How Matthews Playhouse Protected Its Ticket Sales and Patron Email with Apparo Tech Therapy
Since 1995, Matthews Playhouse has been a community-based nonprofit theater committed to enriching the lives of children, adults, and families by inviting them to participate in the world of performing arts and education. From its home in the historic Matthews Community Center, the Playhouse serves families across Mecklenburg and Union Counties. It offers mainstage productions, School of Theatre classes, summer camps, and inclusive programming for people with disabilities. Every one of those programs depends on one thing: being able to reach patrons, families, and students when it’s time to enroll or buy a ticket.
A Spam Blacklisting That Shut Down Ticket Sales
About a year and a half ago, right after the holiday season, that lifeline was cut. A staff member accidentally sent a large batch of emails from an individual work Gmail account instead of through the Playhouse’s email marketing platform. The organization was flagged as a spammer. Email, the website, and ticketing were all shut down for a week.
Gretchen Gaertner, Development Director at Matthews Playhouse, remembers it vividly. “Everything shut down. We lost our Gmail, our website went down, and ticket sales for our upcoming show came to a dead stop.” she said. “It was a horrible situation.” The Playhouse hired outside to help clean things up. The fix came so quickly that the team never fully understood what had gone wrong, or how to keep it from happening again.
From the Knight Cohort to Tech Therapy
Matthews Playhouse’s relationship with Apparo began last year through the Apparo Technology Foundations Cohort for recipients of the Knight Foundation Arts + Tech Fund. During the program, the organization strengthened its technology foundation by installing antivirus software, improving email and security practices, assessing its website, and adopting Neon CRM to manage patron relationships. That experience gave Gretchen a plan for moving forward and introduced the Playhouse to Apparo’s broader technology support.
Just as valuable was what the team kept afterward. “We received information packets with lasting value that I still refer to today.,” Gretchen said. “With the help of my Apparo cohort, I was able to put together a strategic plan for moving forward after the program. We followed it, and it worked.”
Tech Therapy for Matthews Playhouse!
Tech Therapy Connects Neon CRM, Gmail, and the Playhouse Website
When the Playhouse continued to encounter roadblocks with Neon CRM, Gretchen returned to Apparo for focused support through Tech Therapy®. The program connects nonprofits with skilled technology volunteers who provide free advice, guidance, and practical solutions. Through Tech Therapy, Matthews Playhouse could address the immediate email and security challenges affecting its communications with patrons.
Matthews Playhouse was paired with Tech Therapy volunteer Jean Pierre LeJacq of Salus CM. Jean began by examining the connection between Neon CRM and the Playhouse’s website, then uncovered a series of related email and account security issues. “He noticed one thing that led to another thing that led to another thing,” Gretchen said. “It snowballed, but in a good way.”
JP’s work tackled the exact risks behind the earlier shutdown:
- Email that looks like it comes from Matthews Playhouse. Newsletters and marketing emails sent through Neon used to come from Neon. JP configured the Playhouse’s website domain and Google settings so those messages now arrive clearly from Matthews Playhouse. That means patrons trust them instead of treating them as junk mail.
- DMARC email authentication. JP set up DMARC, a security standard that helps prove the Playhouse’s emails are legitimate and protects its domain from being spoofed or flagged. The Playhouse’s operations lead now monitors the reports it generates.
- Safer Google accounts. Three people had been signing into a single marketing email account. JP replaced that with a marketing group address that each person reaches through their own login, a more secure setup the team hadn’t known it needed.
- Better use of Neon CRM data. JP showed the team how to pull reports out of Neon, helping them get more value from the system they had already invested in.
“I’m not a technical person, and I don’t know all the technical terms,” Gretchen said. “ But I know we are far more secure now than we were before.”
Trusted Vendor Recommendations Through Apparo’s Expert Link
Matthews Playhouse also received support through Apparo’s Expert Link, which connects nonprofits with trusted technology resources and vendors. When the Playhouse began redesigning its website, Gretchen asked Jerri Grant, Technology Advisor at Apparo, for recommendations. Jerri provided a list of vendor contacts to consider. “Jerri gave us so many names to reach out to, and I felt comfortable with all of them,” Gretchen said. “They came from Apparo, and I trust Apparo.”
More Secure Patron Email Means More Students, Families, and Audiences Served
For a community theater, a trusted inbox is mission critical. Matthews Playhouse now uses Neon as its main tool for reaching patrons about class enrollment, summer camps, and upcoming shows. Every email that lands safely supports a registration or a ticket sale. Those in turn keep classes, productions, and scholarships going for the community.
Without Apparo, Gretchen says, the Playhouse simply would not have tackled these issues. “When you focus on serving the community, non-critical issues tend to get pushed back until something goes wrong and the whole system grinds to a halt.” With Apparo’s help, the team got ahead of the problem instead. “I feel like we’re in a much better position now,” she said. “I feel a lot more secure and comfortable with how we’re communicating with our patrons.”
To learn more about Apparo’s Tech Therapy program, visit this link.
