How Garrison Art Center grew their education program by 100%+ with CourseStorm

Founded in 1964, Garrison Art Center (GAC) is a vibrant hub of arts-related activities in the Hudson Valley. About 11,000 people visit GAC each year from the local community, New York City, Connecticut, New Jersey, and beyond to attend exhibitions and events or take a class.

GAC’s year-round arts education program hosts over 1,800 students onsite for more than 70 programs for adults and children of all skill levels in fine arts, printmaking, fiber arts, mixed media, and ceramics. In addition, GAC provides outreach programs for underserved youth and mental health organizations in their community.

This was a lot to manage for, initially, just one part-time staff person.

The challenge of using ecommerce software for class registration

Previously, Garrison Art Center was handling class registrations through their website. Classes were purchased as a product, meaning registrants had to enter a shipping address even though nothing was being mailed to them. They also could not save their information for next time.

GAC staff then entered registrations into a spreadsheet manually. This process cost time and even money, since sometimes registrations slipped through the cracks and classes were canceled needlessly. GAC was using Little Green Light for customer relationship management, but the education programs were not integrated with the software. This led to more tedious data entry.

GAC needed a solution that would streamline and integrate class registrations, event attendance, memberships, and donations.

The solution: CourseStorm's impossibly simple registration software

Garrison Art Center wanted to use the power of CourseStorm’s class registration and marketing software to automate processes they had been doing manually. They wanted class registrations to be quicker and easier for people registering—including for group registrations and payment plans. They wanted email confirmations sent automatically. They wanted their teachers to be able to access their class lists and email students directly.

And they wanted class registrations for people already in Little Green Light to show up automatically. So the CourseStorm integration that allows data to flow smoothly from one system to the other sealed the deal.

The results: Over 100% growth

Garrison Art Center has saved countless hours with CourseStorm. With her time freed up from administrative tasks, the education director went from part time to full time and now has many more hours to work on other initiatives, such as growing community outreach.

GAC is expanding their art workshops for teens and caregivers at a drug prevention center—registration for these programs now happens online through CourseStorm.

Because GAC’s education programs happen year-round, CourseStorm has provided financial stability for the organization. The ease of running reports has saved their bookkeeper time, as well.

The marketing coordinator benefits, too. CourseStorm makes it easy to pull reports on people who have taken certain classes in the past and send them targeted emails promoting upcoming classes that may interest them.

And students like the convenience of having their registration information saved, and adding themselves to a waiting list with the click of a button if a class is full.

By implementing CourseStorm, Garrison Art Center is furthering its mission of making art accessible for all.