CapTech skilled volunteers identify project management tool Monday.com for Apparo, and the nonprofit anticipates saving 500 hours annually once implemented.
Apparo transforms the community and improves lives by connecting local nonprofits to technology expertise and resources that amplify their impact. They provide services to the nonprofit community through both internal Apparo resources and external skilled volunteer resources. Learn more about Apparo’s vision here.
As Apparo continues identifying growth opportunities, the organization would like to be equipped with technological tools to help ensure this sustainable growth. Apparo currently has a time-consuming process of using a variety of tools and managing projects without the ability to collaborate well. The nonprofit wanted to work with a team of experts to identify a tool enabling the team to collaborate, increase efficiency, and manage internal processes and external projects consistently.
Apparo began working with a skilled volunteer team from CapTech Consulting in May of 2024 to assess their technology and processes in order to identify a project management tool to meet their needs and allow the organization to continue to grow efficiently.
- CapTech Consulting Skilled Volunteer Team: Roma Amin, Betelhem Demissie, Bryan Frankovich, Thomas Miller, Keith Lugthart
- Apparo Nonprofit Team: Allison Grant, Lavonne McLean, Jennifer Ray, Sarah Friday, Lauren Greene, Bleema Bershad
Project Management Pain Points
- Too much manual work
- Tracking follow-up
- Clarity of overall program work
- Not enough accountability from people on projects
- Staying ahead of gaps in the process
- Solves for dependencies in a project, especially when there is more than one spreadsheet
- Too many spreadsheets – don’t know where information is housed
Goals with Project Management
- Better Collaboration – internal and external
- Saving Time
- Reduction of Manual Work
- Accountability – each staff member is responsible for their part of the project
- Protecting intellectual property for Apparo
- Getting things out of people’s heads and into a system for succession
CapTech volunteers interviewed Apparo staff to understand process and identify and documented key business requirements for the project management tool.
Volunteers explored 21 solutions, and ultimately narrowed it down to six options: ClickUp, Planner, Asana, Salesforce, and Monday.com. Ultimately, the final application recommendation made by CapTech was Monday.com. Monday.com was chosen for the following reasons:
- Contains all key requirements
- Easy-to-use interface
- Extensive features and integration capabilities
- Strong reputation
- First 10 seats free (Pro Plan) making it cost effective for our team
The Apparo staff anticipates numerous operational efficiencies once Monday.com is implemented.
This tool will be used widely within the nonprofit by the marketing, development, and community impact services, and they anticipate saving more than 500 hours annually across the organization. These hours saved come from a reduction in manual work and increased collaboration amongst staff members. Saving these hours will allow the Apparo staff to spend more time focusing on important mission work and their strategic goal of expanding our reach into new market areas. Time savings will also allow staff to focus on higher-value activities like fundraising efforts and donor engagement with the potential to increase revenue.
Allison Grant shared, “We just wrapped up our third cohort of G.A.I.N. powered by Lowe’s, and I just did the math on it. It’s a year-long program that delivers about $600,000 in market value to our community, and it takes about 500 hours of our staff time! It’s like you’ve given us this gift to deliver on another program worth $600,000 to nonprofits in need in our community. That’s a HUGE impact. Because of the 340 hours that you spent, we can now serve a lot more nonprofits and make a deeper impact.”
In addition to the positive impacts above, Apparo will see a mitigation in risks related to missed tasks and loss of knowledge.
Apparo’s Chief Operating Officer Lavonne McLean shared, “It’s also an intellectual property issue for our organization. If a certain person left, then we may not know where all the information is housed since people are currently tracking via spreadsheets. We want to be able to have all projects inside of an application, so the next person who is hired can come in and be able to run with it right away.”
Monday.com will also help Apparo staff take accountability for their parts in projects. The application will send reminders to staff members when it is time for them to complete their task. This will reduce the need for the “owner” of the project to have to remind staff members of their work. This will also help with overall project execution and project deadlines.
In conclusion, implementing Monday.com will reduce much of the manual work currently done at Apparo. With the efficiencies in place, Apparo will be able to serve even more nonprofits in the community and beyond.
Apparo staff members shared their appreciation of the CapTech volunteer team for their dedication to this project.
“We could NOT have done all this in such a short timeframe without the CapTech team. And the confidence I now have as the leader ‘rubber stamping’ this decision is immense; I am so thankful to be able to share the thorough and thoughtful work that was done with our CEO and our board. Thank you, thank you. I really believe this will transform the way Apparo works and our ability to grow and expand in many ways,” Lavonne McLean, COO of Apparo shared.
CapTech skilled volunteers dedicated 340 hours of time to reviewing processes and identify applications, ultimately making the recommendation for Monday.com. They shared their experience working on this project.
“The CapTech team was honored to collaborate with such a delightful group of dedicated individuals who are passionate about supporting other nonprofits. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the team to comprehend their requirements, evaluate potential solutions, and confidently recommend Monday.com as the solution that we are certain will bring numerous enhancements to the team’s daily operations, collaboration, and their ability to expand their business,” Keith Lugthart, Manager at CapTech shared.
