Fireworks CRM Overview

Fireworks CRM: The Essentials was built from the ground up to serve the needs of the higher education market.

We currently serve nearly 100 higher education institutions.

Our CRM includes the essential features and functionality you need to recruit, enroll, and retain students.

Fireworks CRM draws its design inspiration from Apple and Google – the industry leaders in modern, user-friendly tech design.

As a result, Fireworks is simple to use and completely customizable.

Unlike other CRMs that include lots of clutter, complexity, and take a large staff to manage, Fireworks CRM can be easily implemented, administered, and supported without adding staff and internal IT resources.

That’s because you’ll be implemented and supported by our best-in-class client care team.

Boost Your Enrollment

Ever wondered if a CRM can actually boost your enrollment? Wonder no more!

In this video, Melanie Casciato, Director for Student Recruitment at Columbia Basin College explains how Fireworks CRM helped CBC grow its inquiry form submissions from 25-30 per month to more than 1,000 per month!

Fireworks CRM vs. CRM Competitors

Fireworks CRM

CRM Competitors

Consultative (not aggressive) sales process

Fast, efficient, fully managed implementation by CRM’s implementation & support team

Implementation and support team does 100% of the heavy lifting

CRM includes the essential features & functionality

Easy to learn, simple to use, not complex

Perfect for small offices and small teams

No need to add additional staff to support CRM

Provides the best client care in higher education

Nearly all client-facing team members have worked in higher education

Includes training of current team members and new hires at no additional cost

Live support available to all CRM users (and the students you serve) of the CRM

Consultative support included at no additional cost

No hidden fees

Bottom line: FIreworks CRM has the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).

Student Information Systems

In addition to Fireworks CRM, our clients use the following Student Information Systems (SIS).

SIS

Percent of Clients Using SIS

Ellucian Banner or Colleague

60%

PeopleSoft

14%

Jenzabar

10%

Populi

EMPOWER

Anthology

ACES2

CampusAnyware

Veracross

No SIS

[00:16] Overview of CBC and its decision to implement a CRM
[04:18] Challenges faced by community colleges
[09:20] Why CBC chose Fireworks CRM
[13:40] Examples of Fireworks predefined reports
[16:05] CBC’s experience implementing Fireworks
[20:20] How Fireworks boosted CBC’s enrollment
[23:48] CBC's goals moving forward

User Experience

No technical knowledge required
Administer and utilize Fireworks without any coding or technical expertise.

Consumer-like user experience
Provides a simple, intuitive experience (think Apple® and Google®).

Built for admissions
Fireworks was built from the ground up by Fire Engine RED. It’s not a corporate sales tool (Salesforce®) that has been jerry-rigged for admissions.

Uses admissions terminology
All of the labels, values, reports, etc. are familiar and make sense from the start.

Responsively designed
Designed to dynamically adapt to your smartphone, tablet, or computer. No need to use an app when you’re on the go.

Designed for accessibility
Accessible to people with low vision, corrective lenses, and color blindness.

Training & Support

Customized training
We’ll provide you with unlimited, live online training customized to your needs.

Unlimited, live support
Our legendary Client Care team is available to you, your entire staff, and the students you serve 365 days a year.

Implementation

Start when you’re ready
Begin the implementation process on your timeline.

Fully managed process
You’ll be assigned a dedicated implementation specialist who previously worked in admissions. They’ll guide you through the process — from beginning to end — and do the “heavy lifting” for you.

Consulting on admissions recruitment
We’ll share CRM best practices and help you implement them.

Reports & analytics
We’ll create actionable, custom reports for you that will help you make better, data-driven decisions.

Communications strategy
We’ll evaluate your communications plan and help you build a communications strategy to maximize your results.

Email Response

Answer incoming emails quickly
Respond to incoming email messages in a quick, customized, consistent way in less than one minute.

Sort & route emails
Automatically sort and route messages to the appropriate staff member to answer.

Events

Create unlimited registration forms
Create forms for your on- and off-campus interviews and recurring events.

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your registration forms and confirmation messages.

Flexible format
Present your events in a list or calendar.

Mobile-first design
Enable sign-up from a mobile device.

Manage events
Set guest limits and registration deadlines, track attendance, and create customized itineraries.

Create surveys
Automatically send a post-event survey to attendees.

Accept online payments
Integrate with your payment gateway (TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, Paypal/PayFlowPro).

Manage special requests
Automate internal emails for special requests (wheelchair accessibility, faculty appointment, visit with coaches).

Send confirmation messages
Automatically send confirmation messages and reminders.

Applications

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your applications and application-related email messages.

Mobile-first design
Enable viewing and application submissions from a mobile device.

Pre-populate fields
Pre-populate the information you already know.

Utilize conditional logic
Introduce or hide questions based on the student’s prior answers.

Save progress
Allow students to save their application and complete it over multiple sessions.

Track progress
See which students have started but not yet completed your application.

Request documentation
Allow students to request and track online recommendations from teachers, coaches, etc.

Upload documentation
Upload documents such as essays, personal statements, and resumes.

Accept online payments
Integrate with your payment gateway (TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, Paypal/PayFlowPro).

Waive fees
Waive your application fee for all, or select, students.

Print completed applications
Print custom PDFs of completed applications one by one or in batches.

Store multiple applications
Store unlimited applications, including those provided by third-party vendors (Common Application, LSAC, state-wide applications).

Forms

Create unlimited forms
Build as many customized forms as you need (inquiry, enrollment deposit, registration forms).

Apply your branding
Customize the look and feel of your forms and confirmation screens/messages.

Mobile-first design
Enable viewing and form submissions from a mobile device.

Pre-populate fields
Pre-populate the information you already know.

Utilize conditional logic
Introduce or hide questions based on the student’s prior answers.

Print

Create letters, postcards, & labels
Access standard templates or create your own using our “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor.

Personalize your letters
Use merge tags to personalize your letters.

Schedule sends
Schedule print jobs immediately or schedule them for a future date or time.

View print communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Live Chat

Chat with your website visitors
Chat 1-on-1 with your website visitors in real time.

Brand the chat interface
Apply your branding to the chat window.

Receive notifications
Receive an alert when someone starts a chat session.

Offline availability
Enable students to email your office through the chat interface if your staff is offline.

Simultaneous chats
Chat privately with multiple students at the same time.

Chat transcript
Provide students with a transcript of their chat.

Review chat history
Access a student’s previous chats with your office.

Texts

Choose your audience
Send text messages to any individual or group.

Segment by field
Segment messages by any field or combination of fields (location, major, term).

Schedule sends
Send texts immediately or schedule them for a future date or time.

Send reminders
Send reminders (event invitations, deadline notifications) based on specific dates and times.

Personalize your text messages
Use merge tags to personalize your text messages.

Build relationships
Have two-way text conversations with students at all stages in the admissions funnel.

Automatically manage opt-outs
Enable recipients to automatically opt out of texts.

View text communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Email

Choose your audience
Send unlimited messages to any individual or group, including purchased lists.

Segment by field
Segment by any field or combination of fields (location, major, term).

Automate communications
Automatically send communications based on actions taken by people and/or organizations. For example, set up a series of follow-up email messages to go to any student who opens an email.

Send emails from records
Send an email message directly from a record.

Powerful design features
Create and modify responsively designed messages and templates using our HTML “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor.

Personalize your emails
Use merge tags to personalize your email messages.

Preview messages in 20+ email clients
Automatically see how messages will display in popular email readers (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook) and on mobile devices (iPhone, Samsung).

Spam testing
Automatically identify words, phrases, and other items that are likely to trigger spam filters.

HTML/URL validation
Test messages using HTML/URL validation.

View email communications plan
View your communications plan in a calendar or list format.

Track results in real time
Track and measure your campaign results, including delivery rate, bounces, opens, clicks, delivery rate, unsubscribes, etc.

New Student Leads

(Community colleges only)

Receive access to hundreds of new leads from a national test-based service at no additional cost.

Workflow

Create tasks
Assign tasks (call students, review applications, schedule events) to yourself or other staff members.

Manage tasks
Categorize tasks (communications, applicants, events) for better organization.

Set priority levels
Prioritize individual tasks (high, medium, low).

Set deadlines & track progress
Set deadlines and monitor progress (complete, in progress, not started).

Duplicate Management

20+ robust matching rules
All incoming records are checked against a set of 20+ sophisticated matching rules to determine if it’s a new or duplicate record.

Resolve possible duplicates
You have the option of creating a new record or merging the potential duplicate with an existing record.

Import & Export

Build, run, and schedule imports & exports
No technical expertise required.

Convert complex data
Automatically convert complex data values from external sources (campus-wide system, test sources, search lists) to CRM values.

Utilize standard import packages
Provides standard import packages for frequently used data sources (ACT, Common Application, LSAT, NRCCUA, SAT).

Create custom import/export packages
Build import/export packages based on your school’s needs.

Save & schedule import/export packages
Makes repeated imports/exports to the same source much more efficient.

Search

Powerful search capability
Provides a powerful Google-like search experience enabling you to find records quickly and easily.

Search on every data field within a single search
Define and build search parameters using all fields and conditions. No need to do multiple searches to get your results.

Build complex searches
No coding or technical expertise required.

Relationships

(A Fireworks exclusive)

Create & associate relationship records
Create and associate one or more relationships (parent, high school, sibling, counselor) with a student record, manually or upon import.

Measure the value of each relationship
Focus on the people, organizations, and places that matter most. For example, run a report that tells you how many of your applicants are connected to a local Community-Based Organization (CBO) or employer.

Communicate with relationships
Engage with a student’s relationships. For example, send an email to school counselors whose students were accepted for the fall.

Security

SOC 2 Type II compliant
Fireworks undergoes an annual SOC 2 Type II audit attesting to its compliance with security, availability, and confidentiality controls.

Single Sign-On
Direct integration with the following SSO providers: Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and SAML or OpenID Connect-based authentication.

Backup & disaster recovery
Full system backups are performed weekly, incremental backups are performed nightly, and transaction-log backups are performed hourly.

Data encryption
Data is transmitted over a secure, encrypted channel, both at rest and in transit.

Integrations

Bi-directional integrations
Provides bi-directional integrations with ACES2, Banner, CAMS, Colleague, Jenzabar, PeopleSoft, PowerCampus, and other systems.

Standard integrations
Provides integrations with testing providers such as ACT, AP, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, SAT, and TOEFL, and others.

Online payment processing
Integrates with many payment gateways, including TouchNet, Authorize.net, NelNet, Nova Info/Elavon, and Paypal/PayFlowPro.

API integrations (In development)
Fire Engine RED is actively developing APIs for Colleague, Banner, Jenzabar, and PeopleSoft Student Information Systems.

Technology

Powered by modern tools & technology
Uses tools, coding languages, and software engines that power some of today’s most innovative technology companies, including Airbnb®, Amazon®, Netflix®, and Zillow®.

Hosted solution
Hosted on Amazon Web Services® (AWS), the leading cloud platform. Works in any major browser and is available anywhere you can connect to the internet.

No third-party purchases or support required
All tools are included in your subscription to Fireworks and are supported by Fire Engine RED, not a third-party provider.

Shelly Spiegel

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer

shelly.spiegel@fireworkssoftware.com

215-913-6066

Philadelphia, PA

Founded Company

December, 2001

Current Role
The creative force and visionary leader of Fireworks Software and Fire Engine RED.

Former Position
President, Search By Video, a national clearinghouse for college admissions videos.

Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A.; The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, J.D.

Who'd play me in ”Fireworks — The Movie“
Julia Louis-Dreyfus