A world free from poverty, with equal opportunities for all – this is what Oxfam strives daily to help achieve. The organisation’s activities include ensuring that people can earn a living for themselves by fair means, and lobbying politicians and businesses to make them aware of their responsibilities. It also asks Dutch people to make choices that benefit poor countries, such as buying fair trade products for which people in developing countries receive a good price.
Meticulous planning
Achieving these goals relies on good communication and cooperation from within Oxfam Novib, which is why the organisation has a comprehensive marketing and traffic team. They deal with lots of different projects which require communication measures, in the form of direct marketing campaigns or flyers, for instance. Setting up and maintaining all these projects involves meticulous planning.
The search for a solution
Dirk Verver, from Purchasing Graphic Products and Support, explains: “Until last year, in the traffic and marketing department we were using a project management solution that did not give us a clear overview of all the ongoing projects and their status. Given that a number of people are involved in each project, this is inefficient. It’s important for everyone involved to know when the deadlines are and who is working on what. So I set about finding a solution that better accommodates these needs, with well-designed visuals.”
Dirk’s search began on the Internet, where Projectplace was one of the solutions that caught his eye. Upon closer investigation, other solutions proved too limited, so he decided on this transparent and socially and visually oriented online cooperation tool. “Our staff have been enthusiastic about Projectplace right from the off. The tool is very user-friendly, which has meant that people were soon able to find their way around the projects”, says Verver.