Case Study: Online governance reduces direct and indirect costs;
provides 660% Return on Investment
Jun 19, 2008
The Organization: The Enterprise Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Enterprise Center (TEC), founded in 1989 by the Wharton Small Business Development Center, provides a portfolio of business-acceleration services designed to better position minority enterprises to compete in the local, regional and global economies. Over the past 18 years, TEC has become recognized in both for-profit and not-for-profit communities for its innovative approach to solving disparities in business ownership.
Like many non-profits, TEC is under-resourced and under-staffed. Demands on staff time are great and, remaining true to its mission and constituency, TEC prioritizes program delivery above all else. Subsequently, administrative and managerial duties are difficult to manage.
To address these issues, TEC explored technology solutions designed to decrease the staff time necessary for administrative tasks. Among the first tasks TEC sought to trim were document management, planning, and communications for TEC’s Board of Directors. These labor intensive activities at times demanded the full attention of both TEC leadership and administrative staff.
The Process: Finding a Better Way
TEC researched multiple technology solutions, and then asked BoardEffect® for a demonstration of its online board portal. TEC’s initial intent was to explore its use as a secure storage site for board information. However, they found that the depth and breadth of the BoardEffect® application would allow them to, not only manage their Board documents, but to also leverage their limited resources.
BoardEffect’s functionality proved to be in line with TEC’s goals and the organization subscribed. Now fully implemented, meetings are scheduled, RSVP’s are tracked, meeting books are distributed, and online votes are held – all through BoardEffect®.
The subsequent savings in staff time have allowed TEC to completely re-organize its administrative staffing structure; board relations and communications no longer require a significant portion of any one staff person’s work portfolio. Further, direct costs including express delivery of documents, paper and publishing have been virtually eliminated. Management estimated a 660% return on their annual investment.
The Results: Greater than initially projected expected … and welcome
TEC achieved its primary goal of reducing staff time involved in board relations; it also has found ancillary benefits of online governance. Among them are:
- Continuity – staff turnover no longer affects board relations and communications as the board has a portal, not a liaison
- Security – BoardEffect’s password protected site allows for more sensitive document sharing than traditional electronic mail, and specific documents can be further protected and only viewable to selected committee members
- Timeliness – members of TEC board are updated whenever additions and changes are made to the information housed on BoardEffect®
Summary: In Their Own Words
“Basic board engagement has been reduced to a few points and clicks of the mouse. When we now spend time with our board, we can spend that time on substantive topics and decision making – not document review.”
Della Clark
President, The Enterprise Center
“BoardEffect is [incredibly] simple to use. Its platform makes sense, it is easily navigable, and makes record keeping simple.”
R. Troy Woolley
Director of Development, The Enterprise Center
“We’ve seen a real increase in board activity and commitment in the last year. We’ve been doing a lot of things to make that happen and BoardEffect really facilitated the increased activity.”
S. Jonathan Horn
Co-Chair, The Enterprise Center Board of Directors
Principal, Deloitte Consulting