In November 2018, as part of Microsoft’s ongoing support for the charitable sector, the Microsoft Technology for Social Impact Team introduced the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator, aimed at enhancing social impact efforts.

This article delves into the purpose of this initiative and its advantages for nonprofit organizations. The Nonprofit Accelerator addresses the issue of data compartmentalization, facilitating comprehensive data insights. Built on the Common Data Model (CDM), CDM is a secure database within the Microsoft Cloud, it comes equipped with standard entities, like Accounts and Contacts, forming the core system for charities. The simplification of the adoption process for charities and their partners is the sole aim, thus fast tracking the return on investment, which previously necessitated extensive customization by partners to tailor Dynamics 365 to the sector’s requirements.

Microsoft has made the  Nonprofit Accelerator freely accessible for download from AppSource. To acquire it, an active Microsoft 365 (Office 365) tenant and appropriate Dynamics 365 licenses are prerequisites. This framework, whether developed by the charity or its partner, offers functionalities which include:

1. Secure Data Storage: Providing a safe repository for organizing information about volunteers, supporters, and donors, ensuring a comprehensive view of interactions while ensuring compliance with data protection regulations, including GDPR.
2. Income Processing via Donations: Tracking the flow of donations from source to expenditure, ensuring transparency and traceability.
3. Volunteer Management: Facilitating the vetting and approval of volunteers, documenting their skills, and tracking volunteer hours to allocate resources effectively, such as for fundraising events.
4. Track Grant Applications and Funding within Opportunity Management: Monitoring the progress of grant applications, assigning tasks, and recording activities and communications associated with individual grants.
5. Event Management: Streamlining the coordination of fundraising events by managing costs, staffing, donations, volunteers, and communication in one platform, with automatic report generation for event evaluation.