Supporting the Future of Nonprofits: An Interview with Teri Carpenter

Nonprofits are essential gap-fillers. They satisfy unmet needs, strengthen communities, and champion well-being at the individual, family, and social levels. But they can be hindered in this mission-driven work by the same organizational challenges for-profit businesses face.

Today, Teri Carpenter, of Acumatica Partner Carpenter Associates, shares her expert insights on the nonprofit sector and how Acumatica Cloud ERP helps nonprofits overcome operational hurdles to fulfil their missions.

Please tell us a bit about Carpenter Associates and what you do for nonprofits.

I founded Carpenter Associates in 2004. We are a completely remote organization and have consultants and technical employees from Washington, D.C., to California. So, we cover a lot of territory and businesses across the country. We offer many different services, including ERP software implementation, support, and training. Our head of consulting and operations is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (a professional certified in data-driven problem-solving and process improvement), so we also help organizations make their operational processes better.

I’ve been working with the nonprofit industry since the late 1990s, and I would say that around 60% to 70% of our clients are nonprofits. For these organizations, we have become experts in integrations. Most nonprofits use other mission-critical systems in addition to their financial systems—things like association management software or Medicare billing software. These tools need to be integrated with the nonprofit’s main business management and accounting system, and Carpenter Associates specializes in those customizations and integrations.

How are modern nonprofit organizations optimizing their operations—or how should they be?

Nonprofits serve different needs, but they really face the same challenges that for-profit companies do. Many are still using legacy systems with limited access to information. The reporting is limited. The availability for people within the organization is limited. So, they’re all looking for something more modern that will provide real-time information and allow them to give system access to more people in the organization.

This is 2026. There was a time when, if you wanted to look something up, you had to have the Encyclopedia Britannica on the shelf or go down to the library. Now, you just pick up your phone and ask Siri or Google. Boom. You get the answer. We all expect information at our fingertips, and we want that out of our business management systems as well.

What key trends and innovations are shaping organizational transformation for nonprofits?

Again, immediate access to data. We provide software to organizations serving people who are aging, disabled, and experiencing homelessness. They’re managing group homes, caseworkers, and people out in the field. Those people in the field need access to client information. They need to input their own reports, time and travel data, and supply use records into the nonprofit management system. Modern ERP systems like Acumatica are a wonderful tool because all this can be done from a tablet or phone. You’re connected immediately. And when you go home at the end of the day, your administrative work is done. You don’t have to sit down and write up your reports and submit them. You’ve already done it. And you can focus on what your nonprofit is actually working toward instead of just on paperwork. Technology like Acumatica, which gives people access to information and the freedom to input data from anywhere, is really revolutionary. Nonprofits can react to changing circumstances quickly, make good, data-based decisions, and meet needs faster. It helps keep their missions going.

What are the biggest operational challenges in organizational management for nonprofits? How would you advise them to address these challenges?

This comes back to legacy systems. Like I said, nonprofits need data quickly. They need that data to be actionable. They need to connect to mission-critical applications that old client-server technology can’t handle. They need to be able to have multiple people use the system. One thing I love about Acumatica is the unlimited-user access. If I hire five more people, I can afford to give them access to Acumatica because there is no per-user price. Legacy systems that charge per-user can limit nonprofit outreach, but if you save those per-user fees, you can apply them to your mission instead.

In your experience, what management strategies have proven most effective for nonprofits? How can cloud ERP solutions, like Acumatica, support these strategies?

Many nonprofits have been operating the same way for a lot of years, and they’re used to only doing things that specific way. So, the main strategy is to open their eyes to what is possible with technology. You don’t have to manually create reports, send them out to stakeholders, and then answer questions about them. Now, you can just give your stakeholders access to your nonprofit management software. With Acumatica, they can go in and get their own reports and answer their own questions with dashboards set up specifically for them. And it’s all done securely. People can see what they need to see without seeing anything they shouldn’t. So, a top organizational strategy for nonprofits is just waking up to the advantages of what a modern nonprofit management system will do for them.

What features should an organization look for in nonprofit management ERP software?

There are so many! Integrations are absolutely key. Membership management, grant management, case study monitoring, storefronts—all of those things are done in different applications, and a nonprofit’s ERP software needs to be able to connect seamlessly with them. Acumatica will integrate with almost anything.

A really flexible sub-account structure is also important. If you start a new program or project, you should be able to go into your system, add that program or project to your chart of accounts, and report on it immediately. Flexible reporting is so critical.

Unlimited-user access also saves time, effort, and lost revenue. We have a client who works with developmentally disabled individuals, and they have a group of guys who provide lawn mowing services. They get paid for that. They used to hand out paper receipts after the work was finished and just hope that the payment showed up and was recorded somewhere. Now, from the field, they can just enter the data from their cell phones. The system will send out the invoice. It records the revenue, and if the payment doesn’t come, they can send out a dunning notice. It just saves so much effort and money.

What do you believe the future looks like for nonprofits? How do you think business technology, like Acumatica, can support that future?

The future for nonprofits is uncertain right now because federal monies are drying up. To keep moving forward, you really have to be aware of what is happening and what kind of funding you need. The NonProfit+ accounting suite is integrated with Acumatica for managing grants, programs, and funds. It expands the base Acumatica functionality for accounting and reporting. With it, you can manage restricted and unrestricted funds. You can also manage grants, capture all expenses by grants, allocate indirect expense, and generate timely drawdowns. You can quickly decide when to go to look for new grants, when to look for private funding, and so on. It can be run by department or by program. You can have all kinds of segmentation and be able to report data at any level you need to. It can literally save weeks of time each month. Combined with Acumatica, it puts all your information in one place and gives you the ability to keep steering your ship in the right direction.