Longue Vue streamlines daily operations with
improved guest services experience.

Set in the beautiful city of New Orleans, Longue Vue House and Gardens
continues the legacy of innovative thought, creative expression, and lifelong
learning established by philanthropists Edith and Edgar Stern, who lived there
in the mid-20th century.

Today, Longue Vue’s leaders focus programming on social justice, community
responsibility, environmental issues, and artistic learning. With such a big
mission, they did not want the small size of the staff to inhibit Longue Vue’s
ability to deliver a world class guest services experience to their community
and visitors. They knew they needed a technology partner to help them better manage their operations and looked no further than Blackbaud
and Blackbaud Altru®, the leading solution for the ticketing, membership,
admissions, and fundraising needs of arts and culture organizations.
“The ability to have more accurate data, increased revenue, and more
individualized interactions with members, donors, and guests is better than I
ever expected. The fact that we are spending less time on the administrative
side of things is even better,” explained Director of Engagement Susan
Hudlow. “Our audience is much more engaged with us as we now have a way
to track each interaction and respond in real time. Blackbaud has allowed us
to provide a level of individualized service we have not enjoyed before.”

Saving Valuable Staff Time

Longue Vue has seen a significant rise in admission numbers since using
Blackbaud Altru to take reservations on their website at the start of 2020.
The amount of tickets sold online jumped from zero to 61%, and the ability
to see who is coming to visit and from where helps staff provide a more
welcoming experience. “Tracking ticket sales is huge, and super easy. It was
a lifesaver during the pandemic, and coming out of it, we are able to give
special perks to members through a new concierge program to give an extra
layer of personalized attention,” said Hudlow.

With Blackbaud Altru, Longue Vue has trimmed time spent on membership
operations, while helping staff expand the program and report on
membership activity more comprehensively. “Our membership renewal and
acknowledgement processes have been streamlined quite a bit as has the
generation of all reports and mailing lists. We have cut down the amount
of time we spend digging through lists completely.” Similarly, the time staff
usually spends on program management for an event has gone from a few
days to a few hours. “Altru makes it simple to create new events, sell them
online, and manage attendees,” Hudlow said. “We’ve been able to offer more
programs since it is so easy and quick to create.”

Keeping Payments Secure with EMV® Technology

Longue Vue recently added a Museum Café and expanded their retail store.
Using Blackbaud Altru’s merchandise capabilities, they check out guests
faster and ensure the integrity of their data is intact though the single point
of entry on multiple devices. Ticket, merchandise, café, and donations can all
be taken in one order but reported on separately. “The all-in-one system is
invaluable,” Hudlow said, “and the fact that it can be managed on an iPad or
cell phone is a blessing.” The ability to have Blackbaud Altru travel with staff
is significant whether they are spread out on the property or even working
off site during hurricanes or other inclement weather.

Another new technology for Longue Vue is Blackbaud’s Payment Terminal,
which provides EMV technology that facilitates worldwide interoperability
and secure contactless payment transactions. “The new Payment Terminal
EMV technology has been a godsend for Longue Vue. Our old credit card
swipers always went down, and the new chip reader is so much easier and
quicker,“ exclaimed Hudlow.

This solution allows Blackbaud Altru and Blackbaud Merchant Services™ to
leverage contactless chip dipping and tapping technology to take payments
for tickets, merchandise, and donations. “The Blackbaud team helped us to
get Payment Terminal up and running, and it’s working amazingly. Patrons
love it because it’s faster for them to join their tours, and they can control
the payments. The contactless nature of it was huge during the pandemic.”

Amplifying Impact in a Big-Museum Kind of Way

Switching to an entirely new software system can be an extremely daunting
task, but Blackbaud put any concerns about the staff’s bandwidth for
implementation to rest. “From the beginning, our account executive was with
us the entire way and held our hand,” Hudlow said. “Blackbaud Services was
there to be our advocate and make sure we had the necessary training to
feel prepared to use Altru.” Her entire team is now comfortable using the new
system, and they have Blackbaud support if they need assistance or
a refresher.

“The support team is extremely responsive and prompt and will follow up to
make sure that things have been resolved to our satisfaction. We have had
very few issues with the functionality of Altru and have felt supported the
whole way.”

The way Hudlow sees it, no museum is too small for Blackbaud Altru because
of the time you get back. “I can do so much more for my patrons and
members because of Altru. We save so much time that we can compete with
larger staff organizations and give the same type of customer service as the
big museums.”

Blackbaud Altru also allows Longue Vue leaders to continually evaluate their
processes as they continue to serve their patrons and members and provide
the programming the New Orleans community craves. “I constantly think to
myself, ‘How did we possibly manage things without Altru?’ We should have
partnered with Blackbaud sooner!”