Nonprofit helps people with developmental disabilities express themselves through art

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SuiteConnect -- Creativity Explored, a nonprofit art center in San Francisco, is using Oracle NetSuite to support its mission to provide artists with development disabilities with the resources needed to create and share their work with the community. With NetSuite, Creativity Explored has been able to show how art and science can work together to impact lives as it has expanded its services to help more than 130 artists and increased funding from institutional and government funders by over 300 percent.

Established in 1983 by an artist and psychologist Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz, Creativity Explored was founded on the belief that everyone has the ability to create and that visual artistic expression enhances personal identity and growth. The idea has proved to be very successful, but as Creativity Explored continues to expand its presence in the local community, the nonprofit needed an integrated platform that could streamline business processes, increase visibility across the organization and organize financial data. To support these goals and ensure it could quickly and efficiently report the outcomes of its work to benefactors, Creativity Explored selected NetSuite.

"Before NetSuite our finances and databases looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, the data was connected but void of any real organization. We had the donor info in one place, customer info in another and our payment system to artists somewhere else – there was zero integration," said Ann Kappes, director of licensing, Creativity Explored. "NetSuite gives us real-time visibility into our organization, which allows us to operate more efficiently and report the outcome of all financial operations to our staff, donors and board of directors."

With NetSuite, Creativity Explored has been able to take advantage of nonprofit accounting, customer relationship management, inventory tracking, ecommerce and point of sale capabilities in a single platform to improve the efficiencies of its day-to-day operations. The powerful financial management capabilities of NetSuite have helped Creativity Explored automate financial reporting across two art studios, one onsite gallery and its popular online marketplace. This has allowed Creativity Explored to provide the transparency requested by donors, trace dollars from donation to results and double the the number of programs that support artists with developmental disabilities.

"Creativity Explored has developed meaningful art practices and it is increasingly recognized for its contributions to the art world and our Bay Area community," said Evan Goldberg, EVP, Oracle NetSuite. "We're incredibly proud to work with organizations like Creativity Explored that are changing lives through the power of art. By enabling the Creativity Explored team to streamline business operations, we are helping them spend more time and resources on growing their organization and executing on their vision."

NetSuite supports more than 1,500 nonprofits and social enterprises globally. Creativity Explored most recently benefitted from Suite Pro Bono as part of the NetSuite Social Impact program, which provides nonprofit and social enterprises with coaching and support from NetSuite employees. Creativity Explored worked with NetSuite team employees to customize its CRM solution to track grant deadlines and contracts with funders. This work is what led to the 300 percent increase in grant funding.

The amazing artwork of Creativity Explored's artists will be showcased at SuiteConnect San Francisco. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet to learn more about Creativity Explored's program offerings and meet a few artists at the event. There will also be a creation station where attendees can channel their inner artist and create personalized buttons to take home with them.  

About Creativity Explored
For the past 36 years, Creativity Explored has given artists with developmental disabilities the means to create and share their work with the community, celebrating the power of art to change lives. Located in San Francisco's vibrant Mission District, Creativity Explored provides a supportive studio environment, including individualized instruction from mentoring artists, quality supplies, and professional opportunities to exhibit and sell their art. The organization establishes these artists' work as an emerging and increasingly important contribution to the contemporary art world.

Founded by Florence and Elias Katz in 1983, Creativity Explored has expanded to two locations: the main gallery and studio on 16^th Street in San Francisco's Mission District, and a second studio in nearby Potrero Hill.

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