Last month, we hosted two Ramp Nonprofit Roundtables where finance leaders came together to share what’s top of mind for their teams. The conversations centered on two questions:
- What’s your biggest challenge right now?
- What’s working well for your team?
Here’s a quick recap of the most useful takeaways and best practices from your peers in the nonprofit sector.
Across both sessions, a few recurring pain points emerged:
- Collecting receipts from cardholders
- Tracking spend against specific grants
- Pre-coding transactions to save time and reduce errors
Now, onto what’s working well…! 
- Smarter Receipt Collection
Several teams shared smart strategies to boost receipt compliance:
- Auto-locking cards to nudge forgetful employees
- Manager-level oversight to enforce accountability across departments
- Real-time uploads — cardholders snap and submit receipts right after a purchase, reducing month-end follow-ups
- Coded Ramp cards tied to specific programs help receipts route correctly from the start
- Grant vouchers + backup docs uploaded directly into Ramp keep everything audit-ready
- Tracking Spend by Grant
Nonprofits are using Spend Programs to:
- Tag expenses with memo fields, department tags, and custom fields
- Monitor spend in real time to avoid going over budget
- Pull reports quickly for audits and grantor updates
“We make sure every purchase is tied to an allowable funding source—it makes compliance and reporting so much easier.”
- Pre-Coding Transactions for Accuracy
Customers are configuring default accounting codes within spend programs to reduce manual work and improve the accuracy of accounting data.
Setting up default GL codes, departments, and programs means transactions are pre-coded and ready for review.
“You can add the default coding on the spending program, so when it moves to your accounting tab, it’s pre-coded.”
- Segmenting Spend by Program
One team with multiple initiatives—like housing, education, and community services—uses Ramp to segment spend by program. This helps them:
- Provide stakeholders with a clear view into each program’s financial health
- Avoid restricted fund overlap
- Tell a better story with their financial data
- Maximizing Value Through Rewards
Another customer shared that they closely monitor Ramp points to ensure they’re getting full value from their spend. Their team even uses points to cover the cost of their Ramp Plus subscription, putting every dollar back into their mission.
If your team is exploring better ways to track spend, bulk issue cards, or pre-code transactions, Ramp Spend Programs are probably your answer.
I’m hosting a Spend Programs Coffee Chat next week where you can see the feature in action and get your questions answered live 
[Register here]
Keep the Conversation Going
Do you have a tip or best practice that’s working well for your nonprofit? Share it in the comments or tag a nonprofit finance leader who’d find this useful 