Key Nonprofit Highlights
Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue (RMFR) has operated as a limited-intake cat shelter in Denver, Colorado since 1982, rescuing cats and kittens from under-resourced regions across the country and finding them permanent homes. Before switching to Bloomerang, they struggled to complete basic fundraising and communication tasks on Bonterra Salsa, finding it fragmented and unreliable. Since moving to Bloomerang’s unified Giving Platform, they've centralized donor data, run their biggest event yet, and driven a donor retention rate of 50%. One email appeal alone raised six times their fundraising goal, and campaigns like these are freeing up Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue to focus on what matters most: caring for cats and finding them homes.
Challenge
Fragmented systems that couldn't keep up with basic fundraising needs
Before Bloomerang, Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue relied on Bonterra Salsa, a platform that made even the simplest tasks feel like an uphill battle. Heather Moritz, the organization's board treasurer, explained that things like sending mass email communications, pulling donor analytics, and generating year-end tax statements consistently created headaches for their small, mostly volunteer-run team.
“It was very difficult to do even simple things, like send out email blasts,” Moritz said. “Sending out year-end tax statements was even kind of a drama.” With costs climbing and support hard to come by, the organization needed a system that matched the scale of their mission: finding homes for about 1,000 cats and kittens every year.
Solution
Centralizing donor management with Bloomerang CRM and Bloomerang Fundraising
When RMFR moved off Bonterra Salsa and onto Bloomerang’s Giving Platform, the data conversion process went smoothly, and Moritz credited Bloomerang's onboarding, training library, and one-on-one coaching sessions with getting the team up to speed quickly. “It felt like the clouds lifted,” Moritz said of the shift.
Day-to-day, the organization now uses Bloomerang to track donor records, send email appeals, and personally thank supporters. When RMFR hosted a sold-out seminar with kitten rescue influencer Hannah Shaw, known online as the Kitten Lady, it was the first event run entirely on Bloomerang Fundraising, including ticket sales. They were delighted to host roughly 200 attendees from across Colorado's rescue community.
Results
Raising six times their goal from a single email appeal
RMFR now retains 50% of their donors year over year, well above the nonprofit industry average. Moritz attributed the jump to a mix of loyal supporters and a more personal approach, made possible by having donor data readily accessible in Bloomerang. Board members can now send handwritten notes and make phone calls to top donors, easily tracking every touchpoint along the way.
That data-driven, personal touch paid off dramatically when the organization's water heater failed. Hoping to raise $5,000 to replace it, they sent a single appeal with Bloomerang’s Email Builder and raised $30,000, six times their goal! “When we raised $30,000 from that email blast, we were amazed and humbled,” Moritz said. The organization not only replaced the water heater, they were also able to apply the extra funds toward other facility repairs, including washer and dryer maintenance.
Targeted appeals for medical cases, like a cat named Oddity who needed round-the-clock care, and a wish-list campaign for food and supplies that brought in more than $7,000 in in-kind donations have further proved the power of specific, story-driven campaigns. When asked why she would recommend Bloomerang to her fellow nonprofits, Moritz shared, “The staff have really made it for us. All of our interactions—whether from sales, onboarding, or coaching—they really know the product, which is very high quality and gets the job done. We've just really gotten value for dollars out of it.”
