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This project was completed on Jul 16, 2019
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Matched with Ramana M.
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See the Impact story
Tech Systems call
Hoboken Historical Museum
Tech Systems Call
Call details
What we'd like to talk about
I'd like strategic advice on selecting a CRM system that can handle donations, member communications, and link with our merchandise/point of sale system and event ticketing. Need advice on process too
Additional context
We are a small org, with only four staff and three part-timers, currently using Giftworks (minimally), Constant Contact, QuickBooks, eventbrite and PayPal. We do NOT have in-house tech support, so ease of use/installation is important. There seem to be a lot of systems promising to do it all, turnkey, easy-to-use, etc., but we also need help adapting our internal processes. We are applying for a grant to hire a consultant, but don't even know how to find the right consultant to help us choose a system and adapt our internal processes. We are a roughly $300,000/year organization, mostly individual donations & event fundraising, with some state GOS grants.
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Posted by
Melissa A.
Communications and Volunteer manager
Our mission
The Hoboken Museum documents Hoboken's physical and cultural heritage, which has local, regional, and national significance. By collecting, preserving, and interpreting artifacts and oral histories, the Museum serves the community of Hoboken and all those who enjoy its history and culture. We offer historical walking-tour maps and a map of significant sites in Frank Sinatra's life in Hoboken. We also offer Hoboken-themed merchandise: Books, t-shirts, mugs, prints and more. The Hoboken Museum staffs the Hoboken Fire Department Museum, 213 Bloomfield St., on Saturdays & Sundays from 12 - 5 pm. The Museum is open six days a week (Tues-Thurs 2 - 7 pm; Fri 1 - 5 pm; Sat - Sun 12 - 5 pm) in one of the oldest buildings on the Hoboken waterfront, a former Bethlehem Steel shipyard, 1301 Hudson St. Phone number: 201-656-2240. Admission is just $5. The Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, founded in 1986.
What we do
The Hoboken Historical Museum creates exhibits showcasing aspects of Hoboken's history, changing them every 6 - 12 months, and hosts lectures and programs relating to these exhibits. Topics have ranged from Hoboken in World War I, immigration history, a history of music in Hoboken, mom & pop shops, a focus on Hoboken in the 1970s, and more. We also host 6 exhibits by local artists in a small mezzanine gallery. In addition, we provide educational programs for local schools and families, and have created an oral history program called "Vanishing Hoboken," with 30 printed chapbooks of recollections by ordinary Hobokenites. Our fundraising events function as community gatherings, from our Hoboken House Tour to the Secret Gardens Tour.
Testimonials
Awesome. Ramana understood our needs based on the simple project outline that I provided for the call, and was able to open my eyes to new possibilities for solving our tech systems and information management needs. Really learned a lot in one phone call, and he gave me other resources to check out too.
I enjoyed my conversation with Melissa. I spoke to her as she is developing a strategic vision for information management at Hoboken Museum. Our conversation focused on the building blocks of a strategic information architecture for a museum. She quickly grasped the conceptual models we went over, relating it to her own environment. Melissa has clear ideas on her priorities for the near and longer term for the museum.