Fine Arts Chamber Players

Organization Information:

Organization Name:
Fine Arts Chamber Players
City & State:
Dallas, 
Texas
Organization Website:
www.fineartschamberplayers.org
Organization's Mission Statement

To enrich and enhance the quality of life for North Texas-area residents, especially families and children, through free concerts of classical music and educational performances.

Submission Information

Impact Essay

We have seen how technology can help our organization improve its impact within our community, and we are proud to show Microsoft how technology has helped us do just that. We hope that the Fine Arts Chamber Players will be considered as a recipient of your gift. Technology infrastructure is a necessary part of any business today, regardless of if they are for profit corporations or non-profit organizations like the Fine Arts Chamber Players (FACP). FACP is dedicated to bringing classical music and performing arts to each community member both through free concerts and educational performances. Everything we offer is completely free of charge, so maintaining low costs while increasing our operational efficiency is essential to our survival. FACP has seen incredible growth since we were able to grow our technology, adding our own in-house server through Techsoup.org last year. Within our 12’x12’ office, we were able double our work stations growing from 2 to 4, and in turn increase our productivity, staff, and community impact. We increased our number of grants written by 30%, added new teachers and created a brand new Education Outreach Program all while keeping costs at a minimum. This technology facilitated an increase in efficiency and expanded our reach within the North Texas community exponentially.

Additional technology has assisted us in the recruitment of more community members interested in serving our mission. After creating two new work stations, up to 4 from only 2 in our 12 x 12 office, we were able to accommodate three interns this summer, along with an Education Manager, a grant writer and additional independent contractors. Adding a part time grant writer has increased our grants written by 30% this year. The Education Manager coordinates our Educational Outreach Programs, facilitating the relationship between FACP and area schools. He has helped us bring in 4 new professional educators into our Education Outreach Programs, create a brand new initiative, giving 4th and 5th grade students at Lowe Elementary School the opportunity to learn violin under the instruction of local symphony members. These programs have created 1600 new teacher to student contacts via our after school master classes.

With such a small staff, connectivity through technological infrastructures like the internet is necessary to our sustainability. Computers, e-mail and the recent donation of a brand new website from Imaginuity have allowed FACP to improve workplace efficiency and mission effectiveness. Also, the technological infrastructure improvements have helped the Fine Arts Chamber Players to create a stronger online identity, increasing contact with our patrons at less expense. We utilize internet based tools like Patron Mail for e-newsletters, and maintain a continuous list of online posting opportunities. The server has also allowed FACP to keep costs low, something that is necessary to a high functioning organization. With more work stations, our independent contractors are able to come in and out of our office at their leisure, without interrupting the work of our office employees. This increases our productivity, since more people are able to work simultaneously. Beyond that, work is completed at a faster rate, which translates to monetary savings.

Through the addition of the server and workstations, we are able to operate more productively while continuing to fulfill our mission of bringing music and performing arts to more students and community members, all free of charge. Since our inception in 1981, we have reached over 175,000 students and 500,000 community members through our free concerts and Educational Outreach Programs. Clearly, improving our technology has in turn improved our effectiveness and sustainability as a non-profit organization. Keeping costs at a minimum while increasing productivity and the number of people we are able to reach is a great feat for any organization. FACP is most proud that we are able not only to do all of this, but to provide our services free of charge to all community members.

Overall, FACP has been able to optimize our mission delivery thanks to an improved technological infrastructure. With additional technology, we will be able to continue to increase our operational effectiveness and bring the joy of music into the lives of our community members free of charge. Please consider us for this grant as technology has a clear impact on our organization.

Submission Category
Optimize Mission Delivery
Project Image
Lowe Strings 09.JPG