The Challenge

Prior to working with Extension Engine, NTC had helped nearly two million students through in-person, one-on-one coaching with more than 25,000 teachers in over 365+ districts across the United States. 

NTC’s partners had broached the need to offer digital experiences as a way to reach more teachers. Internally, NTC had to decide how digital experiences could enable the organization to do its best work without losing the value of in-person coaching. By delivering professional coaching to teachers digitally, NTC could scale their reach and impact in a cost-effective way that served the needs voiced by their constituents. But this move had to be done without sacrificing the quality and personal connections offered by their in-person engagements.

NTC worked with EE to create a list of features to solve this set of challenges:

• Measured: Create a scalable resource that allows NTC to track time and impact of their training for educators
• Dashboard: Create a tracking tool and dashboard for different types of users based on their roles and needs
• Centralized: Centralize the tools offered to their partners and include a portal to teaching resources based on user role
• Real-time insights: Provide dynamic, real-time reporting to NTC’s Impact Team to measure and report the value of the work that affects nearly two million students
• Scalable: Establish a tool that supports NTC’s growing number of educators year after year

The Solution

Working with Extension Engine, NTC created a digital platform that helps them scale their coaching model without losing its personal touch. Instead of paring down their offering to text and videos followed by quizzes, Extension Engine and NTC codesigned tools that help educators plan, implement, and track their success. Arthur Mills IV,  NTC’s chief operating officer, said:

It’s important for us to understand the needs of our partners. That’s one of the reasons we embarked on this journey. We realized there are ways we could grow and provide additional value to them.

The Result

NTC’s platform is just the first step on their digital journey. This platform has addressed challenges for NTC, including responding to travel challenges due to COVID-19. With critical self-evaluation and a drive to continually improve, NTC has been able to scale its mission and deepen its impact. For others seeking to achieve similar results, NTC’s Arthur Mills IV recommends starting with the end in mind. 

Don’t get caught up with what’s cool or what you heard at a conference. Really think about what your organization is trying to do and how digital transformation can bring that to life.

While creating digital experiences is an ongoing process, it’s crucial to nonprofit growth—especially now. With in-person training and workshops paused and travel becoming more challenging, digital experiences offer nonprofits like NTC a way to scale their reach.