Case Study: New York Cares achieves 35% higher team efficiency and clearer project ownership with Asana

New York Cares helps millions in need with Asana

New York Cares is a New York–based nonprofit (185 staff, 52,000 volunteers) that runs year‑round programs addressing education, hunger, homelessness, and public-space revitalization. When Michael Gamber became Director of Volunteer Relations & Training, he inherited widespread confusion around project ownership, blurred lines between project and operational work, limited visibility into active initiatives, staff burnout, and time lost to status meetings—problems that constrained the organization’s ability to plan and execute effectively.

To fix this, New York Cares rolled out Asana through focus groups, a pilot, leadership buy‑in, and ongoing change management and onboarding, using Portfolios, Goals, and documented processes to map work and reorganize teams into functional roles. The result: clearer priorities and resourcing, an estimated 35% boost in team efficiency, more time and energy for daily work, improved ability to measure outcomes, and greater capacity to respond to community needs (including serving 29 million meals in 2020).

New York Cares

Michael Gamber

Director of Volunteer Relations & Training