Getting Technology Right from the Start - Solve Operational Challenges While Planning for Future Expansion
The Children’s Museum of Atlanta and TechBridge

Technology planning is not typically top-of-mind for nonprofit organizers when they establish their charters. This stands to reason, as most nonprofit leaders are focused on their missions. Savvy nonprofits, however, are learning that by embracing basic technology planning, they are able to avoid many common IT-related pitfalls such as being under/over resourced, having inadequate or cumbersome software applications and running into capacity limitations that hinder the expansion and evolution of the organization.

The Children’s Museum of Atlanta is a nonprofit organization that creates environments and activities where young children experience the power of imagination and the delight of learning with each other and with adults. The Museum faced a daunting technology challenge. It needed accounting, admissions ticketing, and internal set-up in 12 months time. The biggest obstacle was finding a ticketing system. The museum did not have the money for advanced ticketing software and it wanted to avoid the substantial surcharges from third party ticket vendors. Another challenge for The Children’s Museum was its Website. The site had been designed by a startup Web design company that went out of business, and the museum needed to update its Web presence in order to reach its target community.

As a new organization, the Children’s Museum had a vision of leveraging technology for long-term continuity and growth, but the organization did not have the resources or technical know-how to develop a strategic technology plan. In addition, the museum’s operating schedule - 7 days a week and only closed 2 days a year - made the option for an internal IT support team cost-prohibitive. Hence, the museum readily adopted a strategy to contract outside help.

The museum evaluated several options for contract IT support and chose TechBridge based on its solid technology expertise, plus its ability to view the museum’s challenges from a nonprofit perspective and develop a solution that was appropriate for a nonprofit. As Kathryn Hill, the Chief Operating Officer at the museum notes, "TechBridge was able to identify and create a unique plan that serviced our individual needs."

As part of the Museum’s strategic technology plan, TechBridge conducted comprehensive research that identified a Web-based ticketing solution that the Museum had not been aware of, which met their needs at a substantially reduced cost. Hill describes the museum’s new ticketing system as a "dream of a system, because it will ultimately eliminate the need to duplicate data entry." She further commented that "online ticketing has the added benefit of bringing people to our website where they can learn about our organization."

TechBridge also designed an IT system that integrated the organization’s ticketing system, museum store, fundraising and financing/donations systems. In addition, working with the museum’s building plans, TechBridge designed a network infrastructure that would ensure the museum’s ability to grow and change. "TechBridge’s foresight and expertise in regards to the museum’s cable wiring will no doubt prove to be very cost effective for us in the future," Hill remarked. TechBridge also designed and currently hosts the museum’s website and is helping the museum staff work with its new Internet provider.

Strong Planning Yields Strong Results

Enabling online ticket purchase has saved considerable staff time. The volume of phone calls has been manageable, high visitor volume problems have been solved by advanced reservations. The museum has also saved money by avoiding spending $100,000 – $150,000 in ticketing software.

Having a technology plan in place has also helped the Children’s Museum exceed its attendance goals. The museum projected 50,000 visitors for the year. Due in part to advanced ticketing online, by the end of the first four-month fiscal period it has actually been able to accommodate over 77,000 visitors. The museum also projected 875 members, but currently has over 2,000 members and has welcomed over 10,000 school children to the museum site. Hill mentions, "We were lucky to begin technology implementation early. We have saved more than $250,000 in first year costs due largely in part to TechBridge and its relationship with Microsoft NPower where we received valuable donations in hardware and software."

What’s Next?

The Children’s Museum of Atlanta continues to work closely with TechBridge on enhancement and expansion. Currently the organization is working to fully integrate donor management with ticketing and admission information. Brenda Warren, the Director of Human Resources comments: "ticketing and membership are the key life sustaining elements of an organization. A system that integrates and simplifies these separate databases will enable the museum to be more efficient and more successful in their donor outreach."