Danny Recommends: Brushfire
Every so often we dip our toes into a series called Danny Recommends:, posts that tip you off to the stuff that I…you know. The recommendations might be products for use in your ministry, resources that will help you develop leaders around you, or just fun stuff that you need. Want. Whatever. I have a full list of recommended books and such over at the Reading List, but these posts will go into further detail. For other posts in the series, check out the link at the bottom.
In all of my years of recommending stuff, I just realized I’ve never recommended one of the most handy and headache-free tools in my toolbelt:
The Brushfire ticketing platform.
If you’ve ever attended one of our Guest Services Weekenders, One-Day Workshops, or Connections Confab, you’ve been a beneficiary of Brushfire. I’ve used it exclusively since 2017 for all of our external training events, and there’s no better tool that I’ve found to help me keep my sanity. Here are just a few reasons I love it:
Simplicity.
Building out a Brushfire event has a bit of a learning curve – as all new-to-you software programs do. But their process is pretty intuitive and easy to figure out as you go. I especially love that once I get an event up and running the way I want it, I can simply copy and paste that format for the following event, make a few slight tweaks, and I’m off to the races again. In those scenarios, I can usually build out another year’s worth of events in less than half an hour.
Communication.
I’ll admit I did not use Brushfire’s embedded email tools at the beginning. But as I’ve leaned into those over the last year, I’m discovering just what I missed. I can set up a block of communication emails that start in advance of an event, and Brushfire send those things on their way, right at the prescribed time, and to exactly the participants who are currently signed up. No more exporting email lists or hoping that I typed addresses just right.
Pricing.
Brushfire isn’t free, but it’s not going to break your bank, either. I have always done the Pay-as-You-Go plan, which charges $1.00 per attendee for free events (like our Weekender), or $1.50 plus 1% of the registration cost for paid events (like our Workshops or Confab). That’s it. There’s no annual fee. No startup fees. (You can add on premium services, which I’ve never done for reasons of being a cheapskate.)
Customer service.
This is where Brushfire is truly ahead of the game and – in my opinion – unparalleled in the ticketing realm.
Brushfire is simple. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a dinosaur. Any time I run into an issue – a complicated registration, a confusing refund, or a report that won’t generate the way I expect it to – I just drop an email to Brushfire’s help desk. And that’s when they start to create magic:
- Within hours (and always by end of day), I’ll get a detailed reply, walking me through the steps to correct the problem.
- More often than not, those steps will be accompanied by a how-to video, with a customized screen recording and voiceover instructions showing me where to click and what to adjust to fix the problem. (It’s almost as if they know I’m 900 years old.)
- And just about every time, my rep will say something like “…so that’s the way you’d do it in the future. But to save you the time, I’ve taken the liberty to go ahead and fix it on your behalf. You don’t need to do anything else.”
You see? Magic.
(Also, at the time of this writing, I may or may not have reached out to Brushfire for three separate issues this week, so big thanks to Ashley, Danielle, and Genesis for the assist. I’m convinced I’ve made it to some sort of wall of fame for high-maintenance customers.)
One last thing: Brushfire was actually built to serve churches and ministries. I buried this lede because if we’re honest, sometimes those of us in church world look to “real world” solutions for problems like these. But Brushfire is in a league all its own, and if you have a need for any sort of ticketing system, you should just save yourself time and headaches and go straight with them.
Check out Brushfire.
See all posts in the Danny Recommends: series.
Disclaimer: FTC watchdogs will probably want to know that the vendors listed / linked above did not ask for this endorsement, nor did they provide me with free swag in order to do so. I’m just a really satisfied fan who wants to let you know about helpful things. I only promote items that have benefitted me and that I believe will benefit you. So there.
