The Art Institute of Chicago

The Executive Summary:

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) suffered from legacy systems misaligned with modern user expectations and poorly integrated, creating significant operational friction and “dirty” data. Sage70 delivered a comprehensive strategy to decouple retail memberships from true philanthropy, realign organizational authority, and bridge the gap to a modern, cloud-first architecture.

• Project Scope: 24–30-month digital transformation roadmap.
• Key Friction Point: 90% of duplicate records were caused by a single, “blunt” integration between the CRM and the ticketing system.
• Strategic Pivot: Recognizing that while memberships were tax-deductible, membership sales were transactional, not philanthropic.

The Context & Conflict: "The RE Console is a Bully"

AIC relied on a complex ecosystem of Raiser’s Edge 7, Galaxy for ticketing, and ChainDrive for retail. While these tools were functional on their own, they were poorly integrated. As one staff member noted, the RE Console integration tool was a “bully” that shoved messy data from Galaxy into Raiser’s Edge, creating a backlog of duplicates that staff simply couldn’t keep up with.

The Challenges:

• Unacceptable Lag: Because visitor membership was treated as a philanthropic donation, a new member might wait days to be recognized in the system, an “intolerable” delay for a retail-style transaction.
• Siloed Digital Experiences: The Museum website, the eShop, and the membership portal felt like different worlds, depressing web traffic and conversions.
• Structural Uncertainty: Membership and Advancement departments had uncertain mandates and overlapping authority. A software migration could not succeed before clarifying the departments’ coordination and collaboration.

The Sage70 Approach: Strategic Diagnosis Over Tool Selection

We spent tens of hours in the trenches—interviewing staff, reviewing screenshares, and auditing the data engines. Our diagnosis was clear: AIC didn’t just need a new database; it needed to change how it defined its members.

Our Strategic Interventions Included:

• The “Aha!” Moment: We demonstrated that membership transactions needed to be managed as real-time retail transactions first. Later, qualified donor leads and existing donor-members could be streamed into the philanthropic pipeline. By recommending that AIC move membership management out of RE and into Galaxy, we cleared the path to substantially ease operational burdens.
• The 6-Month “Bridge”: Recognizing low organizational capacity, we recommended delaying software selection by six months to focus on hiring key leadership and improving data culture.
• The Human Element: We advised embedding data analysts directly within business units, and divesting those units of responsibility for the technical infrastructure—letting fundraisers fundraise, and IT manage the “pipes”.

The Impact: A New Horizon for Mission Delivery

Sage70 provided guidance that balanced technical necessity with human reality. Instead of a “quick fix,” AIC received a 24–30 month roadmap for rebuilding systems and workflows, and developing a high-performance team.

The Results:

• Immediate Gift Officer Value: Recommended the adoption of EverTrue to provide gift officers with mobile access and sharpened donor insights during the migration period.
• Operational Clarity: Defined a new 4S Framework (Strategy, Support, Stewardship, Sustainability) for defining organizational priorities, clarifying departmental authority, and building cross-departmental collaboration pathways.
• Modern Infrastructure: A clear plan to replace “home-grown” web components with standard, scalable tools like Shopify, reducing long-term maintenance costs.

“The Art Institute of Chicago was managing by anecdote and instinct. We gave them the tools to start managing by data.”