Case Study
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Case Study
Helping a nonprofit arts and culture grantmaker foster a vibrant community in Greater Philadelphia
01
The Challenge
To replace a legacy grantmaking application and custom build an improved application with multiple application types, user roles, and layers of evaluation.
02
The Approach
An extensive discovery process to establish technical specifications for a complex system that required a lot of advanced orchestration and in-depth subject knowledge.
03
The Outcome
A newly designed grantmaking application that better reflects the Center’s visual identity, simplifies the overall process, and offers more refined features and control for admins.
Client Introduction
About the Center
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (the Center) is a multidisciplinary grantmaker and hub for knowledge-sharing, dedicated to fostering a vibrant cultural community in Greater Philadelphia.
Project at a Glance
What Our Team Provided
Solutions
- Custom Software
Technologies
How it started
Solving a process problem.
The Center approached us to rebuild their legacy grantmaking application that they use to review and award grants to local artists and cultural organizations. Besides needing a more contemporary design, the legacy app did not offer adequate access or control for the Center’s administrators and required frequent development assistance. So we set out to build a new system to give the Center more control and reliability in managing their grant application and award processes.
Research & Discovery
Uncovering user needs and requirements.
We kicked things off with a discovery project to fully understand the scope of the application. From requirements gathering to user stories, we went through the entire grantmaking process and all the possible scenarios. With seven unique user types, a collective scoring system, and multiple steps in the process for both applicants and evaluators, we knew the app needed to be capable of powerfully and intuitively handling the complex specifications.
UX Strategy & Design
Finding the right approach.
By the end of our discovery, we had an in-depth understanding of the mechanics behind the Center’s grantmaking process. We put together a strategy that included clarifying key outcomes, evaluating technologies and system architecture, and developing an approach that aligned with the organization’s objectives.
Custom Development
Crafting a seamless experience for all.
The custom application we built better reflects the Center’s visual identity, simplifies the overall grantmaking process, and offers more refined features compared to the legacy application. We also replaced the form builder platform for the application, after facing challenges with a third-party tool, to ensure a more seamless experience for administrators.
The end result
A more efficient and simplified process.
We delivered a reliable system that manages multiple application types, user roles, and layers of evaluation. While it required a lot of advanced orchestration, we built a solid foundation for the Center to continue to grow their platform. We also provided administrators more access and control over the application process, which helps the organization be more efficient in their initiatives.
Client Testimonials
"Foster Made built us a powerful and intuitive system that has substantially streamlined our annual grant-making process. The new app saves our staff hours of the administrative work once required to maintain our legacy application system. Our applicants and proposal reviewers frequently offer unprompted positive feedback, noting that it's been one of the best experiences they've had while applying for funding or serving as a proposal reviewer."
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