The Prostate Cancer Charity
Formed in 1996, the Prostate Cancer Charity is the
largest and most comprehensive of the charities focused
specifically on prostate cancer. The Charity funds medical research
and provides practical support through its extensive information
services.
The challenge
The Prostate Cancer Charity was experiencing rapid growth and
was on track to achieve its ambitious growth plan of a turnover of
£8m by 2010. Liz Ambekar, the Director of Finance, knew that
they would need to heavily invest in IT and implement a new finance
system, as well as recruit extra staff to create the infrastructure
required to support the organisation's ambitious growth plans. The
Sage system that was already in place quite simply did not provide
the level of functionality that would be needed.
The selection process
Liz formed a 'selection committee' which included members of
both the Finance and IT departments, a budget manager and the
Charity's Treasurer. In the first instance, the representatives
from IT produced a thorough technical specification and tender
documentation was produced. The tender process took approximately 6
months.
A go-live date was set for April 2007, to ensure the new system
would be up and running for the new financial year.
The Group initially considered a number of solutions, but
eventually shortlisted three systems: Sun, Access Dimensions and
the latest version of Sage. Functionality was absolutely key and
after careful consideration the Group unanimously chose the Access
Dimensions solution. Liz commented, "There were two main factors
that convinced us to implement Access Dimensions. Firstly,
cost. The Group felt we were getting more functionality for our
money with the Access solution.
Secondly, everyone loved the look and feel of Dimensions. It was
much more user-friendly than Sun or Sage".
The solution
"I am extremely impressed with the Dimensions solution
and have spoken to many Charity organisations that are considering
implementing Access Dimensions." Liz
Ambekar
Director of Finance
The Prostate Cancer Charity was extremely impressed with the
functionality of the Office Integration module
and this was particularly important in the decision to choose
Access Dimensions. Integration with Raisers Edge was essential.
Access could provide evidence of a track record in seamlessly
integrating the finance solution with Raisers Edge in a number of
other charities.
Reporting was a major issue, Dimensions provided the
organisation with better quality, more in-depth, accurate
management and budget facilities. This resulted in far better
analysis, enabling the Charity to drill down further than its
previous system allowed. Dimensions enabled the Charity to cut the
data into seven different categories, and analyse and look at the
data in many different ways.
At month end the system now allows the Prostate Cancer Charity
to run four essential reports (based on accurate, real-time data)
that can be drilled down and analysed so that each member of staff
can obtain the information needed to make more informed business
decisions.
The initial feedback from users is that they found the system
easy to use, which meant that staff did not have to embark on
extensive training courses. Liz commented, "I am extremely
impressed with the Dimensions solution and have spoken to many
Charity organisations that are considering implementing Access Dimensions
and partnering with Access. I am more than happy to share my
experience and reassure them that their investment will be
worthwhile".
The future
Liz and her team are looking to further expand their Dimensions
solution. Budget management is
critical to the Charity. Liz explained, "I want to empower the
Managers in the organisation to enable them to manage their own
budget easily. In order to do this I need to be able to give each
Manager access to the information they need, quickly and
efficiently. Access executive desktop will help us achieve this, as
it will provide the required information on each Managers' desktop
to allow them to drill down to whatever level of detail that they
require."
Liz also wants to implement several of the modules available
within the Access Dimensions web-enabled suite,
FocalPoint. This functionality will enable other remote users to
access information online, which will save on costly postal
services. Liz explains "FocalPoint will help us communicate
information electronically to our office in Scotland. Instead of
filling out forms and posting them, our users will be able to
complete expenses forms and purchase orders via the web, as well as
to be able to approve invoices on-line. "My goal is to change all
that we are presently doing manually and generate everything
electronically, it's a big change and I will need to get buy-in
from my other staff members, but I think it is essential and will
enable us to further improve our processes"
As a charity or not-for-profit organisation, you need to be sure that you're reporting to the very latest guidelines. This free guide sets out the most up-to-date reporting framework from the Charity Commission so you know exactly what's required by law and can apply this to your organisation.
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