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After their existing bank declined to help, Acterra went looking for a banking partner better suited to the complexity of nonprofit operations, and ended up rethinking their banking entirely.
In 2024, Acterra acquired fellow Bay Area environmental nonprofit Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) and inherited pending ERTC checks. Even with legal acquisition paperwork, their existing bank refused to accept these checks and advised them to return the funds to the IRS for reissuance (a process that could take months or years with no guarantee of resolution). Reissuance wasn't a realistic option, and after being turned away by other local banking options, Acterra broadened its search for a different kind of banking partner.
The answer was in the documentation. Crescent just took the time to read it.
Acterra came to Crescent with a specific question: could the platform support depositing ERTC checks issued to an acquired nonprofit? The Crescent team, along with the compliance team at Grasshopper Bank, reviewed the documentation, evaluated the situation, and confirmed a path forward. Once the account was opened, the checks were successfully deposited, and what started as a single ask turned into a banking relationship that Acterra hadn't anticipated needing.
Depositing the checks was just the beginning.
During onboarding, Acterra also evaluated Crescent's broader financial platform. The organization identified opportunities they weren’t expecting.
Acterra moved their $200K from a low-yield money market into Crescent's fully liquid operating account. The same $200K that grew just $5K over five years now earns roughly $4,400* in a single year, with a projected increase to 3%+ as remaining funds consolidate.
Crescent eliminated the friction that used to define routine banking tasks. What once required driving to a branch, waiting for a manager, and navigating in-person paperwork is now handled digitally — a quick email to the Crescent team resolves what used to take days, often within hours
"The ease of use has been great, and really, the benefit of having a high-interest account for any needs that you have is important."
— Zack, Director of Operations, Acterra
For nonprofits hesitant about moving from a traditional bank to a modern banking platform, Zack Wurtz offers this: "Don't be scared of it. In order for nonprofits to scale and continue to help our communities, we must continue to evolve. I would encourage folks to learn about it and be open to trying things out differently. There's no downside of testing it out and seeing how it feels."
For Acterra, the most valuable outcome isn't operational, it's financial flexibility. Interest income earned through Crescent goes directly toward unrestricted funding that Acterra can deploy wherever the mission needs them most.
"The most valuable resource is unrestricted funding... any area in which we can generate unrestricted funding, such as interest income, is huge for us because we can spend that where it's needed most at any time."
— Zack, Director of Operations, Acterra