LIVE WEBINAR | TUESDAY, MARCH 10th, 2026 | 1PM EST | 10AM PST

Replacing Great Plains: What Nonprofits Need to Know First

Common Myths, Fears, and What Finance Leaders Want to Know Before Leaving Great Plains

An estimated 17,000 organizations are expected to still be on Great Plains when the 2029 end-of-life date arrives — and for many nonprofits, the next step isn’t choosing a replacement right away. It’s getting clear on what to ask, what to watch for, and what “good” looks like in a modern ERP.

This session is Part 2 of our Great Plains migration series (you don’t need to have attended Part 1 but can watch it here ) and is designed for nonprofits that are still evaluating options, weighing tradeoffs, or feeling unsure about what a move really involves— including teams on other legacy ERPs considering a move to the cloud.

In this 60-minute live session, we’ll cover:

  • The most common myths and assumptions that keep nonprofits stuck on Great Plains
  • The questions finance and IT leaders should be asking about risk, cost, and complexity
  • What’s actually changing with security, permissions, and AI in modern cloud ERP
  • Whether migration has to be all-or-nothing — and what phased or modular approaches can look like
  • A short, clearly marked demo showing how modern ERP handles control, reporting, and data access

Save Your Spot for the Webinar

From Great Plains to Greater Possibilities.

Great Plains has supported nonprofits and public sector organizations for decades — and for many teams, it’s still the system behind critical financial operations today.

But Microsoft has announced that Great Plains will reach end-of-life in 2029, with security patches ending in early 2031. And with an estimated 17,000 organizations expected to still be on Great Plains as that deadline approaches, the reality is simple: a lot of nonprofits will need to plan for a move.

Nonprofits also face pressures that make ERP decisions feel higher-stakes — lean teams, public funding oversight, audit requirements, complex reporting needs, and limited room for disruption. Choosing when and how to modernize can feel just as challenging as choosing what to modernize to.

That’s why now is the time to get informed. Not to rush a decision, but to ask smarter questions early, understand the tradeoffs, and put your organization in a position to migrate with confidence when the time is right (instead of reacting under pressure later).

What You'll Learn

This session is designed to help nonprofit finance and IT leaders build clarity — even if you’re still a long way from selecting a new ERP.

In an interactive, discussion-led format, nonprofit ERP experts (including former nonprofit finance leaders and CIOs) will unpack the myths, fears, and real questions that tend to shape migration planning — and share how to evaluate what’s true, what’s outdated, and what matters most for your organization.

You’ll learn:

  • What end-of-life and end-of-support really mean in practical terms for nonprofit teams
  • The most common myths that hold organizations back — and what’s actually worth worrying about
  • The questions to ask about security, permissions, reporting, and AI (and who’s really in control)
  • Whether migration needs to be all-or-nothing — and what phased approaches can look like
  • How to evaluate nonprofit-fit ERP options while staying in the Microsoft ecosystem

About Our Speakers

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    Gary Servius

    Gary (2) (3)

    Account Executive at Sparkrock

    Gary brings over 15 years of experience working with nonprofit and human services organizations, with deep expertise in ERP systems and digital transformation. His background includes supporting nonprofits through complex system transitions and aligning tools with strategic goals.​

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    Kinley Graham

    Kinley Graham (1)

    Director of Pre-Sales at Sparkrock

    Kinley is a former nonprofit Director of Finance and served as CIO for a disability care organization in Ontario.  Today, Kinley is passionate about helping finance leaders find the right cloud ERP software—a challenge he has experienced firsthand.  

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    Wendy Brown

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    Solution Consultant at Sparkrock

    Wendy has over 20 years of experience helping K–12 and mission-driven organizations modernize operations. She guides school boards & nonprofits through digital transformations, moving from paper-based workflows to integrated, cloud-based ERP solutions. 

Sparkrock could give us finance, payroll and HR functionality with one system and make them talk to each other. It's just invaluable to validate why we do what we do with our money and time. Our reports have just become more efficient. We are right down to the dollar with our spending. We are more fiscally responsible than ever because we can report accurately to the government.
Janice Gerbrandt
Director of Corporate Services
Rehoboth Christian Ministries

[Sparkrock’s ERP] creates confidence across the organization. We are confident that we have all the information and that it’s accurate.

Haykaz Ghazanchyan
Director of Finance
ACCES Employment
Sparkrock empowers employees and gives them more confidence in their role. It helps us as an organization because everyone is taking responsibility for their role, but they are also able to grow.
Masarra Smoka
Finance Manager
Providence Child Development Society

The system was so user-friendly and easy to follow that even doing the migration didn't require much training. We did our training in January 2024, just after the holidays, and it only took one hour before the teams were up and running. We've since received emails from secretaries and office staff about how intuitive everything is now.

Nicky Westlake
Controller of Finance
District School Board of Niagara

The investment over time is really important to us because ERPs are not short-term endeavours. They are long-term relationships. We’ll be using Sparkrock well beyond my time in this organization.

Jon Rever
Assistant Superintendent of Schools
School District 23

Built for Clarity. Backed by Microsoft.

Learn More About Sparkrock

See how mission-driven organizations are gaining control of their budgets, automating manual tasks, and reporting with confidence through Sparkrock — the cloud ERP built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

With finance, payroll, and HR connected in one system, your team can focus less on reconciliation and more on results.

Watch the Finance Demo
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Why Organizations Trust Microsoft

With Sparkrock, you get the reliability and scale of Microsoft’s cloud platform combined with ERP features built specifically for nonprofits. Our team includes former nonprofit and education leaders, so we understand the day-to-day realities and design the product to support them.

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    Cloud-Ready

    Stay current with a system that updates regularly and grows with you.
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    Works with Tools You Already Use

    Connect easily to Outlook, Excel, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps. 
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    AI That Saves Time

    Microsoft Copilot helps automate tasks, summarize data, and support better decisions. 
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    Security You Can Count On

    Your data is protected by Microsoft’s trusted global cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft powers the infrastructure. Sparkrock powers your mission.

Read Our Success Stories

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    Action Group

    Learn how Action Group eliminated 600 handwritten timesheets every two weeks. Payroll is now digital, and the team has reallocated the equivalent of 1.5 full-time roles to higher-impact work.
    Read their story
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    The Sacramento Area Council of Governments

    Learn how SACOG strengthened internal controls, reduced errors, and improved audit-readiness with Sparkrock—bringing approvals, purchasing, and financial oversight into one connected system.
    Read their story
  • district-of-nipissing-social-services-administration-board

    District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board

    Learn how DNSSAB eliminated manual workarounds, saved $50K annually, and delivers real-time reports that once took weeks—in just two days.
    Read their story
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