Here at the Center, we see countless examples of companies doing good work in their communities, with their employees, and for the environment. Any effort that delivers both business and social value is worthwhile, but it’s especially exciting when companies use their unique skill sets to create positive change.
The Center is home to many members that offer very specialized, very necessary products and services. One such member, NetSuite, is a leader in cloud business software, and creates products that increase operational efficiencies and allows companies to do more of what they do best, an objective that extends to nonprofits.
Offering Services, Offering Experts
NetSuite’s mission is to optimize business’ capabilities, a goal that extends to the company’s approach to corporate citizenship. Through NetSuite.org, the company donates as well as deeply discounts its innovative software to eligible charities and social enterprises. To complement these software donations, the company’s SuiteVolunteers program provides pro bono support to help donation recipients maximize NetSuite effectiveness.
Nonprofits and social enterprises can apply for software grants if they are seeking to automate one of their business processes. Eligible firms include those that make measurable, positive social impacts. Such firms must not primarily be professional or trade associations and they may not be discriminatory. For NetSuite, small, promising, and impactful groups with achievable goals that also have an organizational capacity to implement the software are ideal.
Recipients of NetSuite software donations can apply for a variety of pro bono projects on a quarterly basis. These include:
- Coaching—volunteers assist grantees in optimizing software use.
- Customization—grantees and volunteers work together to organize data and track metrics so that grantees can easily access data.
- E-Newsletter Design & Email Marketing—volunteers help grantees design newsletters or develop outbound e-communication strategies.
- Budgeting & Revenue Recognition—volunteers address questions, set up financial controls, or design custom financial reports for grantees.
- Business Automation & Online Donations—volunteers streamline NetSuite processes or create donation processes on business webpages.
Since its inception in 2013, SuiteVolunteers has matched nearly 400 NetSuite employees in over 20 global offices with over 150 projects. Employees are given 4-20 hours of release time to work in teams to tackle the challenges posed by the nonprofit partner. SuiteVolunteers builds on NetSuite’s already robust corporate citizenship commitment.
In addition to software donations and pro bono software optimization support, NetSuite’s SuiteImpact Team program encourages NetSuite employees to give back to local communities. Each NetSuite office has team of Ambassadors who execute on-going community service events and donation drives. As a global team, the Ambassadors work together to ensure that NetSuite employees have ample opportunities to make an impact. In 2014, over 1,300 volunteers have already participated in company sponsored events around the world. Through the NetSuite Volunteer Time Off program, employees are able to take off up to 16 hours a year to participate in SuiteImpact team activities and/or personal volunteering. 
These community outreach programs were designed in response to employee feedback and build on Netsuite’s unique expertise. While all volunteer opportunities engage employees and build community within and outside the company, these outreach opportunities utilize specialty skills—namely, employees’ knowledge of NetSuite products—to amplify and transform the work that non-profits and social enterprises do. The SuiteVolunteers program increases productivity for businesses that already do good work, therefore maximizing the impact of NetSuite employee volunteer time.
The San Francisco SPCA: Efficiencies Lead to Record-breaking Animal Adoptions
The San Francisco SPCA is one of the many businesses that have benefited from NetSuite’s outreach programs. The SPCA seeks to improve animal welfare by preventing overpopulation, rescuing stray animals, and educating San Francisco residents. Before 2010, however, they were spending less time advancing this mission and more time dedicated to IT challenges, including overly-large Excel files, issues with data accuracy, and system inefficiency.
NetSuite.org was able to provide software that would boost productivity and lead to tremendous gains for the organization by replacing the inefficient and limiting software with one that would streamline processes, reduce operation costs, reduce IT time, and centralize data. With the new software, 220 users in 20 departments are able to check financial data in real time. This newly visible and accurate data means less time spent reconciling the monthly budget, a 50 percent efficiency gain, and a reduction of paper usage.
More importantly, NetSuite.org enabled the San Francisco SPCA to focus on its mission. In 2013, the organization broke a number of its personal records. These included record numbers of spay/neuters in a year, vaccines given at free clinics, clients served in the SPCA hospital, children attending summer camps, and number of adoptions. A 16 percent euthanasia decline brought San Francisco’s euthanasia rate to .001 per capita, the lowest for major cities in the United States. Moreover, there were a record 5,286 adoptions in 2013.
It is no coincidence that the San Francisco SPCA was able to break many of its records shortly after the implementation of NetSuite. For non-profits or social enterprises, reduced costs and increased efficiency translate to more time to do good work for communities. By giving such businesses access to useful and valuable software, NetSuite multiplies its positive impact and enables organizations to do what they do best.
For more on the ways Center member companies are bettering their communities and their businesses, check out the most recent issue of The Corporate Citizen.
