How Bloomerang Helped the Education Foundation of Lake County Boost Donations by 19%
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
The Education Foundation of Lake County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Lake County Public Schools in Central Florida, evaluating the needs of students and teachers, and securing resources for a better classroom experience. Bloomerang’s Giving Platform allowed them to track donations in real time, send personalized thank-you notes, and create customized forms for events and campaigns. These tools enhanced donor engagement and boosted fundraising success, including a record-breaking event that raised nearly triple their previous record. Overall, the Foundation saw a 19% year-over-year increase in donations and saved two hours a day by streamlining operations with Bloomerang.
CHALLENGE
Outdated nonprofit software wastes time and lacks customization
The Education Foundation of Lake County faced challenges tracking donations, maintaining donor information, and communicating effectively due to outdated and inefficient tools. “Our former CRM was so cumbersome that it impacted our ability to get information quickly,” said Kacey Edmondson, donor development specialist. “And our old fundraising tools suite was outdated and lacked the customization that we were looking for.” The Foundation needed a new platform to uphold their commitment to innovation and transparency.
SOLUTION
Personalizing donor engagement and improving the giving experience with Bloomerang
To address these issues, the Foundation acquired Bloomerang’s unified Giving Platform, which allows the Lake County team to track donations in real time. “We know when someone donates, and we can send them a thank-you note right away,” said Edmondson. “Features like the monthly giving nudge help donors see how they can make an even greater impact over time, while personalized messaging ensures they’re informed of the impact every step of the way.”
Bloomerang allows their team to create customized donation forms to make the giving experience smoother for donors. “Customizing our forms has allowed us to stay on brand with each event or program initiative that we support,” said Edmondson. “This creates a cohesive donor experience for our giving and event forms for donations, event sponsorships, and registrations. But it’s not just about streamlining the process, it’s about creating a more intuitive and meaningful donor experience.”
Bloomerang also makes it easy to run multiple giving campaigns and events alongside regular giving. “The ability to easily showcase one of our many events, programs, or district-led initiatives while tracking real-time donations has been extremely useful,” said Edmondson.
RESULTS
Bloomerang’s fundraising software results in record-breaking events
Highlighting these fundraising campaigns and improving the event and donor experience has led to major success for the Foundation. When their annual “Stepping Out for Education” fundraiser switched from paper-based credit card information to a Bloomerang QR code for donations, it led to a record-breaking event, raising almost triple their previous record. “The ease of using that QR code led to our highest year ever for on-the-floor asks at ‘Stepping Out,’” shared Edmondson.
In their first year with Bloomerang, the Foundation also saw a 19% increase in donations year over year. “We were using Kindful by Bloomerang the year we saw the initial increase. Before that, we didn’t even have a linked donation page—our donations actually went to our PayPal,” said Edmondson. “Since switching to Bloomerang’s fundraising tools, our lives have gotten even better!”
Bloomerang’s Giving Platform has made it easier to accurately track donors and significantly improved operational efficiency with automations like reporting. Edmondson said, “The ability to schedule reports has saved as much as two hours a day.” Thanks to Bloomerang, the Education Foundation of Lake County is confident in their ability to continue positively influencing the classroom experience of their students and teachers.
"Bloomerang creates a cohesive donor experience for our giving and event forms for donations, event sponsorships, and registrations. But it’s not just about streamlining the process, it’s about creating a more intuitive and meaningful donor experience."
in donations year over year
increase in on-the-floor event donations
hours/day savings from automation
