Website Redesign
For over thirty years, Musicopia (formerly Strings for Schools) has provided music education programs to thousands of Philadelphia area school-aged children, immersing them in a cultural experience they would otherwise
not enjoy.
This non-profit organization has experienced tremendous growth, becoming the largest resource for music education programs on the east coast. Such growth put a strain on company infrastructure, including the existing outdated website. Musicopia committed itself to the design and building of a new website and called Ferrante & Associates.
Ferrante responded by designing a proposal for the modular and staged development web of Musicopia’s new website with a sensitivity to the ebb and flow of not-for-profit funding.
This project goes far beyond the traditional concept of a website, as it provides a comprehensive set of tools that allow Musicopia to run a ‘virtual business.’ Currently, Musicopia utilizes 100 of Philadelphia’s finest musicians to conduct over 700 programs annually in order to meet the needs of area schools. The challenge is that all staff work from separate places, with no central office location. The website provides Musicopia and its musicians with a vital communication tool, enabling real time scheduling so musicians can log on and review their upcoming schedules at any time. This web function greatly decreases staff time on tedious administrative duties, so more time can be spent on assisting schools with advancing their music programs.
Online staff communication and collaboration, in addition to the management and tracking of fundraising efforts, are facilitated by the new website. It not only provides Musicopia’s staff with an outlet to perform a broad range of business functions, but it becomes the primary vehicle for Musicopia to communicate with its constituents.
Ferrante is assisting Musicopia in accomplishing its mission, by providing online tools, such as MS-Access integration, which help to simplify and control technical tasks for non-tech savvy employees.
Musicopia’s website is now an information ‘cornucopia,’ complete with online forms, online musicians’ calendar, password-protected areas for both schools and musicians, online donation facility, information request fields, and even downloadable music and video files. By assessing the needs of the organization and proposing a fully integrated solution, Ferrante & Associates has helped Musicopia optimize its website to focus on the organization’s long-range strategic goals.
This partnership helps Musicopia bring a higher level of service to the schools and communities it serves, to succeed in giving the gift of great music to thousands more students every year.