Nonprofit CRMs and fundraising solutions are tailored specifically for the distinct needs of nonprofit entities, acting as all-encompassing platforms for fostering relationships with donors, volunteers, and other key stakeholders. A nonprofit CRM system generally provides features such as donor tracking, communication history, email management, event coordination, and comprehensive reporting. This enables organizations to maintain an integrated view of their interactions with each individual, facilitating personalized outreach efforts. Meanwhile, whether integrated within or working alongside CRM systems, fundraising tools simplify the fundraising process through campaign management, online donation processing, and donor analytics, aiding nonprofits in crafting effective fundraising strategies.

Transforming donor management and fundraising in education

Consider the journey of navigating through vast amounts of donor information, fundraising campaigns, and relationship-building tactics. The Education Foundation of Lake County’s story begins here. Faced with an outdated donor management system, they needed a modern solution capable of meeting the evolving demands of fundraising and adapting to a remote work environment—a challenge prevalent across the educational sector.

This is where Bloomerang steps in—a nonprofit CRM solution designed with nonprofit organizations in mind. It not only replaces antiquated systems but also revolutionizes donor management and fundraising approaches.

The nonprofit CRM as a lever for fundraising innovation

Integrating a nonprofit CRM system like Bloomerang can redefine fundraising efforts. It goes beyond data storage; it’s about transforming data into intelligence that helps to inform and enhance fundraising strategies.

The Education Foundation of Lake County realized this when they adopted Bloomerang. They were able to streamline their development processes and monitor donor interactions more efficiently. Insights into donor behaviors and preferences enabled them to design fundraising campaigns that resonated more effectively with their audience.

Strengthening donor relationships through technology

At its core, successful fundraising hinges on robust donor relationships. Here, CRM systems play a crucial role. By serving as a comprehensive repository of every interaction, preference, and donation, CRMs provide a complete picture of each donor. This wealth of information is critical for developing targeted communication and engagement strategies that foster and deepen long-term relationships.

Synergy in action: The combined force of CRM and fundraising

The real power of CRM systems and fundraising platforms becomes apparent when they’re tightly integrated. While CRMs offer valuable data and insights, fundraising platforms enable effective action on this information.

For educational nonprofits, this synergy can make or break the success of a fundraising campaign. The data a CRM captures can guide the timing, messaging, and targeting of fundraising efforts. At the same time, feedback from these campaigns enriches the CRM database, creating a cycle of continuous improvement and growth.

Why this synergy matters:

• Customization and flexibility: The ability to customize a CRM to meet your specific organizational needs is critical. The right CRM adapts to your strategies, not the other way around.
• Enhanced donor insights: A deep understanding of donor behaviors and histories leads to more informed fundraising decisions.
• Efficient communication: CRM solutions with integrated communication tools enable personalized and impactful donor outreach.
• Data-driven strategies: Knowledgeable fundraising is effective fundraising. CRM data empowers you to base every decision on solid evidence.
• Improved productivity: Automating routine tasks means more time to dedicate to strategic planning and personal engagement with donors.

A path forward for educational nonprofits

Nonprofit CRMs and fundraising tools equip organizations to maximize their impact by efficiently managing resources, enhancing donor relationships, and optimizing fundraising efforts. This leads to more effective support of educational programs. For education nonprofits, embracing the synergy between a nonprofit CRM like Bloomerang and fundraising strategies is not just a strategic decision—it’s vital for growth and sustainability. It fosters a more nuanced understanding of donor behavior, leading to more successful fundraising initiatives and stronger donor connections.

As the Education Foundation of Lake County demonstrated, integrating these tools facilitates more personalized, data-driven fundraising efforts that resonate with donors and achieve better outcomes. For any educational foundation navigating today’s intricate landscape, integrating your CRM and fundraising efforts is not merely beneficial—it’s imperative. Viewing these tools as interconnected facets of your strategic approach unlocks new levels of efficiency and effectiveness in your mission to support education.

The post The Synergy Of CRM And Fundraising In Education Nonprofits appeared first on Bloomerang.

Transform your Education Nonprofit’s online fundraising game with actionable tips you can implement today! Join us on March 19th as James Goalder shares key insights and best practices from successful nonprofits. Learn how to make simple yet powerful changes to boost online donations, avoid common fundraising roadblocks, and confidently hit your fundraising goals.

Learning Objectives:

• Simple ways you can update your online fundraising process

• Common pitfalls to avoid when building your fundraising campaigns

• Insights from other nonprofits’ online giving experience and how that impacts donations

View this session’s slides here.

The post Raise More for Your Education Nonprofit appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

LTSF had become dissatisfied with using eTapestry as their donor management software.

Solution

Since adding Bloomerang in mid-2013, LTSF has gotten their money’s worth out of the communications tools alone.

“We love to use the communication tools within Bloomerang, specifically the Donor-Centricity and Readability Tool, not only in our thank you letters but also with articles that we put in our e-newsletters.”

They even used our Communication Audit Tool on their organizational mission statement!

Results

“I appreciate the responsiveness of Bloomerang’s staff and their interest in making sure questions are answered timely and completely. Also, the continued development of new features makes me confident that Bloomerang will help me become a more effective fundraiser.”

The post Lawrence Township School Foundation appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

Diane K. Baird, Executive Director of the DelCom Educational Foundation, was looking to implement her first dedicated fundraising software solution.
“We had a lot of information, but no database. So, the donor info we had was scattered and not functional. No organization.”

Solution

Bloomerang was recommended by several other school foundation directors as well as the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations.
“I researched other available donor database programs and decided on Bloomerang. It has surpassed all my expectations!”

After the foundation chose Bloomerang, Diane was able to import data from all their various sources with some assistance from our team.

Results

With Bloomerang, DelCom Education Foundation is now tracking their donors while sending out mailings and emails from one system. They’re also measuring individual campaign progress for the first time.

“Everything is much easier and will allow for future positive analysis of all aspects of our organization. I am very pleased with Bloomerang, and so is my board!”

The post Delaware Community Schools Educational Foundation appeared first on Bloomerang.

Challenge

West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation was looking for a simple donor database that would work better for them than their previous system. “When I came on to work for the Foundation, it was clear their current database was not working. I was tasked with researching several different ones and selecting the one I liked best. I wanted to keep with my comfort zone and stay with the one I had used at my previous position. Seemed easy enough. However, after stumbling upon Bloomerang, it all made sense. It was intuitive, interactive, bright, simple, and offered me a lot of what I wanted and didn’t know I needed in a database. I was looking for a database that told me what I needed quickly, was easy to run reports, and was mobile-friendly. Bloomerang was the only one that checked off all boxes,” said Lindsay Walls, Director of Operations at West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation.

Solution

After stumbling upon Bloomerang, the team at West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation quickly became impressed with its intuitiveness, reporting functionality, and knowledgeable customer support. “The layout. The idea that things were easy to find. The reports are easy to run and when I have questions, the live chat is always right there to help me. I have had great experiences using the live chat and the overall customer service is extraordinary.”

West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation was also happy that they had found a solution that could take their constituent communication to the next level. “We communicate with our donors. We call them, email them, track their lives. Before Bloomerang we were unknown and cold. When someone calls, the first thing we do is open their record and verify all of their information. They appreciate this.”

Lindsay and the team have been so happy with their decision to switch to Bloomerang that they’ve been recommending the donor management software to other nonprofits. Here’s Lindsay’s advice to other school foundations:

1. Switch now.
2. The time we save by having accurate account information and data is worth every dime tenfold. It also helps avoid awkward conversations about why we mailed to a deceased alum, forgot to mail to a new alum, spelled someone’s name wrong, etc.
3. The data you receive from emails, donors engagement, etc. helps me speak confidently on how we are doing and what is working for us.
4. The things I am able to do with the information provided are priceless. I love data and being able to generate various reports is fantastic.

Results

Since implementing Bloomerang, West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation has seen several fundraising pain points be alleviated. “Our ability to segment our annual campaign letter increased our fundraising significantly. Before we were blindly mailing to everyone in the database. This was not cost-effective. We’ve used engagement and generosity reports to help us in our capital campaign and these insights have led us to great successes in fundraising.”

school foundations. Bloomerang has also fit nicely into the foundation’s donor retention and gift development processes with its built-in email tool. “Our online donations have skyrocketed and our ability to communicate with our donors in a meaningful manner has led to higher gifts. As a foundation, we sent our first mass email through Bloomerang in our entire history. It was eye-opening how we could design and communicate to different groups with a few simple clicks. Alumni drive our organization and they love to hear about what is going on at the school. This has helped us in planning their reunions and ultimately has increased our donor records significantly and has made them much more accurate. A win-win.”

And if that’s not enough, Lindsay and her team have seen improvements in dollars raised through targeted mailings. “In our first year with the Bloomerang, we went from mailing 8000 letters to mailing 972. We went from raising $16,000 to $21,000. The second-year we doubled that dollar amount and mailed only 650 pieces. Math doesn’t lie.”

At this rate, imagine what improvements the team could continue to see. “Bloomerang is user-friendly, helpful, and constantly changing for the better. They listen to their users and are always there when you need them. My job is easier because of Bloomerang and they have made our organization much stronger both financially and in terms of overall legitimacy.”

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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.

Naperville Education Foundation | Event Cancellation + 2-Touch Email Campaign

In this video, Steven from Bloomerang sits down (virtually) with Amy and Wendy from the Naperville Education Foundation to talk about a special COVID-19 fundraising appeal campaign that resulted in over $100k donated, despite an in-person event cancelation.

Campaign At-A-Glance

With schools closing, NEF canceled an in-person fundraising event outright and quickly shifted gears to create an all-new crisis fund. Two dedicated email appeals were sent, resulting in thousands of dollars raised, including many from brand new donors.

Email #1 – Event Cancelation

NEF succinctly communicated the cancelation of their event, but not the fundraising goal, and included an appeal that was contextualized for the current crisis.

29% open rate, 1.7% click-through-rate

Subject: The time to help is NOW

Email #2 – Crisis Appeal

Later, NEF announced the creation of a special fund for at-risk, food-insecure and homeless students.

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

Subject: How to Help: Kid Booster Crisis Fund

Email #3 – What You Would Have Seen At The Event

Since NEF had invested in the creation of content for the event, they sent that content out by email on the day that the event was supposed to take place. This email features several stories of impact from the foundation.

45% open rate, 4.6% click-through-rate

Subject: Why there’s no place like 203

The post Naperville Education Foundation appeared first on Bloomerang.

Watch the video below to see how the executive director of the Lawrence Township School Foundation uses the communication tools in Bloomerang:

The post [VIDEO] Lawrence Township School Foundation appeared first on Bloomerang.