Easter Seals Goodwill ND (ESGWND) is a nonprofit organization that serves people across the state of North Dakota.
Between its six offices and six Goodwill stores, ESGWND employs around 500 people. It’s one of five regional organizations in the United States that holds dual affiliations with Easter Seals and Goodwill. As a result, the organization provides in-home services to people with special needs while also running a multi-branch retail business.
The organization’s relationship with Enavate began serendipitously. Their CFO and de facto technology officer, Cathy Metz, attended the Dynamics Community Summit 2023 in Charlotte and happened to sit down with some Enavate team members for lunch. They hit it off, and the relationship grew from there.
Metz’s point person for the organization’s previous Dynamics partner had recently left, and the relationship had deteriorated during a major project. Even though she had been working with Microsoft Dynamics GP since 1992 and with the organization since 2007, “I just didn’t feel like they thought I knew what I was talking about,” Metz said.
In other words, it was the right time to make the switch — and the benefits of working with Enavate became immediately apparent.
“They’re extremely helpful,” Metz said. “They’ve always been very open, they get back to me quickly on support tickets, and they’ve just been very supportive.”

CLIENT:
Easter Seals Goodwill ND
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:
Microsoft Dynamics GP
INDUSTRY:
Nonprofit
ORGANIZATION SIZE:
Under 500
COUNTRY:
United States

Shouldering the Load
The first project Enavate worked on for Easter Seals Goodwill ND was implementing its annual GP update.
“There was a point in time when I used to do it myself, andeventually I was like, ‘That’s just too much of my time,’”
It wasn’t just Enavate’s Dynamics expertise that freed up Metz’s time and allowed her to focus on her CFO duties — it was their ability to communicate and work with anyone, including ESGWND’s other technology partner.
“I didn’t have to be the middleman, I could just say, ‘Hey, you guyswork together. I give both of you approval to do your thing.’ Andso it all just kind of happened in the background.”
“They kept me up to date, but it just saved me a ton of time. I really wasn’t involved. And that’s what I really liked about it — just being able to hand a big project over and have them take it from there.”
Better Processes, Built on Relationships
Metz has found that she can lean on the Enavate team for whatever she needs, whenever she needs it.
“[Our Enavate Account Manager] has been nothing but helpful,” Metz said. “If I really, really need something, I can call him, knowing that he’ll be able to find the right person to help get me through it.”
But Enavate won’t just tell her what they think she wants to hear.
“There’s a willingness to listen to understand what I’m asking for, and then they’re upfront and honest,” Metz said. “Either they can do it or they can’t do it and say ‘this is how we can make it work in a different way’, but still get the results I’m asking for.”
And when something unexpected happens, Enavate acts quickly to fix the problem. At one point, the system processed payroll three times, creating a mess of redundancies. Metz called Enavate’s support leader, who walked her through the SQL code to sort out what was happening and find the cleanest way to repair it, avoiding the hassle of restoring a backup and reentering a lot of information.
“If I would’ve done it on my own, I bet it would have taken me two days,” Metz said. “With [Enavate], it took a couple of hours.”
With Enavate’s trustworthy team helping make things more efficient, Metz has been able to focus on big-picture financial projects, such as improving metrics and reporting.
Priced for Flexibility
Another major plus of working with Enavate, according to Metz, is the tiered pricing plan, which allows the nonprofit to pay a flat amount for unlimited calls
Enavate’s hosting service will also help ease ESGWND’s financial burdens.
“Our monthly amounts are going to come down, but the services they offer are actually better,” Metz said. “They’re not just throwing the data out there and saying, ‘Okay, it’s out there.’ They’re monitoring it, there’s better security, and they can also offer it at a lower rate than what we were paying just to host it on Azure.”


An Easy Partnership for the Greater Good
Metz said she would recommend partnering with Enavate to other nonprofits looking to improve their ERP services.
“They listen to what I’m asking, understand why I’m asking it and offer the best way to do it,” Metz said. “They’ve been more than upfront and honest and accommodating to whatever I need.”
Now, with Enavate taking care of things on the back end, Easter Seals Goodwill ND can better serve their high-need clientele across the state.
