From disjointed data entry to selling out donor events with Bloomerang’s Giving Platform
Key Nonprofit Highlights
Grand Rapids Public Museum exists as a living monument to the artifacts, ideas, and stories that shape human connection and enrich the community of West Michigan. To sustain that mission, the museum needed fundraising operations that could match its ambitions. Disconnected systems and manual processes made it difficult to maintain a unified view of donor engagement. By unifying its donor management and fundraising efforts on the Bloomerang Giving Platform, Grand Rapids Public Museum gained the visibility and coordination needed to strengthen donor engagement and drive results. The team raised 130% of their gala fundraising goal, expanded a beloved annual event to two instances per year, and grew attendance year over year to the point of selling out their most recent event.
Challenge
Losing fundraising momentum to manual data entry and disconnected systems
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) needed a solution that streamlined donor data management, minimized errors, and optimized constituent engagement. Previously, manual data entry processes with the Greater Giving platform demanded significant manual effort to keep constituent records current. Every event created duplicate work, elevated the risk of data inaccuracies, and left the development team without a clear picture of how supporters were engaging across the organization.
Samantha Strait, Administrative Database Manager for the museum’s Development Department, described the challenge: “They were using a system that required a lot of manual data entry, and because of the huge need of fundraising to support the GRPM’s mission, they needed something that could be streamlined to improve donor engagement and reduce inaccuracies and inefficiencies.” Without a unified system, staff couldn’t quickly identify which supporters deserved immediate attention, and it was difficult to identify which supporters needed attention or how to engage them effectively.
Solution
Unifying donor management and fundraising with the Bloomerang Giving Platform
When Grand Rapids Public Museum added Bloomerang Fundraising to its existing Bloomerang CRM as a unified giving platform, the results were immediate. The museum could automatically sync constituent information gathered at fundraising events directly into its CRM, keeping donor profiles accurate without the manual burden.
Strait called the integration transformative: “Integrating these two platforms has been a game-changer to be able to keep things organized, prevent duplicate transactions, and pull reports instantaneously.” With real-time data flowing between both systems, the development team finally had a complete, trustworthy picture of each constituent’s engagement history.
Bloomerang Fundraising’s customizable forms became one of Strait’s favorite features. The team could tailor fonts, colors, and images to match each event’s theme, extending the museum’s brand identity all the way to the donation experience—and donors took notice. As she put it, “Constituents notice these things and in turn, trust the donation forms more.”
The museum also built out hundreds of unique reports in Bloomerang CRM, using the platform’s segmentation and reporting tools to sharpen its outreach. Groups for board members, elected officials, curiosity club, staff, and more helped the team quickly identify where to focus fundraising efforts and assemble mailing lists for appeals and events. “Reporting impacts all of our appeals and mailing lists for fundraising,” Strait explained. “And the options for reporting in Bloomerang are endless! Our team has clarity on who to focus on and can be more intentional about how they engage donors.” The CRM dashboard became a daily anchor that could surface quick snapshots, flag where to adjust focus, and help staff keep tabs on tasks without losing sight of the bigger goal.
Results
Selling out events and growing year-over-year attendance
The move to the Bloomerang Giving Platform delivered both operational relief and measurable growth. Grand Rapids Public Museum raised 130% of its gala fundraising goal after switching to Bloomerang Fundraising for its auction and event registration. The momentum kept building from there. “Because of the Bloomerang CRM’s reporting and groups, we have been able to add a second rendition of one of our events each year, and year over year, we have increased the amount of attendees at each of those events—so much so, that our last event sold out!” said Strait.
Strait also credited Bloomerang’s responsiveness to customer feedback as a reason the museum’s confidence in the platform continued to grow. From features that let users suggest and upvote improvements to innovations like Penny, Bloomerang’s AI fundraising partner, Grand Rapids Public Museum saw a technology partner that evolved alongside their needs, rather than standing still while the sector moved forward: “So many platforms will just stick to how they are and not change with the ever-evolving technology. However, Bloomerang seems to stay on top of the current trends, like Penny, and appears to be open to recommendations from the actual users of the platforms.”
For Strait and the Grand Rapids Public Museum team, the truest measure of success was stronger fundraising performance across its events and campaigns. With accurate data, reliable reporting, and two platforms working as one, the development team could set aside the administrative grind and focus on what drives the museum’s mission forward: building the donor relationships that bring their community’s stories to life.
