Career Path Services is a nonprofit organization in Washington state focused on empowering individuals to access employment opportunities, achieve financial stability, and secure economic prosperity. Program analyst Christina Shaffer and business intelligence analyst and IT manager Jasmine Smith (collectively referred to as Jastina) play key roles in creating tools for the organization and standardizing operations across various departments and divisions, which is what led them to Jotform Enterprise.
Before transitioning to Jotform Enterprise, Career Path Services relied heavily on manual, paper-based processes. “We did a lot of scanning of PDFs, sending them back and forth through email, and manually uploading them to our state system,” Shaffer says.
The versatility of Jotform Enterprise helps us do really amazing things, like getting more unhoused people off the street. We’ve accomplished so much with Jotform Enterprise. We can’t put a dollar amount on someone’s life, but the impact we’ve been able to make with Jotform Enterprise, and the peace of mind it has given us, is more than worth the price of the platform.
Jasmine Smith, Business Intelligence Analyst and IT Manager, Career Path Services
Shaffer and Smith initially tested Jotform using a Silver plan. At a Washington Workforce Association conference, they presented a session on what they had learned about the platform by sharing a form designed to mimic a digital escape room.
Their form caught the attention of a funder in the audience. The funder was so impressed by Jotform’s capabilities that they proposed using it to develop a universal intake system for job seekers for the largest county in the state of Washington. They also generously offered to fund the project.
As a result, Career Path Services expanded their Jotform Enterprise account and is in the process of transitioning all its processes across the state to the platform. “We use Jotform Enterprise for everything,” says Smith.
Using Jotform Enterprise to streamline services
Career Path Services uses Jotform Enterprise to serve its community and streamline its referral program, which enrolls clients in American Job Centers, a federal career and training services program. By leveraging Jotform’s conditional logic feature, the team created a single application form that adapts according to the user persona. That way, customers, staff members, and managers can all use the same form to submit and review applications, saving time and simplifying the form-filling process.
The team also uses conditional logic to display messages that redirect applicants to other resources if their submission data indicates they are outside of Career Path Services’ geographic range. “Jotform Enterprise is not just a form service to us,” says Smith.
By collecting more information up front, Career Path Services can prioritize services for veterans. “We get a lot of additional information [through intake forms] that we love to have, but we’re not always able to get,” says Shaffer. The timely collection of complete data ensures veterans receive the support they need promptly. “Being able to collect data efficiently has been really helpful for collaboration between the state agencies,” says Shaffer.
Using the Jotform-Trello integration, staff can easily manage caseloads across multiple states and automatically transfer the information into Trello. They also use the Trello integration to manage IT helpdesk cases. Shaffer and Smith also use Jotform Prefill to auto-populate the form with data they already have, saving applicants time in filling out the forms.
Being able to collect data efficiently has been really helpful for collaboration between the state agencies.
Christina Shaffer, Program Analyst, Career Path Services
Creating efficient workflows
Career Path Services uses Jotform Enterprise to create a complete workflow for career services applicants, guiding them from their initial referral to a specific employment program through submitting their application. Once they are accepted, the form also helps onboard them to the program, providing additional information that the applicant can refer back to as needed.
“Using Jotform Enterprise helps eliminate human error when they’re submitting an eligibility approval, which helps the customer because it makes the process quicker rather than the back-and-forth we had with paper forms,” Shaffer says.
Once an applicant has been approved, a staff member automatically receives an email prompting them to review a checklist in the form that details what they need to do to process the enrollment. Staff use a Google Sheets integration to track approval updates as staff members review and submit forms. This automated approach expedites the whole process and eliminates manual work, providing a comprehensive solution for managing client intake.
Saving on e-signature software with Jotform Sign
Career Path Services replaced DocuSign and ContractWorks by using Jotform’s native e-signature solution, Jotform Sign, for their e-signature documents. Serving thousands of individuals and businesses across the state every year requires numerous forms and contracts.
“Jotform Enterprise fits the bill and provides an all-in-one solution for our organization,” says Shaffer. In addition to using Jotform Sign for audit trails, subrecipient agreements, and collaborations with other nonprofits, Career Path Services uses it for new contracts and monthly invoicing to funders for reimbursements.
Jotform Enterprise helps us serve people in our community more effectively and efficiently.
Christina Shaffer, Program Analyst, Career Path Services
Empowering individuals with the entire Jotform Enterprise platform
Career Path Services uses Jotform Tables to give its whole team a comprehensive overview of their data. They use it to view the submission data from multiple forms. One of the team’s favorite features is the Edit Links, which allows respondents to modify their form responses after they’ve submitted them. They use webhooks in a SQL database and integrations with Airtable, Google Drive, and One Drive, as well as the Spreadsheet to Form Widget.
“Communication with customer service is great,” Shaffer says. “The Enterprise customer success team helps us create a workaround for anything we want to do.”
Drive success in your community with accessibility and flexibility
Career Path Services implemented Jotform Enterprise to create an online application for its new program Dignified Workday, which provides pathways to low-income housing and on-demand jobs for unhoused individuals. Career Path Services pays potential clients to clean up and repair apartments and assists them with waiting list applications for housing.
“The versatility of Jotform Enterprise helps us do really amazing things, like getting more unhoused people off the street,” says Smith. “We’ve accomplished so much with Jotform Enterprise. We can’t put a dollar amount on someone’s life, but the impact we’ve been able to make with Jotform Enterprise, and the peace of mind it has given us, is more than worth the price of the platform.”
Digitizing paper processes with online forms and information has opened up opportunities to individuals who live in rural areas where services are not available and maintained services during the COVID-19 lockdown when physical offices were closed. “Jotform has helped us extend our front door to people who have accessibility issues,” says Smith.
Advice for nonprofit organizations
Career Path Services has standardized its processes across departments and divisions with Jotform Enterprise and invites other nonprofits struggling with manual processes or tech complexity to do the same. “You don’t need a developer, there’s no coding needed, it’s easy to make live updates, and you can easily share information with staff,” says Shaffer.
“We’ve already done a lot of the looking; stop looking and pick Jotform Enterprise,” Shaffer says. “Nothing else compares to its ease of use.”
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