Cave Creek School Community Center · Prepared by Rheingold Digital
The reservation job you are trying to fill, mostly done by software
The July newsletter asks for a volunteer to take over reservations and booking. Before the board hands that burden to one more person, here is what the burden actually is, and how much of it does not need a person at all.
“We are searching for someone who is interested in taking on responsibility for reservations and booking of the CCSCC facility.”
Chalkboard Notes, July 2026
One reservation, two ways
The same booking, start to finish
How it works today
Phone, mail, and waiting
A family in Fredericksburg wants the school house for a September reunion.
1They find a phone numberThe website lists a name and a number, nothing else.
2They call and leave a messageNo calendar to look at, so calling is the only option.
•WaitingUntil a volunteer is free to call back.
3A volunteer checks the dateAgainst a paper calendar, an email thread, or memory.
4Two or three calls to settle itDate, price, rules, what is included.
5Paperwork changes handsMailed, emailed, or handed over in person.
•WaitingFor the signed forms to come back.
6A check goes to PO Box 2184Rental fee and deposit, by mail, to Fredericksburg.
•WaitingFor the mail, then for someone to reach the box.
7A volunteer deposits itA trip to the bank, then a note that it cleared.
8Confirmation, finallyAnother call or email to say the date is theirs.
9The deposit gets tracked by handAnd refunded by hand, weeks later.
Volunteer touches
9+
Elapsed
1–3 wks
Renter can self‑serve
No
Reconstructed from the newsletter and historicschools.org. The questionnaire will correct anything we have wrong.
How it would work
Booked from the parking lot
The same family, same reunion, on a phone.
1They open the page and see the calendarOpen dates in green. No call required to find out.
2They tap September 5Price shown immediately, member or not.
3They sign the packet on the phoneRental agreement and rules, same forms, signed with a finger.
4They pay by cardFee and refundable deposit, straight to the CCSCC account.
5Everything else runs on its ownDate blocked, receipt sent, board notified, reminder scheduled with the gate code.
Volunteer touches
1
Elapsed
6 min
Renter can self‑serve
Yes
The one remaining touch is unlocking the building. That part should stay human.
What we would actually build
Within reason, and in that order
First — the part that removes the burden
The essentials
A mobile page for the school house, built to be read on a phone in a truck
A live availability calendar, with the third-Friday Games Club held automatically
Online payment of the rental fee and deposit, into the CCSCC account
The existing rental packet, signed electronically
Automatic confirmation, reminder, and receipt emails
One simple screen where the board sees every booking
This is the whole job. Everything below is optional.
Later — only if the board wants it
Worth considering
$30 annual dues paid and renewed online
A member list, so member pricing applies itself
Photo gallery of the school, pavilion, and grounds
Group tour requests at $25
Deposit refunds tracked and released from the same screen
A yearly summary the treasurer can hand to the board
Each of these is small once the first column exists.
Deliberately not doing
Out of scope
Rebuilding historicschools.org
The other eleven schools
A phone app to download
Anything that requires a volunteer to learn new software
Removing the option to pay by check
Scope creep is how projects like this die. This column stays closed.
What still needs a person
Software should take the clerical work, not the hospitality. Three things stay with the board, and they are the three worth keeping.
The keySomebody unlocks the school and greets the family. A lockbox can help, but the welcome should not be automated.
The walkthroughSomeone looks at the building afterward and releases the deposit. Two minutes on a phone, from the parking lot.
The judgmentAn unusual request, a hard question, a date the board would rather not rent. A person still decides.
What it costs to run
Honest numbers, before anyone votes
What
Ongoing cost
Who pays it
Website hostingThe reservation page itself
$0 – low
CCSCC
Card processingAbout 3% per transaction
~$4.50 on a $150 rental
CCSCC, or passed to the renter
Electronic signaturesThe rental packet
Small monthly
CCSCC
Domain nameIf the board wants its own address
Roughly $15 a year
CCSCC
Build and setupOne time
To be discussed
—
What we need from the board
Fourteen questions, about ten minutes. The companion questionnaire covers scope, approvals, deposits, and the rental packet. Four of the questions genuinely change what gets built, and those are marked.
The one that matters most: can a stranger book an open date and pay on the spot, or does the board approve first? Everything else follows from that answer.