Denali Fund review

Denali Fund from Cougar Mountain Software is aimed at nonprofits whose funding comes from federal grants, private grants and corporate sponsorships, and it is one of the few tools here that names encumbrances as a core feature. Tracking committed spending before invoices arrive helps grant-funded organizations avoid overspending an award. Funds are tracked throughout the ledger, reports can be customized to slice data in different ways, and the vendor stresses GAAP and FASB compliance and an audit trail as reasons clients move from QuickBooks. Modules can be added or removed as needs change, and updates arrive roughly once a quarter. The 60-day trial is the longest on this list and includes 2 hours of training and 2 hours of support. It ranks last because pricing is quote-only and support is billed by the minute after a 10-minute minimum, which makes total cost harder to predict than with the subscription tools above.

Who it is for

Nonprofits with federal grants that need encumbrance tracking and want on-premise or cloud deployment.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• True fund tracking for federal grants, private grants and corporate sponsorships
• Encumbrance tracking so committed funds are not overspent
• Custom reports to slice data by any dimension
• GAAP and FASB compliant reporting with an audit trail
• Modules that can be added or removed as the organization changes

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Encumbrances help with federal grant compliance
• Strength: 60-day trial with 2 hours of training and 2 hours of support
• Strength: Available on-premise or in the cloud
• Weakness: No published prices; quotes come from an account executive
• Weakness: Support is billed by the minute after a 10-minute minimum
• Weakness: Total cost depends on the modules you choose

Key facts

• Free trial: 60 days
• Updates: About one per quarter
• Support billing: 10-minute minimum, then per minute
• User licensing: Simultaneous logins on-premise, named users in the cloud

Where it ranks

Denali Fund is No. 9 in our Best Accounting Software for Nonprofits verdict.