC Minnesota
Because of how drastically the organization had changed since their merger, staff had to completely rethink how they wanted the system to work. They ran into a minor hiccup early in the process when the Boyer team assumed that the nonprofit would want their Business Central system set up similarly to the existing SL system.
The miscommunication was resolved quickly, and within a week they were back on course. They kicked off in November and went live with the major pieces of their new nonprofit ERP software on Jan. 1. A couple additional modules came online in February.
“I’ve gone through a lot of system implementations,” Thompson said. “This was probably the smoothest in terms of the support that we had, the response time we had, the training that we received.”
She was especially pleased with Boyer’s training and ongoing support. She said the Boyer team never balked at walking her users through the processes again or sending additional documentation to assist with training.
A streamlined ERP for nonprofits
Unlike SL, the new Business Central system actually works with the nonprofit’s current processes. Rather than set up the system with multiple companies, for example, The Arc Minnesota simply uses Business Central’s dimensions to keep track of those areas as regions.
“I think the only thing we actually kept (from SL) … was the breakout of regions across the state,” Thompson said.
The cloud-based ERP system performs much faster without the delay of a VPN connection, she added.
“We had so many speed issues with SL,” Thompson said. “I can’t explain how slow it was.” Simply attempting to copy and paste a journal could take a full three minutes in SL, she said. Now it’s just a couple of clicks.
One crucial improvement in the nonprofit ERP software is an electronic approvals process. Gone are the days of paper, wet ink signatures and filing cabinets. Approvers can now sign electronically, with the system time stamping their signatures. Plus, built-in security permissions help the nonprofit make sure each user has the right access — and nothing more.
Thompson added that the nonprofit ERP software is more intuitive to how people expect software to work today, which makes training that much faster. For example, users can simply keep clicking on related links within a specific record to get more detailed information.
“What you see is what you get. It’s more intuitive, especially for younger staff,” she said.
And if they do have questions, Thompson said that Boyer’s ongoing support is just as reliable as it was during the implementation. Even when she’s not sure who to contact, the Boyer staff communicates internally to make sure her issue is routed to the right person and resolved quickly.
“It always felt like a real partnership with Boyer. It never felt like were totally on our own or lost in the process,” she said. “I’m really impressed with the whole process and how easy it was in the end.”
