Firelight Media - Fundraising and Program Management With Salesforce
Firelight Media is the premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color. They produce documentary films, support filmmakers of color, and cultivate audiences for their work. Firelight Media is committed to reach and engage diverse audiences around the world through documentary films.
Firelight Media’s flagship program, Documentary Lab, seeks out and develops emerging filmmakers of color who make artful and innovative nonfiction films. The 18-month Documentary Lab provides filmmakers with customized mentorship from prominent leaders in the documentary world, as well as funding, professional development workshops, and networking opportunities.
Achieving this vision at scale requires a robust technical infrastructure that supports both internal staff and program participants. In early 2022, Firelight Media selected OneTenth as their Salesforce implementation partner to not only lay the foundation of CRM for the organization, but also provide training, guidance, and nonprofit best practices – setting Firelight Media up for long-term success.
The Findings:
Despite Firelight Media’s growth and impact increasing year over year, the lack of integration amongst data sources was making it challenging to develop a comprehensive picture of each constituent’s engagement. Data was siloed by department and program area, which prohibited Firelight Media from taking advantage of synergies and collaboration that shared data offers. Specifically…
The Artist Programs teams was using Submittable to house participant data and to support the application process
The Development team was using Donorbox as its fundraising portal and to house online and offline donations
The Communications team was using MailChimp as its primary email marketing tool
Key constituent, partner, stakeholder, and event registration data were being managed in spreadsheets and separate data sources
Grant details (status, requirements, deliverables, payment schedules, etc.) were being managed in spreadsheets.
The Challenge:
Ultimately, Artist Programs staff wanted the ability to retrieve a participant’s profile and be able to see what programs they applied for, what programs they participated in, and scholarships or grant funding they received. Development wanted one place to track grants and grant deliverables, but also an easy way to report on the various fundraising platforms and channels without having to manually re-enter or upload data. And the Communications team was looking for one comprehensive picture of the constituent with their participation, interests, and donation history all in one place, so they can confidently send personalized communications based on the constituent’s interest. As the organization grew, it became critical to transition off of these disparate systems and into one centralized platform. By doing so, the organization would have one 360-degree view of their constituents and the ability to track engagement and build relationships – creating more opportunities for synergy between programs, development, and communications.
The Solution:
Early on, OneTenth and Firelight Media concluded that the Salesforce platform was the right CRM foundation to meet all the critical needs for supporting programs, fundraising, and communications. Together, they…
Configured the Nonprofit Cloud’s Nonprofit Success Pack
Implemented and integrated Give Lively, as Firelight Media’s online donation platform
Integrated Submittable with Salesforce to support the application and survey processes
Implemented and integrated FormAssembly to support web sign-ups, applicant follow-up, and surveys
Implemented and Integrated Campaign Monitor to centralize email marketing efforts and communications
Implemented and integrated Eventbrite to support event registrations
Migrated relevant data from Donorbox, Mailchimp and other end-user data sources
Developed reports and dashboards
Collaborated for end-user training
Impact:
As a result of our work together, Firelight Media can now...
Access a consolidated view of fundraising and program data in one place, both in the cloud and on-the-go
See online donations flow directly into Salesforce without any uploads or manual intervention
Easily send email acknowledgements and year-end donor summaries directly from Salesforce
Easily report on financials, receipting, organization details, and program impact
Manage the full grant lifecycle, keeping track of requirements and upcoming deliverables
Visualize programmatic data trends quickly on dashboards with real-time data
See a more complete picture of a constituent’s engagement with the organization
"Working with Rubin Singh and his team at OneTenth Consulting has been a pleasure. As a mission-aligned organization that understands not only our business needs but also our values and principles, OneTenth's human-centered approach to data collection and management should be the industry standard. Our organization has benefited tremendously from their expertise in Salesforce migration and systems integration and we look forward to engaging them in the future as we continue to grow." – Marcia Smith, Co-Founder and President, Firelight Media
“It’s been a privilege working with the team at Firelight Media. Their programs supporting filmmakers of color lift up voices, stories, and experiences that have long been suppressed. We are inspired by their commitment to reach and engage diverse audiences around the world through documentary films, and it’s an honor to play a small role in moving their mission forward.” - Rubin Singh, OneTenth Founder & CEO
To learn more about the Firelight Media please click here. And to support their impactful work, please consider making a donation.
OneTenth Consulting is a registered Salesforce consulting partner, offering a full range of services exclusively for nonprofits - from fundraising strategy to CRM selection, to CRM implementation and change management. OneTenth empowers nonprofits by aligning their organizational, fundraising, and technology strategies - providing the tools and insight they need to meet their goals and achieve their mission. Check out OneTenth’s services and schedule a free phone consultation today!