Neon One, LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the associate director of communications for the New York City Audubon Society. We do environmental conservation and programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neon One, LLC?

We were looking for a platform that could tie together all the facets of our organization. As a nonprofit, we took donations. We also had a membership program as well as activities where we did bird walks and lectures. Previously, we had separate systems for donations, memberships, and events. Another system tracked volunteers. As a result, we needed a solution that could better keep track of these facets and understand the people who'd interacted with our organization. We hired Neon to help us do this using their platform. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Neon helped us import data from our systems into their proprietary system. We provided them with records from our old systems’ databases. Then, they configured the new database so that our donations and memberships were ready by a certain deadline. Besides that, they also helped us create a few online forms we used for donations, memberships, and programs. 

When we transitioned to their system, we received 10 hours of training to help people understand how to use the database. We also learned how to further configure it after the base configuration they’d done for us. 

At present, we reach out to them for technical support if we run into any issues as we use their system. 

What is the team composition?

We initially spoke with Kurt (Enterprise Account Executive) when we signed up. He helped us start the whole process. 

After talking to him, we’ve worked primarily with Mary (Professional Services Consultant). She’s walked us through the transition process, providing inputs around how we want our data structure to look like with Neon. For further configuration, we’ve reached out to a variety of people. 

How did you come to work with Neon One, LLC? 

Neon was recommended to us by other Audubon chapters who had recently transitioned their systems. They said the team was great, so we gave them a shot. 

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve spent around $15,350, including monthly fees. The one-time cost of their service was $10,350, and we’ve been paying around $500 per month to use the platform. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our engagement has been highly organized. It’s clear from the get-go who handles the steps of the process from the data import to the database configuration and setup of our online forms. This has been truly helpful because none of us has had any experience in switching databases. 

Moreover, Neon has clearly laid out what’s going to happen, especially during the data import process. The team has communicated clearly with us in terms of what they need. We’ve been worried about how the data will translate into the new system. However, they understand our data extremely well, so they’ve been able to effectively translate them into the new database.

Further, Mary has been truly helpful. She’s answered a lot of our questions and provided recordings of all our conversations and tutorials. On top of that, Neon has a strong support web page with articles on how to use their system, which is quite big and has many features.

How did Neon One, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Neon’s project management is good. We hit most of our deadlines even though our team sometimes cannot deliver data to them on time. On their end, everything has been truly efficient. They tell us how long it takes to process or configure data. They always meet their deadlines, which is highly appreciated ― we always know what to expect from them in terms of timelines. 

To communicate, we’ve used emails, especially during the data import process. We’ve also had a few calls when we need to talk about other important things. Their team uses internal tools to schedule calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility in helping us find what we’re looking for is impressive. They’ve tailored their services to what we want and what we envision in our database and new online transaction system. 

We also appreciate that we can talk to them on the phone and discuss the project as necessary. Mary is especially good at laying out the points about which we need to decide. Overall, the best part of working with them is the way they customize the customer experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the latter part of the database configuration process, we often wondered about which options from Neon’s system were the best for particular situations. They had a vast system, and we had 10 hours of training to learn it. However, having more one-on-one time with someone from their team to discuss our options would have been better. We needed more walkthroughs to learn what their system offered so we could ensure we were selecting the best options. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Study Neon’s system even before you gain access to their database. Go through their support pages to get a good idea of what they provide. If you don’t do that, the impact of the system’s setting on your transactions will sometimes be unclear.