What “Home” is Best for MIP Fund Accounting™?

Last month, we introduced the topic of “choice” as offered by Abila. We discussed the information on the type of license which your nonprofit organization can acquire for the MIP Fund Accounting™ solution, comparing perpetual and subscription licenses. This month, we’ll look at the choice Abila offers for where you “house” the software. This choice is also unique to Abila MIP Fund Accounting™ in comparison to competitors. We all know choice is great, but it can also be very confusing. Should I buy a Ford or a Honda? Should I buy a Focus or an Accord? Creating a list of “must have,” “nice to have,” and “not necessary” helps to prioritize and narrow your nonprofit’s options and focus.

Where can my nonprofit organization house our accounting software?

1. On your own server – This is the traditional option of having a computer server in your building which is managed by your local or contract IT department.
2. A third-party cloud provider selected by your nonprofit organization – This option may include having other applications hosted in the vendor’s cloud as well. Your organization may still need to pay for local IT support.
3. In an Abila hosted cloud where you are on a server dedicated to your nonprofit organization (single tenant).
4. In an Abila hosted cloud where you are on a “shared” server (multi-tenant)

Listed below are the options by choice and a highlight of the ongoing costs associated with each option

When you are making the choice for where to “house” your nonprofit’s software, of course, the cost is a factor. There are both “hard” and “soft” costs when making this choice. The “hard” costs are the monthly user fees that your organization would incur for access to the cloud server. There are also “soft” costs which include the amount of local IT services that would be saved when you move away from an in-house server.

If you have questions about making a “choice” for your nonprofit organization, email Laura Jorstad at Laura@NFPPartners.com. We have some resources that will help calculate your organization’s return on investment.