NACSA

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) asked Mightybytes to help them transform eight disparate systems into an easy to understand user experience that would drive revenue.

NACSA ensures that charter schools across the United States adhere to higher standards of quality, performance, and effectiveness in education. They are committed to protecting the rights of students and closing schools that don’t adhere to expectations set forth in their principles and standards. NACSA’s online products were fractured across eight separate platforms, most of which didn’t talk to each other. The messaging and design of these platforms were also text-heavy and confusing to navigate. As a result, NACSA’s member resources were hard to find, and their paid consulting services were buried, which had a direct impact on their bottom line. 

When we began working with NACSA, our first task was to help their senior team define audiences and prioritize project goals, then get buy-in for the new system at all levels of the organization. Once detailed requirements for project success were defined, the project was built out in two phases.

Phase One

During the first phase we designed and built a minimum viable product (MVP) in time to launch before their annual conference. The new visual design is clean and modern with much more intuitive navigation that makes content easier to find. Our component-based design approach allowed NACSA site admins to mix and match page elements on-the-fly to create new page types. We created a range of component styles for common content types and display patterns, including featured images, banners, cards, and icons. The NACSA team can now build entirely new page types by assembling different components, which saves time, offers increased flexibility, and helps the website evolve as their brand does.

Phase Two

The second phase was to build out integrated functionality with a new CRM and email system. After assessing their needs, we implemented a new CRM using Presspoint, which works seamlessly with WordPress and Mailchimp, their preferred email marketing software. This allowed the NACSA team to easily access important member data within an integrated system rather than through numerous systems that don’t talk to each other. We also trained their team on how to effectively use the new tools.

NACSA now has three integrated platforms instead of eight disparate platforms, and their workflow for managing member relationships and email marketing campaigns is much improved. We continue to work with them to improve workflows and define new features for both users and site administrators.

In addition to integrating multiple third party software platforms into NACSA’s website, we also built a custom web application called the Charter Operator Tracker with a searchable database that provides standardized, visually compelling data about charter school operators and the schools they run, including academic performance and school closure rates.