Case Study: Trade Association Chapter Reporting

Transforming Chapter Reporting: A Case Study with Knack Builders

Good morning! I'm Dave Parrish from Knack Builders, and today, I’m excited to share a case study that showcases how our platform streamlined a complex reporting process for a large national trade association. This project highlights the power of Knack in transforming tedious manual tasks into an efficient, user-friendly experience.

Understanding the Challenge

Imagine managing a trade association with over 150,000 members across 177 countries and 700 chapters. Each year, every chapter must report on their activities, financials, and leadership. Previously, they relied on a mix of spreadsheets, emails, and even Google Forms. This fragmented approach made it nearly impossible to track who had submitted their reports, and it created a huge burden for headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Knack Solution

Our mission was clear: to simplify this cumbersome process using the Knack platform. By creating a centralized system, we aimed to provide chapters with an intuitive way to submit their reports while giving management the tools they needed to track submissions easily.

From Chapter to Headquarters: A Seamless Experience

Let’s dive into how both sides—chapters and headquarters—benefit from this new system.

For the Chapters: As a chapter member, logging into the Knack system is straightforward. Each chapter has a designated reporting year (like 2018), which eliminates any risk of submitting information for the wrong year. Our application prevents duplicate submissions and allows users to upload necessary documents, such as financial templates and photos of activities.

The workflow is designed to guide users through the reporting process, marking reports as "In Progress" or "Complete." This clarity helps everyone understand where they stand, reducing confusion and miscommunication.

For the Headquarters: From the management side, the process is just as efficient. The dashboard provides real-time insights into which chapters have submitted their reports and the status of each submission. No more digging through spreadsheets or shared drives! Instead, management can quickly view all relevant information, export data for reporting needs, and even analyze trends across different chapters.

Future Enhancements

While this system has already made a significant impact, we’re not stopping here. Upcoming features will include automated scoring for chapter performance and a custom single sign-on for seamless access across different platforms. We’re also working on a regional tracking system to capture information across various regions, further enhancing the capability of the platform.

Conclusion

This project was a collaborative effort that took several months to implement, and it was a pleasure working with such a dedicated client. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and both the client and I are thrilled with the results.

If you have any questions about how Knack can help streamline your organization’s processes, feel free to leave a comment below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more insights into how technology can transform operational efficiency. I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

Thank you for joining me today!

You can check out my Knack database services here:  https://www.knackbuilders.com/knack-database-consulting

Interested? Book an intro call: https://calendly.com/daveparrish/callwithdave