Trust for Public Land

The Executive Summary:

Trust for Public Land initially sought a vendor-selection process to replace its enterprise event management systems. Sage70’s discovery revealed a gap between national requirements and field capacity that could not be filled by a new event management system. By pivoting from a “software search” to a strategic realignment, Sage70 provided a roadmap to eliminate data silos and empower field staff with tools they actually use.

• 30+ Field Offices aligned under a unified “Community of Practice.”
• 2 High-Friction Tools identified for replacement with enterprise-grade, integrated alternatives.
• 1 Strategic Pivot from a complex enterprise system to a right-sized event marketing and planning architecture.

The Context & Conflict

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national powerhouse in land conservation, working to create parks and protect public lands to ensure healthy, livable communities.

The Tipping Point: TPL didn’t have clear visibility into its impact. Registration and attendance metrics were inconsistent, and financial data remained locked in local spreadsheets across various field offices. On the surface, it looked like a technology failure: their incumbent system didn’t meet their needs. In response to the complexity of those systems, field staff were retreating to low-end consumer tools, creating a “black box” of data that never reached the central CRM.

Strategic Diagnosis:

While TPL initially engaged us for a vendor selection, our discovery process—which included interviews with staff at both National and Field levels—quickly changed the conversation. We uncovered that an enterprise-level event management system (EMS) was a distraction. The tools were too complex for the daily needs of field staffers, who often viewed event planning as a secondary task.

The “Aha!” Moment: The friction wasn’t due to a lack of features; it was due to competing priorities and operational misalignment. Field offices felt that engaging with the National team and using their tools created more administrative work without providing enough value. Further, all stakeholders were trying to address their competing priorities with the wrong tools. They were attempting to use only event registration systems, but what they really needed to bridge the divide between the Field and National teams was an event planning system.

Solution Architecture: Instead of recommending a more complex “all-in-one” system, Sage70 proposed a “right-sized” triad designed for adoption:

• Event Marketing & Registration: Replacing consumer tools with platforms like Zkipster or EventUp (formerly AttendEase) that offer multi-user management and automatic CRM integration.
• Collaborative Planning: Moving away from fragmented spreadsheets toward a common planning platform like Planning Pod to unify national and field workflows.

The Impact:

The Ripple Effect: By stopping the search for a complex enterprise system that staff wouldn’t use, Sage70 saved TPL from a costly, low-adoption implementation. The new strategy focuses on capacity building—turning the National Events team into mentors who support the field, rather than gatekeepers who manage software.

The roadmap now leads to a future where data flows naturally into the CRM, branding is consistent nationwide, and field staff are empowered with tools that simplify their workday rather than complicating it.