Case Study: Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan achieves collaborative, mission-aligned budgeting with Centage

How LLS Brought 100 Program Managers Into a Collaborative Budget With Centage

Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, a nonprofit serving thousands across Wisconsin and Michigan, needed a better way to manage a complex six-month budgeting process involving more than 100 program managers. With finance consolidating inputs from many contributors, the organization wanted a more collaborative approach than spreadsheets and a way to keep budgets accurate and aligned with leadership goals. Centage’s budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and scenario planning tools helped address that challenge.

Centage implemented a hybrid budgeting process where leadership set goals, finance provided data and oversight, and program managers entered budgets directly into the system. The result was a smoother, more accurate workflow with real-time variance reporting, secure handling of personnel data, and easier collaboration across teams. With Centage, LSS brought more than 100 managers into one budgeting process and improved alignment for board-ready planning.

Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan

Martin Nguyen

Senior Financial Analyst