They started out to help one organization.

Now they'll assist five.

Value Stream CRM, a software consulting firm, originally offered a $15,000 grant to assist a local nonprofit organization in honor of opening in St. Joseph. At an informational meeting on the program, owner John Licata said he discovered five groups that would benefit from the offering.

"They are all interesting projects and I didn't want to let any of them go," Mr. Licata said.

The organizations - Open Door Food, UCP of Northwest Missouri, YWCA, Northwest Missouri Children's Advocacy Center and Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences - agreed to work together to share the resources.

Each organization qualified for an $11,000 grant from Salesforce.com for software used to track donors and perform other functions for nonprofits. Mr. Licata and his wife, Amy, are donating $5,000 in services to train staff members in implementing the programs.

"It's been a very enjoyable experience," Mr. Licata said.

Susan Mires can be reached at susanm@npgco.com.