Firespring

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and co-founder of 1F Collaborative and we’re a nonprofit that funds medical research to cure a rare genetic disease called Usher Syndrome Type 1F.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Firespring?

We needed a platform that would make maintaining, editing, and updating our website easier. We also needed something that was reliable where it wouldn’t go down once a month, and responsive customer support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firespring provided a template and initially took the content from our old website, and implemented it to the template that we chose. They also taught us how to work within their platform to shape what we needed and wanted, and helped us along the way. Once it was ready to go, they took it live and we’ve been maintaining the website ever since — I will call them up occasionally for questions.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one person who did the transition for the initial launching. We also had a video conference with a shared screen where we went through how to make the modifications, and we talked about the best ways to organize the website. Once it was launched, I’ve just spoken to their support people, most of whom I know at this point.

How did you come to work with Firespring?

I asked someone I know who runs another nonprofit organization about Firespring, because they’d redone their website and I really liked the way it looked — at the time, I was also increasingly dissatisfied with the company we were with. I called the person I know and they told me about Firespring, and how they specialize as a nonprofit.

How much have you invested with them?

The transition, setup, and support to create the new website cost us $2,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2018, and the website went live around October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

One really important metric was the percentage of time the site has been down, and that is zero — before it was down at least once a month. In terms of the responsiveness of technical support, it only took about an hour or two. Firespring would immediately respond if I call on the phone, and it would only take a couple of hours when I send an email. They would also send me an analytic report at the end of every month that would tell me who has found our site and from where — for a small nonprofit, we get really good numbers.

How did Firespring perform from a project management standpoint?

I give them a five out of five for the website and snail-mail newsletter. In addition, Firespring got us nonprofit postal rates and designed the system themselves — they also did the work at half the cost of what we were paying before for the printing and mailing, so they’ve been fantastic.

We communicated based on how urgent the need was. We usually interact through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What makes Firespring different from other providers was their understanding of the needs and budgets of nonprofits. We also liked their personal customer support and their suite of services and products for nonprofits — they were able to take care of all our IT and communication needs in one place.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For the marketing, they provided us with a calendar, and I should’ve given more specific and concrete ideas or action items for fundraising.    

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise that you use them for the website and newsletters, and as long as you provide them with what they need, they’ll do a great job.