How Carmel Swim Club Raised 113% of Annual Fundraiser Goal with Bloomerang’s Giving Platform
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Indiana’s Carmel Swim Club, a nationally known athletic and community fixture, strives to cultivate excellence in swimming while instilling core values like integrity, perseverance, and unity. However, when the club set its sights on future expansion and long-term sustainability, it faced hurdles in fundraising management. Carmel Swim Club leveraged Bloomerang’s unified Giving Platform to streamline their fundraising efforts with peer-to-peer fundraising, merchandise sales, auctions, and donor engagement. During their annual fundraiser, the club raised 113% of their goal with the power of Bloomerang’s Giving Platform and an engaged community. Additionally, the club achieved a notable 48% donor retention rate, demonstrating their ability to build lasting relationships.
CHALLENGE
Fragmented software platforms made fundraising difficult
In the past, Carmel Swim Club relied heavily on fragmented products like QuickBooks, Excel spreadsheets, and Google Sheets to oversee donations and donor stewardship. This patchwork approach was labor-intensive and lacked the functionality needed to manage their data and metrics. “We were growing and receiving a lot of generous support,” said Maggie Mestrich, Director of Business Development. “We knew anecdotally that we were doing a decent job with our stewardship and retention, but we did not have that data readily available.”
Additionally, the club had no dedicated fundraising platform of its own. “Before Bloomerang, there was no online donation provider in place,” said Mestrich. “Any previous online fundraising was done under USA Swimming’s umbrella with their tools. We needed something more robust to support our organization’s expansion and long-term sustainability.” With ambitious goals to scale their impact, the club needed a solution that could simplify operations and improve fundraising efforts.
SOLUTION
Unified fundraising platform simplifies operations and improves donor engagement
Bloomerang’s unified Giving Platform significantly improved data management, reduced duplicate tasks, and provided valuable insights into donor trends and retention. “Immediately there was a huge easing of our workload. It reduced duplication of effort for us because we could manage our stewardship tasks and our gift and data entry in one place,” said Mestrich. “We could streamline our activity and focus on retention. The relationships with our donors are always going to be the most important thing, so we love having a product that puts that at the forefront.”
With Bloomerang’s Giving Platform, Carmel Swim Club also gained access to a comprehensive online fundraising suite tailored for their unique needs. This included peer-to-peer fundraising, merchandise sales, auction management, and targeted donor engagement. “The suite of communication tools within the peer-to-peer platform is absolutely my favorite feature,” said Mestrich. “The ability for our fundraising participants to reach out directly to their own networks when logged in to their pages is a huge benefit.”
The flexibility of these tools also made the platform easy to use, both for fundraising families and development staff. “The resources available in the help section are incredibly beneficial in helping us set up new events or using tools we maybe haven’t tried yet,” Mestrich explained. “And we always appreciate how quickly the Customer Experience Team responds to our questions or requests.”
RESULTS
Fundraising events powered by Bloomerang aren’t just possible—they’re successful
The results of their efforts have been extraordinary. During their most recent fundraiser, the Carmel Swim Club raised over 113% of their goal—an achievement that showcases the power of a streamlined platform and engaged community. “We host an annual event—10 Days of Courage, Perseverance, and Giving—that includes individual donations, merchandise sales, peer-to-peer giving, and auction components. It simply would not be possible without Bloomerang. Having the entire suite of tools for all these components in one place simplifies the administrative experience and helps make our event successful,” said Mestrich.
With a 48% donor retention rate, Carmel Swim Club sets a great example for nonprofit organizations striving to build strong relationships with their supporters. Bloomerang plays an integral role in this success by providing insightful donor data and streamlined communication that help the team stay connected with their supporters. By making it easier to understand and respond to donor behaviors and preferences, Bloomerang empowers Carmel Swim Club to nurture relationships and inspire excellence in their community.
“We host an annual event—10 Days of Courage, Perseverance, and Giving—that includes individual donations, merchandise sales, peer-to-peer giving, and auction components. It simply would not be possible without Bloomerang. Having the entire suite of tools for all these components in one place simplifies the administrative experience and helps make our event successful.”
donor retention rate
of annual fundraising goal reached
