Friends of Fourth Ward

Friends of Fourth Ward (FOFW) is a 900-member community group committed to the interests of residents in Downtown Charlotte, NC. FOFW was founded in 1976 to help rehabilitate and restore the historic neighborhood.

FOFW needed a better way to keep its members interested, collaborating, and actively engaged. “Before WebOffice, we had no real communication vehicle other than email to keep things moving between meetings,” says Dennis Marsoun, Vice President, FOFW.

FOFW board members, directors, and committee members now use WebEx WebOffice to improve communications, keep members motivated, and keep projects moving forward between meetings. “WebEx WebOffice is providing Friends of Fourth Ward with an impressive array of tools and is transforming the way the organization works. It is allowing our organization to become more proactive,” says Marsoun.

"WebEx WebOffice is providing Friends of Fourth Ward with an impressive array of tools and is transforming the way the organization works."

- Dennis Marsoun, Vice President of the Friends of Fourth Ward (FOFW)

FOFW credits WebEx WebOffice with enabling it to double collection of membership fees, work more effectively between monthly meetings, and more easily poll public opinion.

The organization also credits WebEx WebOffice with boosting its credibility by providing a permanent, publicly accessible repository for its bylaws and mission statement in the WebOffice Document Manager.

WebOffice Discussion Forums keep FOFW members focused on what they need to do between meetings. “As with any all-volunteer organization that only meets once a month, it’s very difficult to maintain a sense of urgency,” says Marsoun. “With the WebOffice Discussion Forums, our board, our directors and committee people can start a discussion thread without having to get together for an interim meeting. We can keep everyone moving forward.”

Using the WebOffice Database Manager, FOFW can quickly identify people who have not paid. Its membership database contains about 900 names and addresses, and the dues-paying population is about 290, with various levels of membership payment. The WebOffice Database Manager allows FOFW to segment its population into categories: Paid, not paid, paid last year, etc. This quick access to the right data has helped the group double its membership fees.

“Overall, our database is one of our most valuable possessions. We guard it carefully, and thanks to WebOffice, we can protect it by giving permissions to only those who need to work with that data,” Marsoun says.

FOFW uses the WebOffice Document Manager for sharing files in conjunction with Discussion Forums. The organization’s board of directors uses it extensively to create and manage many projects, and to keep works-in-progress moving forward.

The WebOffice Document Manager also allows FOFW to put its bylaws in a central repository. “Before it was likely somebody in the neighborhood had the bylaws, but nobody knew who had them. Now we have a home for our bylaws, our mission statement, and our documents of incorporation.

Our WebOffice site gives a lot more permanence to what we’re doing and a lot more credence to our group.”

FOFW also uses the Document Manager to post the minutes of board meetings. “Maintaining a history of our organization in one central repository is critical and certainly our WebOffice Web site allows us to do all that,” Marsoun says.

There are thirty-three active members that regularly log in to the group’s WebOffice, but FOFW also uses the guest access feature to allow all 900 members to see selected documents and discussion forums.

FOFW uses the WebOffice Opinion Polls extensively for members and non-members who log in as guests, allowing the group to get a quick read on what the feelings are on different issues in the community.

FOFW also uses WebOffice Expense Reports, which it customizes for tracking: entertainment expenses, events fees, ground transportation, postage, and printing - the main expenses the organization incurs.

“We love WebOffice with all its various tools. It’s helping us to shape our organization for the future,” says Marsoun.