The Denver Ballet Guild supports and celebrates the beauty and power of dance by encouraging interest in ballet and other forms of dance. The organization is managed exclusively by volunteers, who promote dance at all levels and conduct annual fundraising activities to support the dance community. Cividesk works closely with the Denver Ballet Guild as a service provider of CiviCRM and spoke with board member Suzanne Goderstad about their experiences using the database.
Before transitioning to CiviCRM, the Denver Ballet Guild used Access to manage their contacts and print their hardcopy directory, and MailChimp was used for mass emailing to members and contacts. The implementation of CiviCRM has allowed the Guild to complete these tasks in a more efficient manner with the use of CiviMail and the implementation of the database has streamlined their process of communication with members and outreach to the community.
The Guild has found CiviCRM to be great for managing their membership of approximately 550 contacts. The staff at Cividesk created the online membership page for new members and renewals, set up a new workflow for the membership process and established a new membership category for the daughters of the current members. These members enroll their daughters in dance events designed for teens, so the sign-up page needed to be available only to existing members. Suzanne now easily manages online membership sign-up and renewals with the automated email reminder feature in CiviCRM. She has also segmented members in groups and smart groups, allowing for more targeted communications. An example of this is during registration for dance events, participants are automatically placed into groups based on specific criteria. The reporting features in CiviCRM and the ability to export data have also been useful for membership management.
Another benefit of using CiviCRM has been an increase in attendance at events thanks to the CiviEvent module. “Our participants for the annual luncheon doubled this year as compared to last year’s event. Providing online registration has also helped tremendously with the last minute registrations for events and improved event organization.” The Guild plans on incorporating more of CiviCRM this year and is looking forward to using the QuickBooks integration, as well as the new integration recently developed by Cividesk with Colorado Gives.
Many non-profits share the same concerns in regard to implementing new technology; there is a need to find a system that will consolidate data and increase efficiency in order for staff members to effectively fulfill the mission of the organization. However, budget constraints are typically an issue and can prove to be a serious deterrent to making this transition. The Denver Ballet Guild found a cost-effective solution with CiviCRM that allows them to effectively manage their membership.
Click here to read more about the Denver Ballet Guild’s experiences using CiviCRM.
