Key Nonprofit Highlights
Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Capital Humane Society (CHS) was formed in 1902 with a mission to prevent cruelty to children and horses. Over time, the mission expanded to include a wide variety of animals. Today, CHS advocates for animals both inside and outside the shelter, connecting people and pets through community support. They care for displaced animals, promote responsible care by providing resources and support for pet owners, and connect homeless pets with families through adoption.
CHS has used Bloomerang for over a decade to streamline event ticketing, donor management, and reporting. Bloomerang makes it easy for CHS to build detailed reports, segment donors, and send regular eNewsletters. This donor engagement contributes to their impressive 52% donor retention rate. With all their data in one place, CHS has tighter operations and accurate records, freeing up more time for focused outreach and connecting displaced animals with loving families.
Challenge
Managing donor and event data in two disparate systems
As the Capital Humane Society continued to grow, managing donor records and event data across multiple systems became a challenge. “Before Bloomerang, we used two separate products—one for events and one for donor records,” said Shana Perry, Director of Development. “We spent a lot of time going back and forth to cross-check that all of our information was entered correctly. Bloomerang stands out against its competitors because of its accessibility and ease of use.” Perry and her team needed a platform that would simplify reporting, streamline event management, and provide a complete view of donors—all while being intuitive for staff and volunteers to use.
Solution
Bloomerang’s integrated platform simplifies data and deepens donor relationships
Bloomerang delivered the unified giving platform CHS needed to manage their fundraising and donor data seamlessly. “Now that everything’s integrated and in one place, we know that our data’s accurate,” said Perry. “That saves us hours of time!”
Beyond simplifying data management, CHS has been able to use Bloomerang’s segmentation tools to tailor communications sent via Bloomerang’s integration with Constant Contact, deepening donor relationships. “Segmentation is also a big part of our strategy. Bloomerang makes it simple to segment donors so we can tailor our outreach and prioritize stewardship,” Perry explained. “I also use Bloomerang to manage my donor portfolio. We track annual giving, contact preferences, and other details that help streamline stewardship and build stronger relationships. I can easily filter donation amounts by year and geographic area as needed.”
CHS also uses Bloomerang reporting to manage a major giving society, generate thank-you letters, and track event attendance. “Bloomerang’s Giving Platform helps us streamline our event ticketing and reconciliation process,” Perry said. “It’s intuitive and makes it easy to generate custom reports fast, which is a big win. Other platforms make it difficult to create and run reports. But with Bloomerang, I can create the reports I need quickly and easily.”
Results
Optimizing donor engagement and event management with Bloomerang
With all their data unified under Bloomerang, CHS maintains a 52% donor retention rate—well above the national average. “We attribute our retention to our consistent donor stewardship and effective data management,” Perry said. “We send regular emails to many of our loyal donors. We can easily subscribe new donors and engage our digital community at least twice a week. This consistency keeps us top of mind.”
Bloomerang event management has also transformed CHS’s event operations. “We recently hosted a new event—Meowmaste, a cat yoga event—and used Bloomerang Fundraising to register the participants,” Perry shared. “It let us cap attendance, collect contact info, and sync everything back to our CRM—something we weren’t able to do with our previous hosting site. We also added attendees to our eNewsletter and flagged them as potential major donors.” Sponsor relations have also improved with Bloomerang’s Giving Platform. “We appreciate how easy it is to thank our sponsors and offer them real visibility by adding them to our fundraising event pages. That kind of exposure is a huge help when we’re securing sponsorships of every level.”
As a mid-sized nonprofit, CHS hosts four major events and eight small ones each year, requiring the right tools for success. Bloomerang continues to be a trusted partner in both operations and outreach. “Anytime we need support, our Bloomerang rep is right there—quick to respond and incredibly helpful! If your nonprofit manages a donor base of 20,000 or more donors and runs both large and small events, I highly recommend Bloomerang!”
By centralizing data, simplifying stewardship, and freeing up staff time, Bloomerang helps Capital Humane Society focus on what matters most—connecting more pets with loving homes.
