About ArtsPool Membership
Thank you for your interest in ArtsPool! The purpose of this article is to provide transparency about ArtsPool's criteria and process for selecting for new members. The best way to get the membership process started is to submit the inquiry form, but please feel free to contact us at info@artspool.co with any questions.
Considerations for membership
When evaluating prospective members, we consider the following factors:
- The organization's alignment with ArtsPool's values.
- Whether the organization is led by BIPOC or people with disabilities, or primarily serves one of those constituencies, in order to ensure equitable representation within the cooperative.
- The organization's status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and its geographic location. Our services are currently focused on nonprofits located in New York State, but if you are located outside of New York State we still want to hear from you!
- The organization's budget size, complexity, and urgency of need.
- Whether there would be any particular challenges integrating the organization's operations into ArtsPool's systems.
- ArtsPool's capacity to onboard new members at the time of inquiry, based on the balance of current members to staff.
Service packages
ArtsPool offers services in three core areas: Financial Maintenance, Financial Operations, and Workforce Administration.
Our full service offering includes all three of these services and provides the most integrated and efficient experience, but we also offer two other combinations for organizations with different needs.
- Financial Operations + Financial Maintenance only: ideal for organizations who have their payroll and workforce administration with a PEO or manage it internally.
- Financial Maintenance + Workforce Administration only: ideal for organization who prefer to manage their organization budget, grant budgets and reports, and audit internally.
For more on our specific services, see What ArtsPool does: an overview.
Prospective member review process
Joining the ArtsPool cooperative is a commitment that requires investment of time and resources on both sides. Before joining the cooperative, we use the following process to ensure that both you and ArtsPool have ample opportunity to get to know one another and ensure it is a good fit. The full process can take up to several months, depending on how long it takes to schedule each step.
- Discovery call
After receiving your inquiry submission, we will schedule an initial phone call to discuss your interest in ArtsPool and assess fit. - Information submission
We will send you a form to complete with details about your financial operations and current workforce. This helps us understand the complexity of your operations so that we can provide you with a quote and plan for how we would onboard your organization into ArtsPool's systems. - Materials review
We will review your submitted information and develop a quote for the service packages that you are interested in.ArtsPool is here to help, not to judge. We ask for this detailed information so that we can help you adjust to membership at ArtsPool, and to start off our relationship with mutual transparency and accountability. - Membership Overview Meeting
The Membership Overview Meeting is a two-hour presentation delivered by ArtsPool's Member Development Manager and Executive Officer. It's designed to give your organization's leadership staff and board members an opportunity to learn more about ArtsPool's services and the responsibilities of being a member in the cooperative. It is also an opportunity to discuss the quote for the monthly service fee to ensure that it is affordable and to answer any questions you may have about ArtsPool's pricing structure. - Contract review and signature
You will receive template contracts to review and have approved by your board. Once you have reviewed the contract and we have agreed on an onboarding kickoff date, we will send you the contracts for digital signature.We find that contract review nearly always takes longer than anticipated - be sure to leave plenty of time for your board and any relevant stakeholders to review these documents and ask questions, which we are happy to help with. - Membership approval
Concurrently with contract review, ArtsPool's management personnel will review the prospective member's candidacy and approve membership based on the criteria above. - Onboarding and start of services
Once contracts are signed, we can begin planning for the onboarding kickoff date building out an onboarding timeline leading to a mutually agreed upon service start date. It usually takes us about six weeks to convert your books, budget, and payroll to ArtsPool's systems before we can fully take over management of those systems, but this timing may vary depending on the complexity of your organization's conversion. During the onboarding period you will need to maintain your legacy providers, and be available to answer questions to support the onboarding process.
Questions?
Please don't hesitate to contact your main contact at ArtsPool, or info@artspool.co.
