UI Design, Nonprofit Innovation, Client-Based Project
MPAA
About The Project
This project, commissioned through a Sponsored Studio, is a collaboration between Artcenter and nonprofit partners. The goal is to design a platform that fosters resource sharing, communication, and long-term collaboration among nonprofits, addressing challenges in resource allocation and partnership-building to enhance efficiency and social impact.
Design Outcome
Cilent Request
Collaborative Project Development
Enable nonprofits to co-plan and execute joint projects, fostering cross-organization collaboration and resource integration
Partnership Building
Provide tools and channels for nonprofits to find suitable partners and establish long-term collaborations
Project Showcase and Promotion
Include features to display nonprofit project outcomes, increasing visibility and impact
Volunteer
Attract volunteers through the platform and offer easy participation channels to support projects effectively
Research
About Non-profit
The successful operation of a nonprofit organization relies on a clear organizational structure and well-defined roles across all levels.
Board of Directors
The board serves as the governance core, providing strategic and financial oversight. It determines annual projects and budget allocation, supervises the executive director, and ensures the organization adheres to its charter and mission.
Administrative Team
Led by the executive director, the administrative team develops the annual strategic plan, including project planning, budgeting, and resource allocation. Key roles include the CEO, project managers, financial officers, marketing, and fundraising teams.
Project Team
The project team is the backbone of execution, comprising middle managers, individual contributors, volunteers, experts, and service providers who ensure the successful implementation of specific projects.
Collaboration Motivation
Collaboration among nonprofit organizations serves three core purposes
Enhancing Organizational Efficiency
By sharing resources and exchanging information, nonprofits can reduce duplication of efforts on similar goals or projects, speeding up task completion and lowering costs.
Improving Organizational Impact
Collaboration enables organizations to better advance their missions, combining strengths to maximize the impact of their projects.
Driving Broader Social and Systemic Change
Partnerships help organizations explore diverse solutions, create collective impact, address complex social issues, and drive long-term societal progress.
Types of Collaboration
Peer-to-Peer Collaboration
Collaborate with nonprofit organizations within the same community to address shared local concerns.
Cross-Community Collaboration
Unite nonprofits from different communities to share resources and expand their collective impact.
Government Collaboration
Partner with federal, state, or local government agencies to gain policy support and access public resources.
Business Collaboration
Work with for-profit companies to obtain resources that may be challenging for nonprofits to access independently.
Collaboration Resource
Human Resources
Space and Facilities
Technology and IT Infrastructure
Knowledge and Expertise
Funding and Network Resources
Project and Service Resources
Legal and Administrative Resources
Data and Evaluation Tools
Interview
Young Storytellers
Education / Youth / Los Angeles
Highlights
After COVID, the number of volunteers decreased, forcing organizations to rely more on experience, project models, and content.
The lack of manpower leads to time constraints, often causing organizations to miss out on excellent volunteers.
Volunteer recruitment through social media and websites is less effective compared to direct outreach.
Most partnerships are introduced by funders, with few established through cold outreach (emails or calls).
Expectation
Volunteer management tools to reduce manual processes.
Develop AI-powered volunteer matching features to accurately recruit and track volunteers.
Find long-term collaboration partners more efficiently.
ArtWorx LA
Visual Art / Youth / Los Angeles
Highlights
Organizations still operate in isolation, lacking cross-organization collaboration and resource sharing.
Use AI tools to match shared resources and needs across different nonprofits.
Partner volatility poses challenges to organizational growth and long-term development.
Digital tools have not transformed communication with volunteers, as persuading individuals to commit resources is still necessary.
Expectation
Provide a shared resource database to help organizations effectively manage and exchange resources.
Optimize communication tools to reduce manual management efforts and improve collaboration efficiency.
Art Division
Education / Youth / Los Angeles
Highlights
Collaboration is often used as a key strategy for scaling project models, with partnerships with national organizations (e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters) driven partly by replicability and scalability.
Approximately 80-85% of staff focus on direct services, leaving only a small portion dedicated to collaboration and expansion efforts.
AI tools can be used to filter potential partners based on project content, geographic location, and alignment of goals.
The operational volatility of partners impacts the organization's long-term development and growth.
Expectation
Provide an AI-powered partner recommendation system to identify suitable national collaborators.
Offer collaboration management tools to maintain stable long-term partnerships and support sustainable project development.
Key Insight
Since COVID, nonprofits rely more on experience and programs than volunteers. Recruiting remains tough, needing personal outreach despite digital tools. Limited staff time leads to missed opportunities, even with online sign-ups.
Collaboration aids scaling, but non-profits remain siloed, with partnerships often driven by funders and operational needs. Few staff focus on partnerships, as most prioritize direct service.
Using AI tool to match non-profits based on activities, location, and goals, helping find ideal partners for growth, federal donations, and long-term relationships, addressing challenges of fluctuating partnerships.
Persona
Joseph
Age:
Occupation:
52
Nonprofit organization representative
Goal
Better recruit and retain volunteers.
Partner with like-minded organizations.
Share funding information efficiently.
Use technology for resource management.
Pain Points
Difficulty retaining volunteers from platforms.
Ineffective communication among non-profits.
Overlapping investments in tools and resources.
Partner identification is complex and time-consuming.
Samantha
Age:
Occupation:
29
Nonprofit coordinator
Goal
Quickly onboard certified, compliant volunteers.
Rebuild a strong, reliable volunteer base.
Streamline volunteer onboarding and training.
Pain Points
No easy filter for certified volunteers.
Volunteers skip training materials frequently.
Struggles to retain and engage volunteers.
John
Age:
Occupation:
24
Volunteer
Goal
Clear steps to start volunteering.
Align missions with personal interests.
Fast, straightforward certification process.
Pain Points
Difficult to navigate volunteer process.
Challenging to find value-aligned organizations.
Scattered information on volunteer certification.
Information Architecture
Final Outcome - My work
Exlpore Section
Non-profit organization could find the programs that aligns to their mission or match their need to start co-hosting or short-term partnership with other organization. Also, they can explore potential partners that share similar goals and missions to begin partnership.
AI Matching
Non-profits organizations could use AI tools to find potential partners based on the information they provided to the algorithm, and input prompt to get more specific search result. In the search result, AI will provide focus areas that user interset as inspiration for potential collaboration opportunities.
Information Section
This section include all of the basic information of both program and organizations starting from the description and goal of the program to information of non-profit staff. User can utilize these information to have a general assessment before starting a partnership proposal.
Form Section
The form section includes detailed guide to fill in a program proposal or collaboration request for non-profit organizations. With the detailed information, the reciever could process the request to respond easier and more efficiently.
Other Section
This seciton include functions that will help non-profits, especially the new ones, on their administration. The workshop includes video curriculums that cover basic operational skills for non-profits. Notification will help organizations to get informed about activities. Collection section allows organizations to save the programs or partnerships they believe are sucessful.
© Framer Inc. 2023