Empowering Conservation: Mara Elephant Project’s Growth Journey with Bloomerang
Mara Elephant Project USA (MEP USA) is a nonprofit based in the U.S. that supports the work of Mara Elephant Project in Kenya to protect elephants and their habitats in Kenya’s Greater Mara Ecosystem—an area crucial to global biodiversity and home to the famous Great Migration. MEP USA connects U.S. donor funds with Kenyan conservation efforts, ensuring the people who know the land best are the ones making key decisions.
Claire Bolles, the Executive Director at MEP USA, supports this work across departments—from fundraising and donor engagement to governance—while keeping a sharp focus on efficiency and impact. She leads a small but effective team, including herself as the full-time executive, a part-time finance director, and a consulting team providing key insights.
Key highlights
Bloomerang has played a key role in helping MEP USA streamline operations, boost donor retention, and drive growth. With automated workflows and expert consulting support, MEP USA saw impressive results. Their donor retention rate increased by 15%, and they generated $67,000 in new revenue through an email campaign. Meanwhile, their recurring donor program grew by 30% in both revenue and donors, and streamlined operations have kept overhead costs low without sacrificing impact.
The challenge
For years, donor management at MEP USA relied on manual systems. Claire used spreadsheets to track key donors and committed the rest to memory. As the donor base grew, that approach became overwhelming.
“I could account for the top 20 donors,” Claire said, “but I couldn’t tell you about the thousand others—their potential to give or even how often I communicated with them. It became impossible to keep up.”
Without a better way to track donor relationships, Claire found it more challenging to show stakeholders the impact of her efforts. It was clear they needed a solution that could grow with them.
The solution
MEP USA adopted Bloomerang in 2021 after evaluating several systems. Its intuitive design and flexibility immediately stood out.
“What really attracted us was how easy it was to use,” Claire recalled. “I could jump right in and figure things out without a steep learning curve.”
MEP USA has made Bloomerang an essential part of their operations, using it to streamline processes, save time, and focus on building donor relationships.
Centralized donor management gives MEP USA everything they need to stay on top of donor relationships. Tracking interactions, monitoring giving history, and setting follow-up reminders are now simple and organized. With everything in one place, Claire can focus on building meaningful connections with donors. “It’s all right there in the system,” Claire said. “Everything I need to know about the effectiveness of what I’m doing is at my fingertips.” By keeping donor data organized, Claire can quickly generate reports and analyze trends. This helps her focus on reaching the right people, building stronger relationships, and showing stakeholders the difference her work is making.
Automation has made it easier to focus on cultivating major donors while keeping others engaged. Personalized thank-you notes, reminders for lapsed donors, and milestone celebrations are all handled seamlessly. “Bloomerang takes care of the details—who gave, what type of communication they’re set to receive—so I can stay focused on the bigger picture,” Claire said.
Quarterly consulting support gives Claire the insights she needs to make smarter decisions. “My consultant feels like part of my team,” she shared. “She uncovered insights in an hour that would have taken a full-time staffer weeks to find. She comes prepared with data-driven insights, spots areas we can improve, and helps me set up new automations.” Claire used this guidance to launch a prospecting campaign that reengaged donors with untapped potential—a strategy she plans to expand.
Claire uses custom fields and donation forms through Qgiv By Bloomerang to easily track donor gifts during busy seasons and streamline donation processing. “It’s all automated now,” Claire said. “So we can see who gave at qualifying levels and what they’re set to receive.”
MEP has also streamlined payments through the Bloomerang integration with Qgiv, saving Claire and her finance director hours of work each month. Tasks like sending donation acknowledgments are now quick and easy. “My finance director loves that she can click one button to send acknowledgments,” Claire said. “It eliminates so many unnecessary steps.”
Event management has also been key to Claire’s success. For their marathon fundraiser in the Maasai Mara, Claire used Qgiv event registration tools to track over 300 participants and share updates with shareholders. Everything captured in Qgiv automatically syncs to Bloomerang through a seamless integration, saving time and providing a full picture of their donor interactions: “I could customize the forms, track registrations, and send reports to stakeholders—all without needing outside support.”
Claire has even found creative ways to use Bloomerang beyond donor management. She uses the notes system for grant tracking to manage every detail, from applications and payments to deadlines and reports. “The grants manager in Kenya can access and update everything seamlessly,” she said. “We can track every detail in one place—even across time zones—and it keeps everyone aligned and up to date.”
The results
Claire has harnessed Bloomerang to streamline MEP USA’s operations, drive growth, and build stronger relationships with donors. The transformation at MEP USA is reflected not just in the metrics but also in a story of empowerment and growth.
$67K incremental revenue boost
When MEP USA launched an email campaign, they generated $67,000 in new revenue by reaching donors they couldn’t reach before. The success of this campaign was so significant that Claire has already budgeted for a follow-up in 2025.
30% growth in recurring gifts
Their recurring donor program has also flourished. With targeted pushes encouraging monthly giving, recurring gifts grew by 30% in both revenue and participants.
15% increase in donor retention
Automated workflows have strengthened retention efforts, bringing lapsed donors back into the fold and boosting their retention rate by 15%. “We’ve been able to keep donors engaged because they hear from us regularly, no matter their level of giving,” Claire shared.
Significant time savings
The time savings have been equally significant. Automating routine processes has helped Claire focus on cultivating major donors and exploring new growth opportunities. “Bloomerang makes the feeling in my gut that we’re doing the right thing true and factual,” Claire said. “The data backs it up, and that’s invaluable.”
What’s next
MEP USA plans to expand its use of Qgiv by Bloomerang with peer-to-peer fundraising and virtual auctions to reach their growing international audience. Given the exceptional return on investment, another email append campaign is already in the works.
Claire also plans to explore additional features like event registration to support innovative initiatives like their ultramarathon fundraiser in the Maasai Mara.
Claire offers this advice to other nonprofits: “Don’t wait to invest in a CRM system. It’s easier to start small and grow with a system like Bloomerang. It’s the reason we’re able to make data-driven decisions and achieve the results we have today.”
By focusing on efficiency and impact, the Mara Elephant Project USA is proving that even a small team can make a big difference.
"Bloomerang makes the feeling in my gut that we’re doing the right thing true and factual. The data backs it up, and that’s invaluable."
growth in recurring gifts
increase in donor retention
