Challenge

The Media Arts Council (MAC) is a non-profit that actively supports local artists and integrates a wide range of arts into the life of the Media, PA community. Started as a small artist’s collective, MAC has grown over the years to cover many diverse programs run by a small staff and a multitude of committee volunteers.

MAC asked me to help when they realized that their ad hoc approach to their team operations was becoming more of a hindrance than a help. Email threads became too long to clearly follow. People were being left out of conversations. Files were being misplaced. Knowledge was being lost. They were asking email to do more than it was meant for.

Solution

Ultimately, what MAC needed was a team collaboration solution that would unify their conversations, ensure new members could catch up on past decisions, and create a shared space for sharing files and tasks.

I had several special considerations while identifying MAC’s solution. The users in question had a broad range of technical ability. They are also almost entirely volunteers, so their time and/or willingness to learn a new system was limited. Additionally, as a community-supported non-profit, budgets were tight.

Basecamp was our solution of choice for several reasons:

• It focuses on creating broad contextual awareness for a project team
• It has a very straightforward feature set and even allows interacting through email
• Flat-fee pricing with special non-profit rates

Beyond simply identifying the platform, I also helped MAC to launch it to the organization. I established project structures within Basecamp as well as a repeatable onboarding program for new members to help orient them to the team’s ways of working.

Outcome

MAC has been running on Basecamp for over three years now. Having a go-to location for all project conversations and assets has helped them streamline their operations and take on more and bigger initiatives. Grant writing (an essential part of their fundraising) has been simplified by having an easily accessible archive of past achievements. Leveraging volunteer time is easier due to better visibility and coordination across projects.

Even with Basecamp’s special pricing, the cost of the platform is significant for MAC. That said, the value derived makes it a strong investment in the organization’s ability to execute on their mission of bringing the arts to Media and Delaware County.