The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future

The Women’s Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the nation’s only comprehensive women’s history museum. The Museum honors the past by telling stories about the achievements of American women while helping shape the future of young girls and women through ongoing educational programs. In order to maximize the impact on the community, the Museum has utilized Microsoft technologies obtained through TechSoup. Across the board, these technologies have improved both the quality and the influence of the Museum’s endeavors.

INCREASE IN CLIENTS, MEMBERS AND VOLUNTEERS

The MS Small Business Server, and the MS Office Suite allow the Museum to reach across the nation to recruit volunteers and ambassadors as well as sparking interest in many who look for education and inspiration.

An innovative marketing effort utilizes the Small Business Server to access social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, generating over 7,000 followers and gaining almost a hundred more each day. These advances provide on-demand access to the Museum, as well as establishing an interactive relationship and communication with expanded audiences.

The Museum uses Outlook to bring talented girls from all over Texas to our annual Texas Girls’ State Fair – an event that brings in new museum patrons numbering in the tens of thousands each year. These well-publicized events increase visitors and lead to continued growth in the Museum’s membership.

All Museum memberships are managed through the Raiser’s Edge database, which MS Office complements in such a way that statistics, reports and queries are accurately gathered and filed into Excel and Word, making the task much more efficient. These tools are critical in the expansion of our membership base.

ENABLED NEW SERVICES, CAMPAIGNS OR PROGRAMS.

In addition to expanding the vitality and reach of our mission, Microsoft technologies are integral in the creation and implementation of new exhibits and educational programs.

New exhibits, as well as art and women’s history programs, are designed to familiarize youth and families with the women featured in the Museum, to provoke critical thinking & problem solving and to inspire new ways for youth & families to interact. All these functions are made possible by Microsoft technologies. From the first memo in a Word document to the marketing materials created in Publisher, to the check-in made on Excel, MS Office fuels these programs.

Before obtaining the Small Business Server, Museum computers were pressed beyond their capacity. The Small Business Server and the updating of MS Applications has eradicated down times and allows communications internally and externally to flow with seamless efficiency.

ENHANCED QUALITY OR IMPACT OF SERVICE, CAMPAIGNS OR PROGRAMS.

Along with the new programs the Museum is rolling out in 2009 and 2010, Microsoft technologies are vital in the expansion of the annual programs that have put The Women’s Museum on the map. These programs include the Adventures in Science camp, the Dream Your Career Camp and many other initiatives for underserved girls from 10-18 years of age.

The absolute necessity of these technologies was clearly evidenced when The Women’s Museum hosted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison at our annual Stories From the Top event. Every detail and step of implementation for the program required the most exacting precision and flawless communication. For every unforeseen circumstance there was an immediate solution made possible through Microsoft technologies.

Leadership America has been one of The Women’s Museum’s cornerstone programs for many years. Building on its legacy of advancing accomplished women in leadership roles, Leadership America launched the third decade of programming in 2009 including for the first time an International component. With a program that connects leading women from all over the nation, and soon from all over the world, it is imperative to keep everyone in touch. The Small Business Server allows the Museum to maintain communication around the globe.

INCREASED REACH OR IMPACT OF SERVICES, CAMPAIGNS OR PROGRAMS AS A RESULT OF MORE EFFECTIVE MARKETING, FUNDRAISING OR EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH.

The Women’s Museum utilizes Microsoft technologies every day in almost every task that is completed. As a result, each department has seen its reach and impact magnified.

In the Museum’s Development department not only are these tools essential to almost every step of the grant-writing process, but MS Office Word, Outlook and Excel are also the building blocks for the Women's Museum Annual Giving Campaign. Excel permits the donor database to be segmented into appropriate campaign categories. Once identified, Word is used for merging each segment into the appropriate category for the solicitation letter. Outlook Email, Calendar, and Contacts are the back bones of the Development Department.

In 2008 alone, The Women's Museum sent over 5,000 solicitation letters to constituents. These 5,000 letters were broken down into eight campaign segments with each segment receiving a different, but targeted, solicitation letter. As a result, the Museum saw a 12% increase in donations over 2007 - a significant increase because the campaign was launched in September of 2008 when the economic state of our country began to experience a radical decline.

As in Development, Microsoft technologies have greatly increased the efficiency and efficacy of the Museum’s Marketing department. The use of MS Office maximizes the accessibility, creation and dissemination of marketing materials to a wide array of audiences. MS Office's unique formatting allows the Museum to design professional-grade publications to promote programs and exhibits. Most notably, formatting images in Publisher in order to compress them into email and web-friendly versions allows the Museum to send a greater amount of information to a wider and more diverse audience without clogging the server.

The ultimate result of the amplified success of Development and Marketing is the further success of Education and Programs. As discussed above, these programs would be completely handicapped without Microsoft technologies. With these powerful tools the Museum has been able to expand their programs and outreach by almost 200% since 2006. This means 200% more women inspired, 200% more girls prepared to succeed in life and 200% more people stirred by the past for success in the future.

Microsoft technologies obtained through TechSoup have left an indelible impact on the efforts of The Women’s Museum. With this continued relationship the Museum can persist in reaching out into the community and inviting women and men, boys and girls to see inspiring exhibits as well as participate in educational and entertaining programs. Without the deep discounts offered to Non-profits through TechSoup, the Museum would easily be five years behind its current development.