Key Nonprofit Highlights
For 20 years, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media has led global advocacy for equitable representation in film, television, and advertising. Located in Marina del Rey, California, their research and partnerships transform media representation, proving its power to change culture and lives. The Geena Davis Institute overcame fragmented donor data and event management challenges by adopting the Bloomerang Giving Platform. It streamlined donation and event page creation, freeing up staff for donor engagement and enabling a successful ticketed event program. With exceptional customer support, Bloomerang has helped the Institute achieve three consecutive years of revenue growth, a 39% donor retention rate, and increased member engagement through ticketed events.
Challenge
Disorganized data and event headaches
For years, the Geena Davis Institute relied on a patchwork of spreadsheets, emails, and CRMs to manage donor data. “It was very difficult to get at-a-glance, comprehensive information on our donors, especially across the team as a whole,” said Emily Spaulding, Donor Database Coordinator. “We had a consultant evaluate five options, and Bloomerang was the highest recommended.”
Event management was another hurdle. “We had tried various online hosted forms, email registrations, spreadsheets, etc. to manage our events and register our members with comped tickets,” Spaulding recalled. The team needed a unified system—something intuitive, powerful, and built for purpose.
Solution
Bloomerang is an intuitive, integrated giving platform
Bloomerang proved to be the ideal solution. “We loved how intuitive Bloomerang was to get started with and absolutely love the amazing support staff that answered all of our questions,” said Spaulding. By adopting Bloomerang’s integrated Giving Platform, the Institute streamlined everything from donation tracking to ticketed events. “Now that I have been using the platform regularly for multiple events and donation appeals, I can put together a very polished donation or event page in minutes and know that it will drive organized data right to our Bloomerang database,” she explained. “This saves us so much time on the back end and allows for that time to be spent on engaging with those who support our organization.”
Bloomerang’s ease of use and flexibility empowered the Institute to finally launch a ticketed event program and move all donation forms into one cohesive system. “We are so pleased! Bloomerang’s Giving Platform has surpassed our expectations for sure,” said Spaulding. When asked her favorite part of using Bloomerang, she exclaimed: “Picking a favorite Bloomerang feature is like picking your favorite child! The fact that all the features are so intuitive to use makes it easy to find ways to optimize your time. On a basic level, you can operate without a ton of front-end training. You can jump right in and start automating things. As you dig deeper and fine-tune your database, there are so many reference articles to help guide you.”
Bloomerang’s customer support team is always there for Spaulding’s questions, too. “I have sent them questions that were super easy for them to answer—though they never made me feel like it was a dumb question—as well as more complex issues,” she shared. “Each problem sent their way is treated with importance, and the solutions are given in a way that is clear to follow. They are the best!”
Results
Deeper donor engagement and consistent revenue growth
Since implementing Bloomerang, the Institute has achieved three consecutive years of revenue growth and maintains a 39% donor retention rate—a clear reflection of deeper engagement and operational clarity. “We love that the dashboard shows the retention rate right when you log in, so you can keep track of it without even really trying.”
“The ticketed events we’ve launched this past year with Bloomerang have successfully attracted new individuals who previously had no access to our exclusive member events,” Spaulding noted. “Additionally, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in member engagement at these events, as they now experience and appreciate the tangible value offered.”
Spaulding and her team continue to expand their use of Bloomerang’s features. “We regularly use and love the reporting features and are looking forward to utilizing the DonorSearch feature more this year,” she said. “The ease with which we can pull accurate, comprehensive reporting helps us to stay on top of interacting with and soliciting contributions from our wonderful supporters. All of the customization options with reporting filters and columns are much loved and much used. We also love the customizable automated donation acknowledgements, registration receipts, and record updates on their profiles showing this has happened—huge time saver.”
With Bloomerang’s intuitive tools and human touch, the Geena Davis Institute is proving that purpose and performance can grow hand in hand—driving change, connection, and representation that transforms how the world sees itself.
