Key Nonprofit Highlights
At The Bridge in Dallas, TX, impact is not an abstract idea. It’s measured daily in meals served, showers taken, case plans created, and keys placed into hands. As a 24-hour campus serving guests experiencing homelessness, The Bridge provides meals, case management, peer support, and a full continuum of care designed to move people from crisis to stability. Before using Bloomerang, they struggled with disconnected systems for volunteer tracking, communication, and reporting. Now, they’ve unified their systems for donors, volunteers, and fundraising, streamlining operations and strengthening relationships, resulting in a 41% donor retention rate.
Challenge
Managing 900+ volunteers and donor communications across disconnected systems
The Bridge’s Community Engagement Manager, Katerah Jefferson, leads the charge in connecting the Dallas community to their mission. She coordinates nearly 900 volunteers annually, ensuring every welcome kit is packed, every opportunity is filled, and every guest feels supported. Each month, between 40 and 50 guests graduate and move into permanent housing, and no one leaves without a welcome home basket and two weeks of food—made possible entirely through volunteers and in-kind donations.
But behind the scenes, the systems powering that work were fragmented and time-consuming. “We were working in several different databases, so that I could have the data at the end of the day to talk about what we’ve done at the end of the year,” said Jefferson. Tracking volunteer timesheets, posting opportunities, managing communications, and pulling year-end reports meant a headache of toggling between platforms.
The Bridge was deeply committed to stewarding its donors well, but disconnected donor systems also created strain on communication and reporting, making it more difficult to leverage insights that could deepen engagement even further. The Bridge wasn’t looking to “do more with less.” They were ready for a smarter, more integrated way to support the generosity already surrounding their mission.
Solution
A purpose-built CRM and volunteer management platform designed for nonprofits
When The Bridge chose Bloomerang, the goal was simple: unify their systems and simplify their work. They needed one giving platform that could manage donors, volunteers, and fundraising alike without requiring extra manual lift. Jefferson admitted she was initially skeptical: “Learning about Bloomerang and how everything is a one-stop shop within your system… I couldn’t believe it at first.”
Like many nonprofit leaders who had been promised “all-in-one” solutions before, she expected to still rely on multiple tools to make everything function. But after participating in Bloomerang’s training paths and webinars, she saw the difference: “Bloomerang has come up with something that makes it easier for me as the volunteer coordinator. And to have one CRM, one database that can speak to the donors, speak to the volunteers, and then turn all of that information into data that we can use to apply for funding and to ask for more help, it makes things so easy.”
With Bloomerang’s integrated Giving Platform, The Bridge could manage opportunities, track hours, communicate with supporters, and generate meaningful reports all in one place. Instead of stitching data together at the end of the year, they could see the full picture in real time.
Just as importantly, the partnership felt different. Bloomerang’s team showed up on campus to volunteer and invited The Bridge to share their story at its annual Go-To-Market Kick-Off while employees packed welcome baskets. “I’ve never been a part of a database that did any of that,” shared Jefferson. “I never knew anyone in our other systems or had a conversation with anyone. We feel really supported by Bloomerang.”
Results
Stronger donor retention, unified volunteer data, and next-level nonprofit impact
With a unified system in place, The Bridge streamlined volunteer management and strengthened donor communications. The development team could collaborate more effectively, identify opportunities faster, and communicate with confidence. Instead of spending time reconciling reports across platforms, they focused on cultivating relationships and telling stories that inspired action.
That focus paid off. The Bridge achieved a 41% donor retention rate, a testament to intentional stewardship and meaningful engagement. “We are really working hard to show our donors that it’s more than their dollar,” said Jefferson. “We want to know why they give to us and what we can do to improve things, so we cultivate those relationships, and that’s really important to us.”
With clearer insights and connected data, The Bridge could nurture those relationships more strategically—turning volunteer involvement into donor engagement and donor generosity into sustained impact. By bringing volunteer management, donor engagement, and reporting into a single platform, The Bridge gained more than operational efficiency. With Bloomerang, they gained clarity and capacity for more purpose.
