Our product partner integrations allow us to concentrate on what we do best, while allowing you to connect Bloomerang to the systems you rely on. Below are just a few thoughts and success stories from organizations just like yours that benefit from Bloomerang product partner integrations.
The purpose of the below case study is to feature an organization that has benefited from the Bloomerang/Qgiv integration and who appreciates having a world-class donor database that can integrate with a world-class nonprofit event and fundraising platform.
A Fresh Take on Social Fundraising
Bloomerang users can easily create peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and personal fundraising pages through Qgiv, while capturing and synchronizing those interactions into Bloomerang.
*Below is Maggie Mestrich at Joseph Maley Foundation’s insight on utilizing the Bloomerang/Qgiv integration for their fundraising efforts.
The Joseph Maley Foundation serves children of ALL abilities through programs that serve the whole child and those who directly affect the child, including parents, siblings, friends, educators, health professionals, and community leaders. Our programs impart:
- Disability awareness to schools and organizations;
- Mental, physical, and emotional health understanding to children;
- IEP and special education advocacy to connect families and educators;
- Sibling workshops which provide an environment to discuss shared experiences;
- Adaptive and inclusive athletics to all children;
- Service-learning opportunities for individuals within their community;
- Acceptance of all through puppets in a relaxed environment for conversation;
- Comfort to parents navigating infant loss.
What Originally Drew You To Qgiv And How Is It Being Used By Your Organization?
According to Director of Development, Maggie Mestrich, in 2013 the Joseph Maley Foundation was looking to make a transition from using PayPal to process online giving to something that could integrate seamlessly with their website, inspire donor trust, and give them event registration and peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities. Qgiv fit that bill perfectly!
Now, Qgiv is being used by Maggie and her team as a one-stop-shop for their online donors. “We utilize Qgiv for our online donation page, to process online program registrations/payments, for online event registrations, for peer-to-peer events (both operated by our organization and to set up custom peer-to-peer events for our supporters), and for our annual gala, which features an auction. We have even used it to sell merchandise (and track inventory) as it relates to particular events or programs.”
How Is Bloomerang Being Used By Your Organization? What Challenges Did You Want A Donor Database To Solve?
When Joseph Maley Foundation was looking for a donor relations focused database in 2017, they wanted something that could be a true relationship management solution. They wanted to be able to strengthen and formalize systems for things they were doing well, like stewardship, without losing traction in those areas.
“We had been tracking donor activity and generating reports on Quickbooks, utilizing Google Sheets for stewardship activity, but the duplication of effort was staggering, and we were missing out on true relationship management. We knew we wanted to streamline and enhance our stewardship and donor communication while maintaining our personal relationships with our supporters. Bloomerang offered us all that in its customizability, and we’ve been thrilled.”
Now, Maggie and her team are happy to be able to use Bloomerang to generate appeals, solicit donor feedback through surveys, and to schedule and track stewardship. They’ve also started to utilize the system for their volunteer management.
Was It Appealing To Find A Donor Database That Could Integrate With Qgiv?
Finding a donor database that could integrate with the systems and processes they already had set up in Qgiv were essential for Joseph Maley Foundation.
“One of our goals in finding a CRM to use at the Joseph Maley Foundation was to reduce and hopefully eliminate duplication of effort across systems. The Bloomerang/Qgiv integration ensured that goal could be achieved with respect to online giving.”
How Has Qgiv’s Auction Platform Combined With Bloomerang’s Stewardship Capabilities Benefited Your Organization?
The folks at the Joseph Maley Foundation recently hosted their annual gala using Qgiv’s new auction software for the event and Bloomerang for stewardship after the event.
Here’s what Maggie had to say about the ease of using Qgiv and Bloomerang before, during, and after their event:
“The amazing thing about Qgiv auctions and the Bloomerang integration was that when we returned to the office on Monday after our Saturday event, all donor information was already mapped into Bloomerang. We were able to use both Qgiv and Bloomerang’s reporting tools to generate individualized stewardship plans for each guest, create those tasks in Bloomerang, and make sure every guest and supporter of the event was thanked personally and in a timely fashion. This would have been impossible without the Bloomerang/Qgiv integration, and gives us great confidence and reassurance going into the end of the year that all of our donors will be reported to and well-thanked. Qgiv has made it possible to move our event to a later time that makes more sense for our constituents. To have everything done so quickly and so seamlessly before we go into our year-end campaign is exactly what we wanted.”
How Does An Organization Like Yours Benefit From Using Bloomerang And How Does It Fit Into Your Constituent Communications, Donor Retention, And Gift Development Processes?
As a small organization with only one development staff person on board when Bloomerang was implemented, it was appreciated how intuitive and easy it was to learn the system, as well how smooth the transition process was for onboarding. As the Joseph Maley team has grown, Bloomerang has provided a transparent and seamless system to onboard staff to gift entry, acknowledgement, interaction and relationship notes, and donor communication tasks.
“Bloomerang helps us recognize all donor activity — gifts, volunteerism, attendance at special events — and our stewardship in one place to ensure we are individualizing our outreach to inform our gift development process and mindfully steward each gift. We also use Bloomerang to find “hidden gems” in our database — who is giving loyally? who is incredibly engaged? to personalize our outreach and re-think our prospects. Finally, by using it for our volunteer management, we’re able to better integrate our stewardship efforts across donors and volunteers.”
What Can You Tell Us About Changes In Key Metrics and Fundraising Pain Points Since Switching To Bloomerang?
Bloomerang has been an integral part of Joseph Maley Foundation’s strategic growth over the last two and a half years, especially when it comes to donor retention. Their donor retention rate has increased by at least ten percent in the last year alone.
Most importantly, since implementing Bloomerang, Joseph Maley Foundation has been able to grow their staff in order to increase the programming they offer. “These hires would not have been possible without increasing revenues from donations, sponsorships, and special events. And those revenues would not have increased (as steadily and easily) without Bloomerang. The main fundraising pain that has been alleviated is the efficiency of our systems. Now, multiple people can be involved in our stewardship and communications processes and all information is no longer siloed, but accessible to all users.”
What Are Some Things That the Bloomerang/Qgiv Integration Have Helped Your Organization With In Regards To Fundraising?
According to Maggie, this integration has been extremely helpful in streamlining their fundraising processes. Her favorite part of the Bloomerang/Qgiv integration is their ability to map imports from Qgiv so they appear on the exact right fund and campaign in Bloomerang. “It’s a simple thing, but saves us extra steps (and time!) in ensuring our gift entry is accurate. We double check each gift that was imported, and use that time to immediately enter stewardship tasks based on that donor’s history and behavior. It really is seamless and makes it a simple step in our fundraising process.”
If You Were To Talk To Another Nonprofit About Your Experience With Qgiv Or Bloomerang, What Would You Say?
Don’t just take our word for it, take Maggie’s:
“We’re incredibly happy with both our Bloomerang and Qgiv experiences. Qgiv’s flexible options for standard donations, peer-to-peer, and auctions make it a fantastic partner for Bloomerang since all of those aspects are part of our overall fundraising strategy.
We particularly love Qgiv’s integration with Bloomerang! The custom mappings for each Qgiv donation, event, peer-to-peer, and auction page make sure our donation information is automatically imported into the correct fund, campaign, and appeal in Bloomerang. This helps streamline our fundraising processes and makes us more efficient, but most importantly helps us focus our attention on our donor relationships and stewardship within Bloomerang.
One big reason I’m such a fan of both companies is the extraordinary customer service and communication from both Qgiv and Bloomerang. It makes a big difference and has helped to shape our overwhelmingly positive experiences.”
The purpose of the below case study is to feature an organization that found its way to Bloomerang through Benevon and who saw the benefit of using Bloomerang for Benevon—a world-class donor database that complements a world-class sustainable fundraising model.
Your Donor Database is Only as Good as Its Ability to Integrate with Your Fundraising Model
That’s why Bloomerang has partnered with Benevon to provide Bloomerang for Benevon—a customized, easy-to-use, cloud-based donor management solution that integrates with the Benevon Model.
*Below is Bill Dillman at Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast’s insight on utilizing Bloomerang for Benevon as a holistic fundraising approach and system.
Serving 12 counties in the Alabama-Florida Gulf Coast region, Goodwill Easterseals provides programs and services to help individuals and families overcome challenges due to disabilities and other barriers that impact economic well-being, self-sufficiency, and quality of life.
How Is The Benevon Model Being Used?
Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast has followed the Benevon Model by inviting individuals to see and experience their mission first-hand. Benevon does a great job of helping Bill Dillman and his team interact and engage with these individuals. Benevon’s first “Point of Entry” step entails using your organization’s Ambassadors to inspire their friends and colleagues with an introductory event about the organization that focuses on facts and an emotional appeal. Bill and his team have successfully adapted that first step with their organization’s mission and overarching areas of impact—and done away with some pain points in the process!
Benevon has helped Bill alleviate the pain point of how to get potential donors to visit Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast, and how to shape what they see and take away from the experience. Taking it one step further, Benevon has also assisted with dictating what stories they should tell and follow-up questions they should ask to generate continued engagement with these individuals. Individuals engaged with your mission empower your nonprofit.
What Originally Drew You To Bloomerang?
After Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast successfully implemented Benevon, a proven sustainable fundraising model, Bill Dillman, Vice President of Marketing and Development, realized the importance and appeal of finding a donor database solution that could incorporate and complement the Benevon Model. After attending a Benevon 101 training, and getting a recommendation from Benevon’s Founder and CEO, Terry Axelrod, Bill and his team decided that Bloomerang donor management software would best fit their fundraising and development needs.
How Is Bloomerang Being Used By Your Organization? What Challenges Did You Want A Donor Database To Solve?
Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast had finally found a system to empower their development team. Bloomerang’s integration with DonorSearch’s wealth screening tool, AND seamless website integration for online donation forms, have been great assets for their development team.
On top of that, Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast has been really happy with Bloomerang’s capabilities and service. Bill says they’ve benefited from “great support from the Bloomerang team.” From the sales process to implementation and onboarding to customer support, the team at Bloomerang always strives to give great support and service. They’re truly “wonderful folks.”
What Was the Appeal of Bloomerang For Benevon and What Has Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast Come to Appreciate Since Implementing It?
Having a system that seamlessly integrates the Benevon processes and vocabularies has been beneficial to the development team at Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast. The online donation website integration has been the most helpful in driving donations and integrating the data back into the Bloomerang system.
Bill and his team now have the information they need for their gift development process right at their fingertips. It’s simple and intuitive for Bill to prepare the CEO before he meets with major gift donors or prospects.
Has Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast Seen Changes In Your Fundraising Results Since Using Bloomerang For Benevon?
Since implementing Bloomerang for Benevon, Bill has seen an increase in revenue raised from their fundraising efforts.
“The Benevon Model increased our annual fundraiser from $130,000 to $400,000 in one year with less staff and more engagement from the board.” That’s a 207.7% increase in just one year!
On top of that, Bloomerang for Benevon has helped Bill and his team benefit from positive changes to key metrics since implementation. They have seen a lower cost for events and “true community engagement,” all while raising more revenue.
It’s amazing what a user-friendly, uncomplicated tool can do for the growth of an organization such as Goodwill Easterseals of the Gulf Coast.
“Bloomerang for Benevon is a great tool, easy to work and really fun to use.”