Spotlight Shines on Nonprofits at SuiteWorld 2016

With growing numbers of nonprofit organizations discovering how much NetSuite can help them, it's no wonder the upcoming SuiteWorld conference in San Jose will offer more content designed with the nonprofit sector in mind than any previous SuiteWorld.

And that's with good reason. A look at NetSuite's customer roster, which features more than 600 nonprofits, only begins to tell the story of how NetSuite and the nonprofit sector have grown together.

NetSuite is one of a growing number of technology companies that has committed to supporting the nonprofit sector’s work to change the world by leveraging the company’s core resources – its technology and its passionate employees. Along those lines, NetSuite has been able to demonstrate the potential impact of its cloud-based technology by donating its software, as well as its NetSuite.org pro-bono services, to hundreds of qualified nonprofits.

The resulting symbiotic relationship enables NetSuite's technology to have a profound impact on the operations of nonprofit organizations, while nonprofits in turn are able to devote more time and resources to delivering their own profound impact on the world.

This growing tie between NetSuite and the nonprofit sector has helped establish SuiteWorld as a must-attend event for nonprofits, and it's also a big reason that this year's SuiteWorld features its first-ever nonprofit industry keynote: "Social Impact, Accelerated: How Your Nonprofit's Back Office Can Change the World."

During the keynote, representatives from nonprofits such as Helen Keller International and Found Animals Foundation will join David Geilhufe, senior director of NetSuite.org, in describing how NetSuite's ability to transform back-office processes allows them to greatly increase their reach without having to increase their resources.

Attendees from the nonprofit world will want to register ahead, though: more people have pre-registered for the nonprofit keynote than there were nonprofit attendees at last year's SuiteWorld.

In addition to the industry keynote, there will be numerous sessions of particular interest—and value—to nonprofit attendees. Among them:

• Wednesday's executive solutions sessions will offer practical advice and cover topics pertinent to a number of industries, including nonprofits;
• NetSuite's CFO's Ron Gill will lead a panel discussion about how high-impact CFOs are using the cloud to drive their agenda, with Ed Anderson, CFO of nonprofit Compassion International, as one of the panelists;
• Jason Maynard, EVP for Strategy and Corporate Development at NetSuite, will lead a hot-ticket session on business model innovation that should resonate with a nonprofit sector that increasingly has to search for innovative ways to generate donations and revenue;
• A handful of sessions on expanding into global markets and managing global operations figure to be of value to nonprofits with international aspirations; and
• With nonprofits increasingly looking to leverage their websites to collect donations directly online, several sessions focusing on NetSuite's ecommerce capabilities should be of interest.

As if there aren't enough reasons for nonprofits to be at SuiteWorld, they'll also have opportunities to build momentum for their causes.

For instance, this year's SuiteWorld will feature our third Hackathon 4Good in which the NetSuite's developer and customer communities will compete to build solutions for one of two nonprofit NetSuite customers: Ashoka and Juma Ventures. In addition to helping a nonprofit cause, the winners will receive prizes and bragging rights, with NetSuite founder and CTO Even Goldberg among the prestigious panel of judges.

Attendees also will be able to get into the act of giving by participating in a volunteer event for Stop Hunger Now. SuiteWorld attendees will work short shifts packing meals for Stop Hunger Now’s global community of NGO partners, with a goal of packing 50,000 meals during the conference.

If it sounds like a nonprofit smorgasbord of sorts, that's the intended effect. The idea is to provide nonprofits with a host of valuable learning and networking opportunities to enable them to have greater impact. Learn more about SuiteWorld 2016: www.netsuitesuiteworld.com.