$25K challenge met: impromptu fundraiser success with Bloomerang

Key Nonprofit Highlights

American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is an industry-wide organization that provides supply chain assistance to disaster relief organizations and other nonprofits. They bring together the expertise and resources of the logistics industry with nonprofits to help solve their most pressing supply chain challenges immediately after disasters strike. ALAN used Bloomerang’s Giving Platform to launch an impromptu fundraiser after a challenge was issued by an Amazon SVP at a supply chain conference. Thanks to Bloomerang’s online giving and text-to-give tools, ALAN quickly processed thousands of donations from attendees, raising $84,000 in just 12 hours, including a $25,000 match from Amazon.

Challenge

A spur-of-the-moment fundraiser made possible with Bloomerang

When ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton stepped onto the stage of the annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, she only intended to show attendees a brief video and thank them for supporting ALAN. She shared with the audience how their support helped move and distribute millions of pounds of food, water, and other supplies over the years.

Fulton finished her speech and was followed by Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations from Amazon, and the conference’s keynote speaker. Clark challenged conference attendees to raise $25,000 for ALAN in 24 hours and said Amazon would match their contributions. Conference-goers were enthusiastic about the challenge, and Fulton immediately sprang into action with Bloomerang’s Giving Platform.

Solution

Implementing online giving and text fundraising on the fly

ALAN relied on Bloomerang’s Giving Platform to process the online donations collected that day. “People may not carry their checkbooks anymore, but they do carry their credit cards,” expressed Fulton. ALAN’s partnership with Bloomerang allowed her to process thousands of dollars in gifts during that 12-hour period, including donations that people made online with their cell phones and donations that she took herself on her phone.

ALAN’s impromptu fundraiser highlights an important fact about fundraising in today’s technology-focused society. Nonprofits must be able to respond to unexpected challenges, and they need to cater to donors who don’t use traditional giving methods, particularly disaster relief organizations like ALAN. Luckily, Fulton had already prepared herself to take donations any time the opportunity arose with a responsive Bloomerang donation page that could be accessed from any device. She had even previously set up a text-to-donate keyword that allowed donors to initiate the giving process by sending a text message.

Results

Raising $84,000 in just 12 hours thanks to Bloomerang

In today’s on-the-go society, donors want to give quickly and easily. Having the right tools from Bloomerang’s Giving Platform allows ALAN to capture donors’ enthusiasm no matter the circumstance, whether they’re at home in front of the computer, scrolling their phone, or changing the world at a conference. “The speech challenging our attendees to raise $25,000 happened at 10:00 a.m., and by 10:00 p.m., we had already exceeded our goal,” said Fulton. All told, with Amazon’s $25,000 donation, ALAN raised $84,000 in just 12 hours. Bloomerang’s Giving Platform empowers nonprofits with responsive, technology-driven fundraising solutions, helping them effectively seize unexpected opportunities.