THE CHALLENGE
Focused on the statewide events industry, the Oregon Festivals & Events Association has over 200 member organizations and is responsible for the promotion of more than 1,200 events annually. Led by a volunteer board and staffed by only an executive director, they needed an association management solution that allowed for efficient communication with members, required minimal staff data input, and offered members the ability to post their own events. “With limited staff and huge event listing volume, we needed something that staff didn’t have to build,” said Jill Ingalls, Executive Director.
THE SOLUTION
The main requirement was that whatever association management solution they chose had to be intuitive for members and affordable. The association had been using another system, but it had limited flexibility, and the staff had to manually populate most of the fields. When their search began, Jill reached out to learn about GrowthZone and went no further.
“One of our board members was a staff member at a local Chamber who used GrowthZone’s sister product, ChamberMaster; they suggested that it would be a great fit for our needs,” Jill said.
When she learned that GrowthZone offered the ability to generate revenue, had a low initial cost, and allowed members to manage their own profiles as well as list their events, Jill knew GrowthZone was the answer.
THE RESULTS
With the implementation of GrowthZone, OFEA is now able to connect with members through their website, monthly E-newsletters, and email announcements and updates. They say the Dashboard is easy to use, their members enjoy better promotion of their events and services, and the staff finds it easy to edit and administrate. When asked what she would tell someone considering GrowthZone for their organization, Jill’s response was simple, “Do it. Get GrowthZone!”