First Nations Development Institute selects Abila MIP Fund Accounting™

The arrival of a new season isn’t the only change NFP Partners is enjoying as of late. We are also excited to announce a new Abila MIP Fund Accounting™ software client!

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations), a national Native American-created and led nonprofit organization headquartered in Longmont, Colorado, works to improve economic conditions for Native Americans through technical assistance, training, advocacy, policy, and direct financial grants.

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First Nations invests in and creates innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities. Their work focuses on five key areas: achieving Native financial empowerment, investing in Native youth, strengthening tribal and community institutions, advancing household and community asset-building strategies, and nourishing Native foods and health.

Tom and Anita at FNDI in Day 3 of training on their newly implemented Abila MIP Fund Accounting software. They are going live with the software on November 1.

Founded in 1980, First Nations began its national grant-making program in 1993. Through mid-2016, it has successfully managed 1,162 grants totaling more than $25.95 million to Native American projects and organizations in 39 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territory American Samoa. First Nations believes that when armed with the appropriate resources, Native peoples hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable, economic, spiritual and cultural well-being of their communities.

Like many of NFP Partners’ clients, First Nations’ previous accounting system was outdated and unqualified to produce the results and convenience provided by Abila MIP Fund Accounting™ software. First Nations Finance Officer Thomas Reed, CPA, said those were the reasons why he began searching for a new accounting software package.

“Our current accounting software was not up to the task of tracking and reporting on 40 active restricted grants on a monthly basis. We also recently went through a government audit and our current system and processes cannot meet the government’s requirements for grant tracking and reporting,” Reed said.

When it came down to picking NFP Partners, Reed said the choice came after reviewing the full-picture of what MIP could offer.

“What led us to decide on MIP is the robust reporting capabilities, as well as the look and feel of the software for day-to-day functions. The integrated HR and Payroll functions were also of primary importance to help us meet our strict grant-tracking requirements. We like Abila’s reporting capabilities and we like the cloud-based operating system so we can work remotely and, if necessary, provide real time ‘what-if’ reporting at any location.”

We are excited to have First Nations on board and, according to Reed, they’re excited for the new and useful changes that are to come.

“What excites me about MIP is the prospect of doing our accounting in our accounting system rather than in Excel. The decrease in time to complete monthly tasks, as well as the increase in data integrity, mean I can spend more time on valuable activities that help our organization succeed. Also, the prospect of setting up a dashboard for our executives so they can monitor the business in real time and on their schedule is a huge leap forward for us.”

To learn more about First Nations, you can visit www.firstnations.org. First Nations Development Institute, welcome to the NFP Partners team!

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First Nations Development Institute selects Abila MIP Fund Accounting™

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