Preserving the past, powered by the future

How History Colorado uses Alchemer to modernize feedback and serve communities faster

By digitizing feedback programs and connecting data across departments, History Colorado transformed how it understands and serves communities across the state. With Alchemer, History Colorado replaced manual processes with streamlined workflows and actionable insights. The result is a more connected organization that can move faster, make smarter decisions, and focus more time on preserving and sharing Colorado’s history.

“We work with a lot of vendors and Alchemer is one of the best because of the people. From the sales team to customer success to development, everyone feels like part of our team. Alchemer feels more like a teammate than a vendor.”

— Shannon Haltiwanger, Director of Evaluation and Impact, History Colorado

About History Colorado

History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and state agency founded in 1879, under the Department of Higher Education, dedicated to preserving and sharing the state’s history. They operate a network of 11 museums, historic sites, research centers, and manage archaeology and historic preservation programs across the state of Colorado.

Challenge: Bringing museums and programs into the digital age

Just because History Colorado preserves the past doesn’t mean it has to stay there. As Director of Evaluation and Impact, Shannon Haltiwanger is helping shape History Colorado’s future—leading efforts to modernize how History Colorado engages and serves citizens and communities across the state. From museums and field trips to educational programs, the organization gathers both quantitative and qualitative data to better understand its impact on the citizens and communities it serves and to identify opportunities for improvement.

When Shannon took on her role six years ago, digital transformation was slow to implement. Museums still used paper guest books, most of their feedback processes were manual, and data lived in separate systems that didn’t communicate with each other.

For many nonprofits, government, and educational organizations, this is a common theme. Collecting data isn’t the problem. The real challenge comes from streamlining the process —centralizing surveys and feedback while balancing time, budget, internal resources, and the right technology.

But adopting new technology isn’t always easy. Teams need tools that busy staff and volunteers can actually use. Shannon puts it simply: “We have volunteers who may only come in a couple of times a month. So whatever we put in place has to be simple. If staff and visitors can’t use it easily, it won’t work.”

Shannon knew she needed a tool robust enough to support different use cases and departments, but simple enough for teams across History Colorado to adopt.

“We have museums, departments, and programs where one or two people are maintaining these big projects. Sometimes it’s hard to stop and ask, how could we do this more efficiently?”

— Shannon Haltiwanger, Director of Evaluation and Impact, History Colorado

Solution: Building a modern feedback system with Alchemer

In 2023, History Colorado replaced manual transactions and traditional cash registers with a new point-of-sale system across its locations. That shift toward digital operations became the catalyst Shannon needed to introduce a broader digital strategy and bring Alchemer to teams across the organization.

Shannon chose Alchemer for its ease of use and began using the platform to centralize surveys and feedback across programs, helping teams move away from disconnected spreadsheets and paper forms toward a more unified system for collecting insights.

She introduced Alchemer gradually, starting small and expanding as the team saw results. Shannon often describes her approach as “crawl, walk, run”, beginning with simple use cases, showing teams how the technology works, and expanding as they begin to see results.

Over time, that steady approach helped Alchemer spread across departments. What started as a way to digitize surveys quickly evolved into a platform teams could use for everything from event registrations to program feedback and internal workflow.

Today, teams across History Colorado use Alchemer for:

Visitor and membership surveys
School field trip registration
Event requests and RSVPs
Affiliate museum program applications
Evaluating grant applications
Internal coordination workflows
And many other projects

For the first time, teams could start viewing information across locations and programs in one place — making it easier to track engagement, identify trends, and respond when something wasn’t working as expected.

The use cases continue to expand as teams discover new ways Alchemer can support needs across the organization.

Powering a statewide celebration

One new way Shannon is using Alchemer is through one of History Colorado’s most ambitious projects: the 250-150 celebration, a statewide initiative marking the anniversaries of both the United States and Colorado.

The goal: ensure celebrations and historical programming reach communities across the entire state. To make that happen, organizations, museums, and nonprofits across Colorado can submit events that are automatically added to a statewide calendar.

Organizations enter their event information through a form that feeds into Google Sheets and populates a public event calendar. The system gathers demographic and location data, giving the team real-time visibility into representation across the state and helping them identify where events are taking place and where additional outreach may still be needed.

“We wanted to make sure something is happening everywhere across Colorado,” Shannon says. “If we see that a region isn’t represented yet, we can reach out and help connect people.”

Alchemer powers nearly the entire process, including logo use, community toolkit requests, aligned giving, community grant submissions, and more.

Behind the scenes, automation makes the experience easier for contributors. If an organization submits multiple events, the Alchemer form remembers their contact information and pre-fills it the next time — saving time and reducing friction.

This streamlined experience helps History Colorado connect resources not only to Colorado communities, but also to organizations around the nation.

Insights that drive better programs

Collecting feedback only matters if you do something with it. For Shannon and the team at History Colorado, that principle guides how they approach every survey, form, and feedback program they launch. “If you’re going to ask someone to give feedback, you have to be willing to make changes,” Shannon says. “If you ask and never improve anything, people will stop answering.”

With Alchemer, History Colorado analyzes feedback faster and shares insights across departments, turning responses into real decisions that shape programs and experiences across the state.

Teams use that data to:

Plan exhibits and educational programs
Improve membership experiences
Evaluate and improve upon community initiatives
Inform budgeting, staffing, and resource planning

“We can see connections we couldn’t see before and help quantify those that we did see but couldn’t prove with data,” Shannon explains. “It helps us plan our budgets, staffing, and space needs.”

Instead of feedback living in separate surveys or spreadsheets, teams can now view engagement holistically — so teams better understand how visitors, members, and communities interact with History Colorado and turn that feedback into meaningful changes people can see.

Supporting history organizations across the state

History Colorado’s impact extends far beyond its own museums and programs. Through its Affiliate Program, the organization partners with museums, historical societies, and other history-focused groups across the state to help strengthen local cultural institutions.

Affiliate organizations gain access to resources they might not otherwise have, including training, best practices for museum operations, and support from History Colorado’s team. Members of the program can also participate in specialized initiatives, access educational programming, and receive benefits such as discounts on traveling exhibits.

But Shannon and her team want to better understand how these partners are doing and how History Colorado can support them more effectively. The feedback gathered through Alchemer acts as a regular pulse check, helping the team answer key questions like: How are these organizations doing today? Where are they struggling? And how can History Colorado better support them moving forward?

As funding landscapes shift and some federal and state programs change or disappear, these insights have become even more valuable. By centralizing this information in Alchemer, Shannon and her team track trends over time, check in on how partner organizations are doing, and make more informed decisions about the programs and resources that support the greatest impact.

A true technology partner

For Shannon, one of the most valuable parts of working with Alchemer isn’t just the software, but the partnership behind it.

“We work with a lot of vendors,” she says. “But Alchemer feels more like a teammate than a vendor.”

Shannon has found Alchemer easy for teams across the organization to adopt. And when she’s building something new, she knows help is just a phone call away. Being able to quickly connect with a support team member helps her get unstuck and figure out the best way to bring new ideas to life. That collaboration has allowed Shannon and her team to experiment, test ideas, and continue evolving their technology strategy over time.

This partnership has also helped Shannon empower teams across the organization to use Alchemer with confidence.

Shannon explains, “One of the biggest joys of this job is talking to someone who’s struggling with technology and, while mapping and planning for the future, being able to say, ‘Let me introduce you to Alchemer to help with that.’”

And the journey is far from over.

Next on the roadmap, Shannon hopes to expand Alchemer’s use across additional teams, including integrating workflows with the HR department and exploring capabilities, like the DocuSign integration, to streamline internal processes even further.

Conclusion

Today, Alchemer supports everything from visitor feedback to statewide historical initiatives—while helping a lean team operate more efficiently.

For Shannon, the biggest impact is simple. Time.

By digitizing forms, connecting data, and automating processes, History Colorado can focus more on its mission: preserving and sharing the stories that shape the state. They are building a roadmap to streamline their everyday work with technology.

“Because when we free up time for staff, they can focus on creating the programs and education opportunities that serve Colorado.” Shannon says. “We may not get everything right the first time, but we are reserving the right to get smarter.”

Because digital transformation isn’t about replacing the human side of the work. It’s about giving passionate teams the tools they need to do more of it.

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