SLEIGHT-OF-HAND STUDIOS

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of the board of directors of the Women's Fiction Writers Association. We’re a volunteer-run, not-for-profit membership organization that serves writers of women's fiction. We’re a virtual organization, and all of our member services are provided online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SLEIGHT-OF-HAND STUDIOS?

We needed new Association Management Software (AMS) that would support the workshops and other craft and education programs we offer our members, as well as provide clean communication tools, easy-to-use backend administration, and excellent customer service support.

What were your goals for this project?

Our small non-profit organization is 100% virtual, and we had outgrown our old website. Because our site is the backbone of the services we provide to members, we had to find a company that could give us what we needed, with room to grow, all within our budget. The problem was, we didn't know where to start or how to go about it.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I searched for web design/consulting companies and spoke to several about our needs. I was honest about our lack of knowledge and our limited budget, and they were all very helpful. After I sent an RFP to all of them, SLEIGHT-OF-HAND seemed to best understand our requirements, and didn't try to push us in a direction we weren't ready to go. They were able to work within our budget and didn't prioritize areas that were outside of our vision or project goals.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we signed on with SOH, their owner, Dori, set up several discovery phone calls with our Board of Directors as well as our various teams of volunteers. She had us fill out forms to identify our must-have items, nice-to-have items, and optional features. We thought we'd need to build a website from scratch but she showed us there were existing companies and software packages that could do what we needed and more, within our budget.

From the calls and forms, she built a spreadsheet that she used to identify potential software vendors. Then she set up demo calls with each of the vendors and representatives of our teams so we could see how each software package worked. She followed up with the vendors and got our questions and issues addressed. When we selected a vendor, she stayed in touch until we began the transition/training/migration process, and then remained available as needed.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Dori for the entire process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since implementing the new website, we no longer need to do weekly tech support with our communications teams regarding newsletter issues, which saves all of our volunteers valuable time. Members consistently comment on the site's ease of use and we've expanded our program offerings thanks to the new capabilities (ability to sign non-members up for mailing lists; members can search for other local members in the database to arrange local meet-ups).

We've been able to increase the number of volunteers on our support teams because the administrative side of the program is easy to learn and use. Database management and form design have helped us capture data we weren't able to see previously. We've used this to develop new member programs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were happy with the workflow. Dori gave us clear goals and deadlines and then took the information we provided and took next steps with vendors. She juggled both staff and the vendor schedules set up the demos in a timely manner, and she always responded quickly to questions and concerns. She connected with our Communications team, Programs team, Membership Director, Treasurer, myself and the VPs of each department through Skype and phone/conference calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We didn't know anything about AMS packages or companies, how to pick the best one, how to evaluate them, or even what questions to ask. Dori had so much knowledge about the vendors' histories, updates/changes, and the type of clients they supported that she taught us a tremendous amount and saved us a lot of money. She was very patient with our questions considering how ignorant we were. We felt valued from beginning to end.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were very happy with Sleight-of-Hand Studios. They did everything we asked/needed within our relatively short timeline and our budget.