Overview
MODA is a prominent design museum located in Atlanta with a mission to advance the understanding and appreciation of design as the convergence of creativity and functionality through exhibitions, education, and programming for visitors of all ages. MODA has an ongoing commitment to exploring new ways that museums can serve their communities in the 21st century and building new models that provide opportunities for lifelong learning.
After MODA temporarily closed its doors to the public in March 2020 due to COVID-19, it worked to innovate new ways to continue its mission of bringing design to the community by moving its celebrated in-person children’s and adult education programs online, plus adapting its current and previous in-person exhibitions to become available online. These launches marked the museum’s first foray into digital programming that could reach audiences across the globe. During the height of the pandemic, the museum hosted programs reaching participants from 45 states and 18 countries – something it had never been able to do before from its brick-and-mortar location in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood.
The challenge
“Our digital success during the pandemic made us aware that people around the world are hungry for programming and exhibitions that demonstrate the power of design to make a difference in the world,” says MODA’s Executive Director Laura Flusche. “We wanted to continue expanding our audience across the globe to meet that demand even after we opened our doors again, but while our temporary efforts and use of various platforms got the job done during the pandemic, we knew we needed something more robust and expansive if we truly wanted to transform MODA into a museum of the future. But we didn’t have any internal tech staff, and we couldn’t afford to build something entirely custom, so we needed a product that gave us a lot of functionality, that could take on the feel of MODA, but that was also easy to use for a small team with no IT staff.”
The solution
With funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Program, designed to help arts organizations stabilize and thrive in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic through strategic improvements to technology infrastructure, MODA used Gather MXP to develop MyMODA–a highly interactive and intuitive digital platform to be a hub for MODA audiences.
MyMODA, powered by Gather, is secure, easy-to-navigate and allows people across the globe to become part of the museum’s community of changemakers, no matter where they are located. The beta version of the My MODA launched in October 2021. In addition to registering for and attending live events via MyMODA, users are able to access recordings of past events and virtual versions of in-museum exhibitions. They can also join MODA as virtual or in-person members and make financial contributions to sustain the museum’s programming.
The results
- 10% month-over-month growth in digital usersIn the first year more than 2,000 people have become registered users
- 2.5x increase over members alone. Reach expanded to include users from 24 countries, 45 states and 165 Georgia zip codes
- All video assets consolidated into an easy-to-access and navigate digital library
- Enabled in-context membership renewal and donation functionality into My MODA
- 73% higher renewal rate for members who engaged with My MODA
- Actionable data allows the museum to create personalized experiences, outreach, and campaigns for users
We couldn’t afford to build something entirely custom, so we needed a product that gave us a lot of functionality, that could take on the feel of MODA, but that was also easy to use for a small team with no IT staff.” — Laura Flusche, Executive Director
Read the full case study here.
