Full Technical Deep-Dive (7 Tables, Schema Details)

Scaling Partner Operations at America's Thrift Stores

Role: Growth Specialist (Drive Specialist) | Timeline: 4 months | Platform: Airtable

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At a glance

America's Thrift Stores needed to scale their Bags for Bucks donation drive program across schools, businesses, and nonprofits in multiple states—but their customer success operations had no centralized system. Partners were falling through the cracks, email outreach was inconsistent, and the team was drowning in manual work.

I designed and implemented a complete Airtable operations system that automated partner onboarding, standardized communication workflows, and gave leadership real-time visibility into the entire pipeline.

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The Challenge

America's Thrift Stores runs donation drives with partner organizations—schools, businesses, nonprofits—who collect clothing donations to raise funds. Each drive requires careful coordination: confirming dates, sending welcome packets, collecting W-9s, scheduling bin placements, assigning Area Donation Logistics Managers (ADLMs), and maintaining communication throughout the drive lifecycle.

The problems I inherited:

• No single source of truth. Partner information lived in email threads, spreadsheets, and people's memories
• Inconsistent communication. Intro emails, welcome kits, and check-ins were sent manually—or not at all—depending on bandwidth
• Zero pipeline visibility. Leadership couldn't see active drives, upcoming deadlines, or where partners were stuck
• Manual onboarding for every partner. Setting up a new drive meant copying the same checklist from scratch each time
• Data quality issues. Missing contact info, unclear statuses, and duplicate records made it impossible to trust the system

The stakes: The team was managing 50+ active partners across multiple states, with plans to scale further. Without operational infrastructure, growth would break the business.

My Approach

I came from hands-on operations work, so I didn't start with tools or layouts. I started by mapping how work actually flowed through the business—where decisions happened, where handoffs broke down, and where things fell apart under pressure.

Discovery & Workflow Mapping

I spent the first two weeks shadowing the team and documenting every step of the partner lifecycle: