Building Tech Foundations: Participant perspectives from an 8-week technology journey
Apparo recently partnered with The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro (ACGG) to offer an 8-week Technology Foundations Cohort Program, supporting eleven nonprofits in the Greensboro arts community. The Apparo team recently sat down with program participants to gain insights about their experiences.
Reconsidered Goods, with Executive Director Catena Bergevin
Reconsidered Goods is a Greensboro nonprofit on a mission to promote environmental awareness, community engagement, and creative expression through reuse, education, and the arts. Coming into the cohort program, Catena expressed feelings of nervous excitement around the idea of discussing tech issues. She knew the organization had issues that were hindering efficiencies and lacked the language to describe the issues. Catena shares “The Maturity Model was extremely helpful coming into this program because we didn’t know what questions to ask. This helped us have a better look at where we are and what we still need”.
Catena raved about the support received from her mentor and the Apparo team, “We really enjoyed our mentor, Matt, who kept things simple and easy to understand. It was great to have him as a middleman because he understood our issues and had the language to describe technology needs to Apparo and others we were connected with. He was knowledgeable, personable, and had recommendations we never would have considered. Stephanie, from Apparo, was a great help with implementing Microsoft and clearly explained everything we needed to do. She also recommended a security software that we have already been implementing”.
The cohort program also provided Reconsidered Goods with:
- An introduction to the importance of cybersecurity leading to improved cybersecurity practices and less worry
- A safe, comfortable space to discuss issues without all of the tech language or knowledge
- Partners that connected the organization to new internet and phone service providers, importantly allowing for functioning Wi-Fi, store cameras, and an improved e-commerce experience
- Saved time (and therefore money) by eliminating unnecessary processes like daily Wi-Fi and printer resets to complete regular business processes
“It’s so easy to do what you’ve always done but now we are more mindful of what we need to have in place for sustainable growth as roles will change. We’re looking forward to continuing this relationship with Apparo”, says Catena, who anticipates beginning an Apparo TechPlan project soon.
The Art Gallery at Congdon Yards with Marketing and Development Manager, Teresa Loflin
Located in High Point, NC, The Art Gallery at Congdon Yards (TAG) is on a mission to provide visual art exhibits and educational experiences to enrich the entire community. Since opening in 1975 and becoming a nonprofit in 1992, the organization has undergone many changes, most recently including a new location. With new exhibition and classroom spaces managed by a small team, most staff members wear many hats, including Teresa, who although is responsible for marketing and development, oftentimes takes responsibility for many tech-related processes.
TAG entered the cohort intending to ensure they were utilizing their resources to the fullest. They were using multiple systems and wanted to integrate them, easing the collaboration process across the team. Additionally, TAG wanted to ensure they were working efficiently while not risking information loss. Teresa shares a positive experience in the program, “The cybersecurity workshops were my favorite, they were excellent. The individuals leading those workshops were very personable, answered questions, and provided many helpful resources that we can refer to later”.
This cohort program provided participants with resources and templates that could be tailored to an organization’s needs so they don’t have to start from scratch when creating policies or implementing secure processes. Cybersecurity can feel like an overwhelming topic, but this program made it easy for Teresa to introduce the importance of cybersecurity for all staff and gave the TAG team a chance to look at processes differently.
Apparo’s cohort programs are built on four pillars: Connection, Awareness, Support, and Empowerment. Teresa shared that through this cohort, TAG gained the most empowerment and support. Teresa shares, “Through this program, I knew that I could come to Apparo as a resource, and now I know I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. In this new location, we’re trying lots of new things and we need to ensure our technology is following us forward. I feel more confident as we’re trying new things in a new space. We don’t always have the bandwidth to spend time reflecting on our processes but as we’re in this flux, this cohort program has been a perfect fit”.
Music for a Great Space with Executive Director, Rebecca Willie
Music for a Great Space (MGS) is a nonprofit organization providing chamber music series in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their mission is to present culturally diverse programming consisting of small ensembles and solo concerts in significant venues. They accompany each concert with related educational outreach experiences for children and adults.
Rebecca Willie has participated in several Arts Council of Greater Greensboro programs before and says each one has a unique appeal. “I am basically a speedbump on the technological super-highway, so I always feel like I could do so much more. There are so many different sites and offerings, like for example Google. I don’t always know where to get started and felt like maybe this program could help me do a little better in that area.” Willie’s main priority was to learn how to use Google Workspace more efficiently. She said this is something they are still working on along with her mentor, Richard Danosh.
Willie was pleasantly surprised by one unexpected outcome from this cohort. At the beginning of the program, Danosh, spoke to her about creating a tech plan, but the thought seemed overwhelming. In their last meeting, Willie remembered her predecessor had completed a handbook, including a tech plan that only needed updating. Willie was able to update this and send it over to Danosh who provided feedback and additions. Now they have a tech plan that will help them prioritize their technology journey and will help with sustainability and succession planning.
Willie also felt the cybersecurity webinar was eye-opening. She said there were actionable items MGS could put into place right away. For example, recently while working at a coffee shop, she remembered to switch to her HotSpot prior to logging onto a password-protected app, a step she had learned in the webinar.
Through this program, Willie feels like she was given the “building blocks” to move forward with their technology plan, and it no longer feels as daunting.
“This program made me realize we weren’t as far behind technologically as I thought we were. I felt like it was a great, and incredibly well run and thought out,” Willie shared.
Dance Project with Executive Director, Anne Morris
We met with Anne Morris, Executive Director, Dance Project to learn about the anticipated impact of her participation in this program.
Dance Project’s mission is to cultivate the field of modern dance in North Carolina, nurturing a community of artists, audiences, and students by providing opportunities for training, performance, collaboration, and employment.
Anne shared, “I appreciate that Apparo not only helps nonprofits figure out their tech needs, but also navigates us through different tech related situations by offering training advice and support. Before this program our use of technology felt a bit cobbled together, with many programs and log ins to manage. We needed help to get streamlined and to have cohesive processes and structures in place for our staff.
She describes the components of the program that made the biggest impact for her and co-director Lauren Joyner:
- “The mentor meetings were a really important piece of the program. Our mentor asked very good questions and really listened to us.”
- “The cybersecurity workshop provided lots of important information and really stuck with me. You hear a lot about cybersecurity and how important it is, but I haven’t been in a session like this that provides such concrete suggestions and demystifies this big scary cloud of cybersecurity.”
- “The program also prompted us to do an audit of our software, file storage and email usage. We now have improved our use of Google Workspace for email, file storage and collaboration.”
In closing she shares, “As a result of these improvements, our staff is able to work more efficiently, they have more time to create more programs, work one on one with our current students and increase access to dance for as many people as possible.”
Shared Radiance with Artistic Director, Sherri Raeford
We met with Sherri Raeford, Founder and Artistic Director, of Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company (SRPAC) to discuss the significance of her participation in this program and the expected impact on the company.
The overall mission of Shared Radiance Performing Arts Company is to entertain, enlighten, educate and explore experiential and interactive theatre through the works of Shakespeare and beyond. SRPAC is dedicated to outreach, education, and creating quality experiences for every audience member and a safe space for actors, often providing their first acting job opportunity.
Sherri shared, “When they first told us we would be working with Apparo, I thought, I wonder what they’re going to try to sell us. Then I realized that Apparo is here to guide me in the right direction. What a good thing. People need this! It really surprised me that this level of support is out there. My mentors were really great people who were so interested in supporting us. When they didn’t know an answer, they referred us to someone else who could help.
“I had no place in technology to go but up to grow up. As we have expanded, I realized that I needed as much education as I could in as many areas of technology as possible.
“I have applied so much of what I learned in the program already:
- We were using Google, but not for nonprofits. Now we have so much more storage, improved collaboration features and are saving money.
- The security session was very powerful. I now have a data blocker on my phone and use multi-factor authentication.
- I had never used artificial intelligence before. As an artist I thought it was not for me, but after our class, I tried it for a letter I needed to write. It saved me 3 hours of time. This could save 100+ hours annually for these letters and also support our efforts in seeking funding.
- We use Eventbrite for show ticketing and I was printing out a list of email addresses, looking them up in our database to see if they were subscribed and then manually typing each one in. Our mentor taught us how to automate this process. As a result, we save a full day of work for each show, that’s 30 a year, and our email list has tripled.
- We received invaluable advice on how to use our ACGG grant.
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- Upgrading our accounting and payroll software
- Purchasing a donor platform
- Applying TechSoup discounts to save $500/year
In closing Sherri adds, “My goal is to grow from a small company to a medium sized company, which opens the door to more grants, and continue to grow so that the company is sustainable beyond me. I believe we’re going to make that leap next year and be able to handle it because of the technology improvements that we’ve made. The program far exceeded my expectations and gave me a lot more confidence with technology.”
NC Folk Festival with President and CEO, Amy Grossmann
We met with Amy Grossmann, President and CEO, NC Folk Festival to learn about her experience with the program.
The North Carolina Folk Festival is a nonprofit organization that honors, celebrates, and shares the meaningful ways communities express their creativity and cultural traditions through music, dance, food, crafts and other folk arts to enhance appreciation of diverse traditions and contribute to community vibrancy and inclusivity. Their signature annual event, the NC Folk Fest, takes place each September and features more than 300 artists on multiple stages with continuous performances. The Festival attracts huge crowds of people to downtown Greensboro for a three-day celebration of cultural heritage through music, dance, handmade crafts, food, and family fun.
Amy shares, “We have a small staff and I was initially worried about the time to dedicate to this work, but I really enjoyed it and appreciate how my time was always respected with meetings that started and ended on time.”
The technology assessment to help identify areas of vulnerability and the cybersecurity workshop were both “eye openers” to Amy. Specifically, in the cybersecurity workshop, Amy learned important tips for staying safe while working on public wifi networks, which is very common for her staff.
Her mentor, Jon Quillin of Hylaine, was very supportive and helped her work through things very quickly. One important area of focus was their use of project management software. They had been using a tool that required a lot of ongoing maintenance and needed to move to something else.
Amy explains, “Running a festival is very complex. Our small staff wears many hats and we have multiple contractors. We needed to find a new platform that would be easy to use for communication and collaboration.”
Jon helped them identify Asana, which has been “immensely helpful in structuring the way we work and communicate. We share documents and collaborate in Asana, which frees up our email and allows Google Drive to serve as the home for final work products.”
In summary, Amy adds, “I am very appreciative that ACGG identified the experts at Apparo to consult with us.”
Greensboro Opera with Office Manager, Andrea Allen
Greensboro Opera is a community-based company dedicated to fostering the growth of opera and to presenting professional productions of the highest artistic caliber for the enjoyment, education, and enrichment of the Triad Region of North Carolina. Through innovation and interaction, Greensboro Opera redefines operatic experiences by building and enriching community.
Andrea shares, her appreciation, “I really appreciate everything all Apparo staff have done and are doing to help us, and all nonprofits! My favorite part of the program was working with a knowledgeable, caring mentor (Vern Wilkinson) who listened to the needs of our organization and helped me develop a plan to tackle these issues head-on. Just having someone you can call who will give you objective tech advice is super helpful. Apparo did a great job of matching us with someone who understood our particular questions and was able to offer education, solutions and most importantly, guidance.
“I loved that this program fosters a sense of community between similar nonprofits, where everyone is striving to learn how to use technology to make their organization thrive.”
