The Donkey Sanctuary chooses Advanced’s systems to improve performance and deliver real time reporting

International animal welfare charity, the Donkey Sanctuary, which provides sanctuary for 14,500 donkeys in 29 countries, is implementing a suite of integrated financial management (OpenAccounts), business intelligence, budgeting & forecasting, supply chain management, document management and payroll systems from Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced).

These systems, which will go live in a phased approach from April 2012, will further automate the charity’s financial processes and enable instant access to real time financial and non financial information for improved decision making. The supply chain solution will also improve the stock management of the charity’s online store, Donkey World.

In recent years the charity has grown in size and complexity and so has outgrown its current financial management system, requiring a more sophisticated suite of software solutions to meet its evolving needs. After a competitive tendering process, Advanced’s suite of software systems, centered on Advanced’s OpenAccounts financial management and procurement system, was chosen.

Advanced is providing the charity with a fully-integrated software proposition that will automate a range of manually–intensive financial processes and provide visibility of financial and operational performance across the organisation. The development of impact reporting, which is becoming a key requirement for charities, will also be more easily delivered using Advanced’s reporting functionality. Advanced’s systems will be integrated with the Donkey Sanctuary’s fundraising system, The Raiser’s Edge (from Blackbaud), as part of the overall software project.

Chris Young, Finance Director from The Donkey Sanctuary says, “As a growing international charity, we need to have a holistic view of our financial and operational performance to ensure that we operate as effectively and efficiently as possible whilst remaining compliant with Charity Commission and HMRC regulations.”

Young continues, “Advanced’s software will provide us with real time web-based access to a number of resource planning applications and group reporting functionality, improving financial control whilst aiding decision making.”

By moving to more automated financial processes using Advanced’s financial management system with integrated document management (powered by Version One), The Donkey Sanctuary will also free-up document storage space and time-consuming document handling.

Advanced provides solutions for a number of animal welfare organisations including RSPB, Cats Protection and The Blue Cross.