Case Study: Streamlining Financial Management at the Community Foundation Grey Bruce

Overview 

The Community Foundation Grey Bruce (CFGB), a Foundant client since 2017, is dedicated to enhancing community vitality by fostering open discussions about local needs, sharing knowledge, and growing endowments to provide strategic granting and support to a wide range of non-profit organizations. The foundation manages over 207 endowed funds, covering areas such as education, arts and culture, healthcare, environment, poverty reduction, and recreation.

Challenges 

Prior to adopting Foundant’s CommunitySuite, CFGB relied heavily on extensive (“…yards long…”) Excel spreadsheets to manage their complex financial operations. These spreadsheets were cumbersome, prone to human error, and lacked the scalability needed to efficiently handle the foundation’s growing responsibilities. The intricacies of tracking matching fund programs, managing multiple investment pools, and maintaining inventories of investment portfolios in various currencies added to the complexity.

Solutions Implemented 

Recognizing the limitations of their existing system, CFGB sought a more efficient, scalable, and error-resistant solution. After evaluating various options, they decided to transition to Foundant’s CommunitySuite, a cloud-based nonprofit management software designed to streamline operations and enhance financial management capabilities. The transition to CommunitySuite involved migrating data, customizing the system to fit the foundation’s unique needs, and training staff on the new platform.

Throughout this process, Foundant’s support team played a crucial role, providing hands-on assistance and ensuring that CFGB’s specific requirements were met. The foundation appreciated the personalized support and felt that their unique financial intricacies were accommodated within the new system.

Watch an overview video (pathfactory embed once live)

Results 

• Enhanced Efficiency: The new system streamlined financial operations, reducing the time spent on manual data entry and reconciliation. 
• Reduced Errors: Automation and built-in checks minimized the risk of human errors, leading to more accurate financial reporting. 
• Improved Scalability: Foundant’s cloud-based platform allowed CFGB to easily scale their operations as they grew, accommodating the management of over 207 endowed funds. 
• Better Support: The foundation’s team felt supported and listened to, with Foundant accommodating their unique financial intricacies. 

In their words: Client testimonials

The deciding factor that made us go with CommunitySuite was really coming to a point of confidence that the product was going to do everything that we needed it to do. ” 

— Stuart Reid, Executive Director 

Key Takeaways

By transitioning to Foundant’s CommunitySuite, Community Foundation Grey Bruce successfully overcame the limitations of their previous spreadsheet-based system. The new platform provided them with the tools needed to manage their complex financial operations more effectively, supporting their mission to enhance community vitality in Grey and Bruce counties.