Challenge

Safe Harbor was looking for an updated and easy-to-use donor database. “Our old database was antiquated (it had not been updated in years); it was very challenging to pull reports. Running acknowledgement letters was very labor intensive. Segmenting donors for appeals was not possible. And moves management was nearly impossible,” said Mary Maupai, Development Director at Safe Harbor Shelter. 

Solution

Mary and the team at Safe Harbor were drawn to Bloomerang’s intuitiveness, donor-relationship focused features, and knowledgeable customer support team. “I am a visual person so I like the engagement and generosity scores being front and center in color coded. Bloomerang’s customer service is amazing. The task feature is amazing and not something we had with our previous database. I love to complete my tasks, and running acknowledgement letters and reports are a breeze.” In addition to its features, the mobile app and ease of customization have also been very valuable. “Being cloud based and mobile friendly allows me to access our donors from anywhere. The ease and simplicity of the platform works well for us. Being able to customize the platform to suit our needs was also important to us. I appreciate the flexibility of the platform.”

All in all, Bloomerang has fit nicely into Safe Harbor’s development processes, and has even allowed them to take their major gift fundraising to a new level. “Before implementing Bloomerang we were starting to see growth in the number of major donors who were supporting our new human trafficking program but we did not have any way to track moves management within our old database. Bloomerang has allowed us to build and grow a very successful major gifts program. Moves management with Bloomerang is easy and effective. We have also implemented Kindful to help with our events and that has been a game-changer to have registration information automatically imported into Bloomerang. In the past we had to manually enter attendance and donation information. Which took time and also raised the chance for errors.”

Results

Since implementing Bloomerang, Safe Harbor has been able to alleviate several fundraising pain points around reporting and segmentation. “Reports are so much easier to pull, and segmenting of donors for appeals is something we can now do with confidence. Running acknowledgements are actually an enjoyable experience. And this may seem like a weird thing to say, but Bloomerang is FUN to use!” In that same vein, Bloomerang has greatly improved the team’s productivity, as well as the quality of their constituent communications. “The quality of our e-newsletter has improved. We used to use Constant Contact. Being able to have our e-newsletter integrated in our database and being able to look at open rates and what donors are clicking on helps to strengthen our relationship with them. Our open rates have increased since using Bloomerang.”

Mary and the team at Safe Harbor have already seen returns from using the system. “We have almost doubled our charitable giving. Since implementing Bloomerang in 2018, we have seen an almost 50% increase in our charitable giving ($375,000 in 2017 to $725,000 in 2022), and our retention has also increased.” Mary agrees that other social service organizations like hers would benefit from using Bloomerang and investing in their growth. “Being cloud based and mobile friendly allows me to access our donors from anywhere. The ease and simplicity of the platform works well for us. Being able to customize the platform to suit our needs was also important to us. I appreciate the flexibility of the platform.”

All in all, it’s amazing what an intuitive, relationship-focused database can do for the growth of an organization such as Safe Harbor. “I LOVE BLOOMERANG and I am happy to spread the love :)”

The post Safe Harbor Shelter appeared first on Bloomerang.

The post Coburn Place [VIDEO] appeared first on Bloomerang.

Dear Executive Committee,

As requested, for the past several weeks, I’ve conducted extensive research on several cloud-based database software packages for the Equestrian Aid Foundation.

I started with approximately 15 database software packages, then narrowed my most in-depth research down to 5. I saw demos and had extensive information gathering and question and answer discussions with each packages’ account reps…

After all this extensive research, my recommendation is Bloomerang.

Reasons for Choosing Bloomerang

1. Ease of use
2. Clean, appealing interface
3. Well thought out
4. Reasonable pricing
5. Love that the people are invested in the nonprofit world
6. Exceptional customer support

Challenge

Sometimes Getting Started is Easier Said than Done

After several months of no activity in EAF’s database, our Support Team was more than a little worried.

As a standard procedure, they reached out to see what the problem might be and if there was something we might be able to do that would help.

What was the Hang-Up?

When we signed on, I was just too busy to take it all in. To learn something new was just so daunting–there was always something that came up.

Honestly, I was embarrassed I wasn’t doing more, but I was just so, so busy.

But Bloomerang is so customer-driven that they reached out to me because they actually want me to USE the product, not just pay for it.

We’re Here to Help

With a little TLC from our Bloomerang Team, the EAF got just the jumpstart they needed and were up and running.  As a direct outcome of this re-engagement effort, the EAF has opted to add unlimited phone support to their subscription.

Their database maven, Janise, will tell you that she likes to save up her questions during the week and call in to our Support Team with a list of things to talk about. In less than a year she has befriended the entire Support Team.

25 or Better

They’re not just knowledgeable, they’re personable. They put you at ease with logical explanations and revel in your success.

On a scale of 1-10, Bloomerang’s customer support is 25 or better. I’ve never experienced better customer service anywhere.

Solution

Taking Advantage of the Dashboard

The EAF has also come to leverage the Bloomerang Dashboard as it was intended. The well-placed reminders keep their team on top of the game when it comes to retaining donors and staying on top of campaign goals, and it’s quite literally paying off.

In less than a full year of actively using Bloomerang, the EAF has improved its donor retention by more than 10%.

And if you know anything about donor retention, we don’t need to tell you what a huge deal this is and what an incredible impact it can make.

At Bloomerang, we are truly honored to be a small part of the incredible work done through the nonprofit sector and to know and support the people who make it happen.

“You know the people who work at Bloomerang are happy–you can hear it in their voices. No matter who you deal with, it’s always such a pleasure.”

Results

What were Equestrian Aid Foundation’s results from Bloomerang? Not only did they benefit from an increased donor retention rate (and more visibility into money raised and campaign performance), but by making the switch they were able to become more efficient while also saving money. Bloomerang’s holistic donor software solution allowed them to streamline and consolidate their other services.

By switching to Bloomerang, EAF was able to consolidate the following services:

1. Paradox / Database
2. Constant Contact / Mass Email
3. Network for Good / Online Fundraising
4. Merchant Services / Donation Processing

Total Savings:  $1,000/year

Retention Rate Increased 15%

According to Dr. Adrian Sargeant, who has studied retention rates in the nonprofit industry for 23 years, moving your retention rate by just 10% can increase the lifetime value of your database by 150% to 200%.

Want to find out how to maximize the lifetime value of your donor database? Just download our eBook.

The post Equestrian Aid Foundation appeared first on Bloomerang.

Jennifer Coffey, Director of Support Services and Advancement at Partners In Housing, shares her thoughts on Bloomerang in the video below.

“One of the things that I enjoy so much about Bloomerang is the personal touch that they give all of their client interactions. I wouldn’t even say “a client,” because I feel like we’re friends. I’m friends with everyone at Bloomerang, because they are so open and available and personable.”

Jennifer Coffey,
Director of Support Services and Advancement

About Partners In Housing:

Partners In Housing identifies a property that has been abandoned and neglected, then puts together a plan to purchase the property, completely refurbish it, and re-open it as housing units for those most in need of stable housing, such as those that (a) have experienced homelessness (chronic or situational); (b) are actively at risk of homelessness due to a history of multiple challenges, such as extremely low income, minimal or no support network, chronic illness, disabilities, and other special needs; or (c) are vulnerable due solely to extremely low incomes even though they may have a support network and have no other significant risk factors. The agency then finds partnerships with other local agencies to create an array of social services that will support and strengthen those residents. Partners In Housing currently has 11 properties with 583 housing units, serving over 700 people every day.

The post Partners in Housing appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

When CASA North Carolina began fundraising several years ago, they had a donor database that didn’t meet their needs. Specifically, they couldn’t track moves management notes for donors and prospects.

“We were also unhappy with the options for tracking volunteer activity and couldn’t collect the information we really wanted about the people who support us,” said Kim Westermann, the Annual Fund & Communications Manager at CASA. “We were also using an external email service and the way it integrated with our database was clunky and often inaccurate.

Solution

CASA switched to Bloomerang in late 2015 and they’re now using it to track volunteer and fundraising efforts.

“The custom fields were a big draw to Bloomerang, because we saw that we could design the database to collect and report on the information we really needed. We were also excited that the database is hosted online so our staff could access it from anywhere.”

Results

“The email service is a huge improvement – our emails look better, are far easier to create, and have fewer html/design issues. We can also trust that our emails are only going to the people who want them. Overall, Bloomerang is easier to use than any other database I’ve seen on the market.”

“The ability to easily track interactions has really changed the staff’s attitude about properly documenting relationships with key stakeholders. The improvements to our online giving forms and acknowledgments were also an essential change we had to have in place before we could even think about trying to grow a monthly or online giving program.”

“Our staff can now track every interaction we have with donors, prospects, and volunteers. For an agency that is young in its fundraising efforts, this has been a critical improvement that is helping us build long-term relationships with supporters.”

The post CASA North Carolina appeared first on Bloomerang.

NRS is the ‘go-to’ resource for America’s runaway, homeless and at-risk youth and their families, providing solution-focused support.

Challenge

National Runaway Safeline had been using Raiser’s Edge for over a decade before finally deciding to make the switch to an affordable, intuitive donor management system that could better fit their needs. “The system was never a good fit for us… too complicated, not intuitive, bells and whistles we didn’t need, and pledge payment process that required a monthly tutorial refresher for all the steps required. In addition, we subscribed to RE’s new product Nxt. We paid the large fee for two years and still couldn’t utilize the functionality promised. After database staff turnover (6 over 8 years) and an ineffective consultant, NRS was desperate for a change,” said Katy Walsh, Director of Development and Communications at National Runaway Safeline.

Solution

Katy and her team had finally found an easy to use donor management system that could help them shift their focus to their donor cultivation strategies. “NRS is shifting its cultivation protocols, including donor retention and gift development, for digital citizens. Bloomerang is helping us make that shift by providing a product that has simplified donation input/output.”

National Runaway Safeline was originally drawn to Bloomerang because of how easy it is for all of their staff to use — from their fundraising team all the way up to senior leadership. “Donation process, email marketing, reports, pledge payment process are all streamlined systems and intuitive. NRS loves it. We just started uploading pictures as the newest feature so we recognize board, volunteers and donors. It’s great!”

Results

Since implementing Bloomerang several pain points have been alleviated for Katy and her team. Leveraging the automatic pledge payment process through Bloomerang has been a game-changer. “Pledge payments… the process happens automatically. This is HUGE for NRS. With staff turnover, pledge payments weren’t always processed on time or accurately. And was an ongoing headache because it impacted board members.”

Katy and her team have benefited from improvements in the quality of their constituent communications. “The email system is far superior to RE’s option. It’s easier to use, visually more appealing and the impact report is comprehensive.”

At the end of the day, Bloomerang and its resources have been a game-changer for the team at National Runaway Safeline and their fundraising efforts. “NRS is a grassroots fundraising nonprofit. Bloomerang works perfectly for us. It’s user-friendly, inexpensive, and continues to evolve with new features. And the support team and tutorials are a valuable resource.”

It’s amazing what a user-friendly fundraising tool can do for the growth of social services such as National Runaway Safeline. “I am very appreciative for Bloomerang.”

The post National Runaway Safeline appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

After dealing with challenges around tracking interactions and donor cultivation and relationship building, Pathway Caring for Children was looking to ditch its current nonprofit CRM for a better option. “Challenges with previous CRM was that we couldn’t accurately track our interactions and contacts with donors. We needed a better overall picture of our donor to cultivate and maintain relationships,” said Deborah Garrott, Volunteer and Donor Services Director at Pathway Caring for Children.

Solution

After deciding to make the switch, Deborah was most impressed with Bloomerang’s core functionality and features including: 

1. Ability to generate letter on save in a contact’s account
2. Assigning tasks and when complete, converting to interaction
3. View tracking on emails, i.e. who opened, who clicked on links, etc.
4. Ease of running custom reports
5. Bloomerang support team!
6. Donor-Centricity and Readability tool in letters to make sure we’re making our thank you’s all about our donors
7. First-time donor thank you calls notifications

In addition to Bloomerang’s feature set, Deborah touts its fundraising and donor-focused best practices and functionality, and knowledgeable and responsive customer support as another reason to recommend it as a top donor database option to other social services like theirs. “Bloomerang is a one-stop shop for donor cultivation and retaining donors! They’ve thought of everything to make fundraising simpler. Bloomerang offers fast and quality support as well.”

Results

Since implementing Bloomerang, Pathway Caring for Children has alleviated several fundraising pain points around ease of running reports, tracking volunteer hours, assigning tasks and assigning specific staff to cultivate specific donors. They’ve also benefited from an improvement in productivity and the quality of their constituent communications. “Our staff are more intentional about making thank you phone calls and handwritten thank you letters to donors instead of the standard thank you letter with tax receipt. Our donors are responding positively to the personalized outreach!” Despite only being a Bloomerang customer for six months, they’re also starting to see donors give more frequently based on direct mail and email campaigns.

Not only have they seen improvements in their productivity and campaign results, but Deborah and the team at Pathway Caring for Children have also benefited from the changes they could make to their development process with Bloomerang’s custom fields and task features.

“We created a custom field for constituents called ‘Staff who will cultivate donor’ and many of our donors are now assigned to someone on our team. I can run a report of the donors I’m responsible for cultivating and look at it often to be intentional about checking in with donors. When we receive a donation, I can look in the contact’s account to see which staff member is assigned, assign a task to that staff so they can follow up with a phone call or handwritten thank you. This way, one donor isn’t having 4 different Pathway staff members bugging them throughout the year. It’s all about relationship-building!”

All in all, it’s amazing what an insightful, intuitive, and fundraising-focused database can do for the growth of social services such as Pathway Caring for Children.

The post Pathway Caring for Children appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

Compass was looking for an affordable, intuitive, relationship-management donor database to replace their clunky and complex system. They wanted an all-in-one system with a knowledgeable customer support team that could give access to all the features they’d need at no extra cost.

“When we left our previous database system, it was at the end of the year (beginning of December), but I was so disappointed with the system that I was willing to have no system for a few months until we found the right one. The previous system was very ‘clunky’ on both sides to use. It was not friendly to donors and it was complex on the backend as well. We were told we could do things that we, later on, found out we could not do, or there would be an additional charge for it. The customer service was frustrating and not very helpful. I wanted a system that would mostly be a ‘one-stop shop.’ I needed to be able to manage my constituents and our relationship, send emails and/or letters, and segment people in the system,” said Savannah Lyon, Director of Engagement and Promotions at Compass. With the timing and opportunity for better functionality, Savannah was ready to make the switch.

Solution

After getting a recommendation for Bloomerang from a consultant she worked with, Savannah was excited to see how its feature set could meet her organization’s needs. “A consultant I was working with highly recommended Bloomerang to me. She let me see the back end from a client-side, and it really helped me to see the benefits.” Savannah was originally drawn to Bloomerang because of how user donor-focused, easy to use, and intuitive it is but has come to appreciate the friendly and knowledgeable customer support team that has been an invaluable resource for the staff at Compass. “I can onboard other teammates very easily without having to go through extensive training on the system. I can also reach out to customer service at any time. The customer service is simply the best. I also love that they archive conversations so that I can go back and look at the support session in the future if I have the same problem. There is no delay or waiting like some customer support chats. You have their full attention.”

In addition to its innovative features and dependability as a database, Savannah is happy to tout Bloomerang’s intuitiveness, built-in support, and ongoing learning opportunities as another reason to recommend it as a top donor management system for social services like theirs. “This is the third database system I have used in 6 years and it will be the last one. It’s just so much easier to use. The customer support and initial coaching I received was so helpful. You will be able to build better relationships and therefore secure more donations for your organization with Bloomerang.”

Results

Since implementing Bloomerang, Compass has alleviated several fundraising pain points around tracking their donor retention, segmenting and communicating with various constituent groups, and keeping better donor data. “Documenting relationships, much better-looking emails with Bloomerang’s built-in donor communications audit already enabled, segmenting donors, finding out who has the potential to give. The back side is so easy to use that I don’t dread going into it to find what I need.” Bloomerang’s features and capabilities will also grow with them as they grow their donor base and meet them where they are. “We live in an area where people love to write checks, but as younger donors get older, they will begin donating online much more regularly, so we needed something that would be easy to use. We couldn’t really even track our donor retention before, but now I see what it is on a daily basis.”

Not only have they seen an increase in productivity and efficiency in their development process, but Savannah and the team at Compass have also seen an improvement in the quality of their constituent communications through the mobile app, letter and email functionality, and access to updated, segmented, and clean donor data. “We can keep notes on our constituents and everyone can see them. This is so nice. That means I don’t have to create multiple steps or remember things. I also love the app. You can just document what you did and how you are going to follow up when you are out meeting with donors.”

All in all, it’s amazing what an insightful, intuitive, and fundraising-focused database can do for the growth of social services such as Compass. “I love Bloomerang!”

The post Compass – Nebraska appeared first on Bloomerang.

Overall, Bloomerang customers that sent fundraising appeals raised $1.35MM more during the COVID-19 crisis than they did during the same time period last year! We wanted to highlight some of those success stories here.

Ada Jenkins Center | Service Offering Precautions Communication & Critical Assitance Fund Creation

In this video, Steven from Bloomerang sits down (virtually) with Karen from the Ada Jenkins Center to talk about a special COVID-19 fundraising appeal campaign that resulted in nearly $100k donated, despite an in-person event cancelation.

Campaign At-A-Glance

Faced with a constituency directly impacted by the coronavirus, AJC needed to communicate and raise money quickly. The result was an event cancellation, a service offering pivot and the creation of a new fund dedicated to job and service-loss relief.

Email #1 – COVID-19 Precautions

With all of the services provided by ACJ, they needed to communicate what would continue and what precautions would be taken to ensure the health and safety of employees and service recipients. This email also communicated the postponement of their annual gala.

29% open rate, 3% click-through-rate

Subject: Our COVID-19 Precautions for Health and Safety

Email #2 – Urgent – Our Families Need Help like Never Before…

31% open rate, 2.4% click-through-rate

Subject: How to Help: Kid Booster Crisis Fund

AJC created a brand new fund to support those financially and medically impacted by the coronavirus.

The post Ada Jenkins Center appeared first on Bloomerang.

When you’re a small nonprofit with limited resources, having a donor database that is powerful, yet easy to use is critical.

Eric Howard
CEO at Outreach Indiana

The post Outreach Indiana appeared first on Bloomerang.

It’s one thing to have a donor database that hold donor information. It’s another to have a true fundraising solution that turns data into actionable insights.

Bob Kizer
The President and CEO of Starfish Initiative

The post Starfish Initiative appeared first on Bloomerang.