The 10 Best ERPs Tailored for Nonprofits

Unique accounting and fiduciary requirements necessitate using a top-performing ERP for nonprofits. This article features a list of the best ERP for nonprofit organizations, depending on your nonprofit’s budget and size, for inclusion in your software evaluation. 

A nonprofit ERP may be integrated with fundraising and grant software and other third-party add-ons, increasing functionality and efficiency through automation.

What is an ERP for Nonprofits?

An ERP for nonprofits is an enterprise resource planning software system that manages back-office functionality throughout your nonprofit organization with a unified database. 

The Benefits of ERPs for Nonprofits

The benefits of using ERPs designed for nonprofit organizations are:

1. Not needing to highly customize a general business solution to meet the unique accounting, financial reporting, fund management, grant management, and program needs of non-profit organizations.
2. Access to dashboards with KPIs and performance metrics designed for non-profits. 
3. Ability to achieve add-on Integration with third-party fundraising and AP automation software. 
4. Access to a unified platform with a single database.
5. Spend management by category and entity with visibility and analysis for decision-making. 

The Best ERPs to Consider for Your Nonprofit Needs

When deciding on a non-profit ERP system, consider our best ERP list and our top-rated accounting software for nonprofits. This best ERP for nonprofit organizations list includes ERP software, some third-party non-profit functionality add-ons, and an essential third-party add-on for efficiency and cost savings through accounts payable automation. 

Tipalti 

Best for automating supplier invoice processing and global payments

Overview 

Cost-saving Tipalti AP automation software will make your payables and global payments system 80% more efficient. With added financial controls to reduce fraud and errors, it will enable your nonprofit to meet its fiduciary obligations related to payables.

Standout Features

Tipalti AP automation standout features include:

• Self-service supplier onboarding
• Supplier W-9 or W-8 collection and payment tracking to aid tax compliance
• Application of over 26,000 payment rules to reduce payment errors by 66%
• 3-way or 2-way matching
• AI-driven automated invoice coding
• Automated global regulatory compliance
• Approval routings
• Real-time global payment batch reconciliation
• Spend management analytics with AI-driven digital assistant queries

Tipalti’s cloud-based, paperless AP automation software digitally captures invoice data and performs automated invoice processing with error and duplicate invoice detection, 3-way matching, automatic invoice coding, approver routing, and global payments with real-time batch reconciliation. Tipalti automatically performs global regulatory compliance. 

The Tipalti financial automation software is hyper-efficient. It offers guided self-service supplier onboarding, including data collection on W-9 or W-8 forms before the first payment and information on preferred payment methods. Tipalti validates suppliers in real time and matches their TINs (taxpayer ID numbers) to an IRS database to prevent fraud and penalties associated with incorrect 1099 forms. 

Tipalti provides automatic payment status to suppliers and supplier tax compliance simplicity. Your staff will experience fewer interruptions and frustrations from suppliers constantly inquiring about upcoming payments and fewer lost or missing invoices. 

Non-profit Tipalti users include Goodwill and E4E Relief. Tipalti’s finance automation software has a 98% customer retention rate and 98% customer satisfaction rate. 

NetSuite

Best for mid-sized non-profits needing a cloud system with customized workflows

Overview 

NetSuite ERP has a Social Impact program for Nonprofit Organizations. Under this program, NetSuite provides a Suite Donation that provides a base donation to nonprofit organizations of all sizes and activation of NetSuite for nonprofits. NetSuite Social Impact also provides NetSuite employee assistance called Suite Pro Bono to use NetSuite more effectively and Suite Capacity to foster nonprofits to accelerate their mission through NetSuite Community, education, and resources. 

Standout Features

Standout features of NetSuite for nonprofit organizations include:

• End-to-end nonprofit ERP solution
• Fundraising
• Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) with a 360-degree view of donors, volunteers, supporters, and clients
• Non-profit finance and accounting
• Funds spend management
• Financial planning with planning, budgeting, and forecasting tools
• Online E-commerce for fundraising premiums, items, and publications
• Real-time nonprofit reporting and analytics
• Global business management

Sage Intacct

Best for cloud accounting software with real-time, multi-dimensional, nonprofit management

Overview 

Sage Intacct is real-time, cloud accounting software with a nonprofit solution to make it easier to view and manage nonprofit responsibilities in small to medium-sized companies. 

Standout Features

• Role-based dashboard by location with KPIs and results
• Non-profit Board Book with real-time graphs
• Fund accounting 
• Grant tracking and billing
• Dimensional general ledger
• Multi-entity with consolidation
• Non-profit revenue recognition
• Spend vs. budget capabilities

QuickBooks

Best for small nonprofit organizations seeking affordable accounting software

Overview 

QuickBooks offers accounting software for nonprofits to handle donations and reporting. Although any QuickBooks Online SaaS plan or QuickBooks Desktop software lets your nonprofit organization categorize revenue expenditures by fund or program and create custom nonprofit reports, you likely need the more extensive feature set that QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Online Advanced, or high-volume, 40-user QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise provides. 

QuickBooks offers discounts on its nonprofit software through the TechSoup marketplace.

Standout Features

Standout features of higher-level QuickBooks solutions include:

• Track nonprofit budgets by fund or program
• Donor and grant management
• Nonprofit financial reporting with customization
• Mobile app for accepting donations
• Donation apps integration
• Bank sync for cash flow and expense tracking instant updates
• Bank account reconciliation

Microsoft Dynamics Business Central 

Best for nonprofit users of other Microsoft software products

Overview 

Microsoft Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance offer real-time nonprofit software solutions to organizations of all sizes. 

Standout Features

Standout features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are:

• Nonprofit accounting, management, and financial reporting 
• Use of AI (artificial intelligence) with Microsoft Copilot to use conversational bots to respond to constituents quickly
• CRM software for customer relationship management with a 360-degree view of donor and volunteer engagements with Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
• Uses Microsoft Power Platform as a low-code platform to analyze data, build apps, websites, and virtual agents, and automate processes

Acumatica

Best for third-party integration of cloud-based nonprofit software 

Overview 

Acumatica is a cloud-based ERP solution that is priced based on usage for an unlimited number of users. Acumatica doesn’t include its own non-profit solution, but considers a partnered, third-party add-on as its Acumatica Nonprofit Accounting Suite. Acumatica nonprofit users can add a robust nonprofit Marketplace integration of the modular solution from NonProfitPlus (nonprofit+) built on the Acumatica xRP platform and offered by its partner, Accounting System Integrators, LLC. 

Standout Features

For Acumatica ERP, NonProfitPlus offers these features:

• Fund management that includes the following fund types
  • Unrestricted
  • Restricted
  • Endowment
  • Board
• Grant management with an automated draw-down process
• Program management for programs or departments with role-based access and account restriction
• Encumbrance accounting working with the procurement modules
• Budget management with a selected type of budget tracking for each fund, grant, and program and uploaded payroll journal entries
• Endowment accounting to manage funders and investment association

SAP S/4 HANA

Best for enterprise companies with the budget for a top-tier ERP

Overview 

SAP S/4 HANA is a nonprofit ERP with all of the robust features that large not-for-profit organizations need. It can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud as SaaS software. 

Standout Features

Standout SAP S/4 HANA features include:

• Fund accounting, budgeting, and grants management
• Earmarked funds processes and workflow
• AI and advanced analytics
• Modularity and prebuilt integrations
• Security features
• Mobile app
• Project management, service management, inventory management, asset management, warehouse, and transportation management
• Procurement and sustainability management
• Treasury, contract, and lease management

Xero

Best for small nonprofit accounting software with cash flow tracking and projection 

Overview 

Using its business pricing plan, Xero offers cash flow-tracking accounting software at a discounted price for registered not-for-profit organizations and charities.

Standout Features

Standout non-profit features of Xero include:

• Dashboard with cash summary report, short–term cash flow projection, and analytics
• Nonprofit accounting 
• Report sharing with stakeholders
• Optional native Gusto Payroll integration
• Mobile app
• Third-party nonprofit software integration 

Sage 50

Best for small nonprofit accounting software with a higher number of users

Overview 

Sage 50 accounting software for small businesses (with up to 40 users in its Quantum Accounting plan) has an industry-specific solution for nonprofits, as does its cloud sister product, Sage Intacct. Sage 50 is desktop software with cloud connectivity. 

Standout Features

Sage 50’s standout features include:

• Non-profit financial reporting and accounting
• Job management
• Automated bank reconciliation
• Inventory management
• Purchase order and approval
• Invoice and bill tracking 
• Expense management

SAP Business One

Best for small or midsize nonprofits willing to use a nonprofit add-on integration

Overview 

The affordable SAP Business One ERP can be deployed as an on-premise or cloud-hosted solution. Although the industry applications for SAP Business One don’t include nonprofit organizations, you can add a third-party integration app to acquire needed non-profit features for this ERP system. 

Standout Features

SAP Business One standout features include:

• Real-time dashboards with KPI metrics
• Accounting and financial reporting
• Robust inventory 
• Integrated business intelligence
• Integration with SAP HANA

Tips for Choosing the Right ERP for Your Nonprofit

The right ERP for nonprofits like yours depends on considerations that narrow down the list to essential and desired features for non-profit organizations of your size and budget. 

Tips for choosing the right ERP for your nonprofit are:

1. Assemble a team of stakeholders and key future users to brainstorm and collaborate. 
2. Ask other nonprofits in your professional network which nonprofit ERPs they use. 
3. Consider this list of best ERPs for nonprofits and add other systems to meet your needs. 
4. Generate a list of essential and desired features that will meet your non-profit’s reporting and fiduciary obligations.
5. View the software provider’s website and read software reviews and customer testimonials for each potential software system that matches your non-profit organization’s needs.
6. Request software demos and pricing quotes. 
7. Assign points to score the best system within your budget. 
8. Gather feedback from potential users who are on the new system selection task force. 

After choosing the right ERP for your nonprofit, integrate Tipalti AP automation software with the selected nonprofit ERP for nonprofit accounts payable automation. 

With scalable Tipalti AP automation product integrations, you’ll reduce staff frustrations, reduce payment errors, require less hiring, take early payment discounts on time, and improve supplier relationships. Learn more about how to fill gaps with Tipalti automation software to complete the last mile of your non-profit ERP.