How Plant Based Treaty Ditched Disorganization for Structure and Visibility

^Problem

Infrastructure Struggles Behind a Global Push

Plant Based Treaty, a grassroots campaign inspired by the Fossil Fuel Treaty, advocates for urgent climate action through food system reform—calling for plant-based diets and policies that reduce the environmental impact of animal agriculture. As the initiative expanded from its roots in the Animal Save Movement into a global operation, its backend infrastructure quickly became a bottleneck.

The team relied on free tools like Google Sheets and Drive, which proved difficult to manage as data volume and complexity increased. Disorganized folder structures, inconsistent data entry, and free-text form inputs created hours of manual rework.

Operational lead Lia Phillips found herself building complex formulas and fixing records by hand just to maintain data hygiene. Although they explored tools like Monday, limitations around cost and flexibility made it difficult to adopt a scalable solution, leaving the team without the centralized visibility and structure needed to support international growth.

Q1

^Solution

Scaling with Simplicity and Structure

SmartSuite stood out for its spreadsheet-like interface and customizable structure—making the transition from Google Sheets intuitive while adding far more capability. With expert onboarding from SmartSuite’s team, Lia was able to replicate and enhance their workflows using modular views and filters tailored to different team members' needs.

SmartSuite’s grid view became the team's central hub, with permanent filters, toggled fields, and multiple views dramatically improving usability. The platform's visual clarity helped Plant Based Treaty move away from spreadsheet chaos and into a centralized system that could grow with them.

Q2

^Results

Operational Backbone for a Global Mission

With SmartSuite, Plant Based Treaty now operates with a significantly higher degree of organization and visibility. The team replaced a half-dozen disparate tools and now manages campaign data, submissions, and directories within a unified platform.

SmartSuite has become the operational backbone of the organization. Lia continues to push the system's limits, identifying areas for enhancement while championing adoption across the team.

The improved structure not only saves time but also strengthens cross-team collaboration. Lia is now seen as a systems leader internally, having built a platform that her team actively praises. With plans to grow into SmartSuite’s advanced tiers, the organization is set to scale with confidence.