Excellent for Most Non-Profits

At a prior non-profit, I switched them from Raiser's Edge (desktop) to Bloomerang. I gained a ton of features and saved quite a bit. The conversion was painless. I've only had to contact support a few times and they have always been extremely helpful. In my current role, I set them up with Bloomerang as their first database. I have also recommended it on multiple occasions.

Pros

Bloomerang is intuitive and easy to use. Creating and reporting with custom field has never been easier and really allows you to customize it to your needs rather than using a standard field for something else. The ability to create embedded forms is a lifesaver. The integrated email capabilities save me from having to purchase another solution like Constant Contact. Plus, these interactions are automatically recorded in the donor/prospects data file. The integrated DonorSearch option is convenient, useful and cost-effective.

Cons

If my organization ran a ton of events, I'm not sure this would be my optimal solution. Currently, there is only one level of access - so I can't let a Board Member in to look around because any accidental changes they make would be permanent. I know that Bloomerang is working on this though.

Bloomerang for the win!

I love Bloomerang and use it on a regular basis. I no longer hesitate to look up information or turn to Bloomerang for help. Because I had so many issues with our previous database, I found myself dreading having to use it and/or figuring out a different way to gather the information I needed.

Pros

My company used Raiser's Edge for many years before switching over to Bloomerang and that was one of the best days in my working career. I love that we can immediately get a sense of a donor as their page comes up with the Giving Summary and Level of Engagement. I also appreciate being able to quickly see what the latest, largest, first, and lifetime giving is at a glance. Pulling reports, mailing lists, and financials is very user-friendly, too. Having trainings available to return to for refreshers and references is very handy. Using Bloomerang has been a game-changer for me in keeping track of donor information and then having the ability to compile that information in almost endless ways.

Cons

The most time consuming part of Bloomerang that feels a bit clunky is the creation of households. It requires data entry for one of its members, a new constituent record for the other member of the household, and then going back to create a household and link the two donors. It feels like there could be an easier way to get that information and create those relationships without so much back and forth.

Great concept, but flawed and in need of significant improvement

Pros

Simple and intuitive on the surface. Donation/timeline entries are fast and easy. Letter generations is mostly easy. As long as you're not serious about getting legit data out of your software, and don't need to make major mass improvements due to the collateral damage of importing from other software, you might like it. Customer support is probably the best I've ever had.

Cons

No mass update option--has cost us dozens of hours of productivity. Some of their reports use bad math, but apparently they're working on fixing that. It's impossible to run certain kinds of reports that were easy in other software. They're apparently working on a big improvement to reports, but it's going to be months before it comes out. Email newsletter option is insanely feature-sparse--had intended to switch to it, but after trying to use it and discovering it's limitations, I'm sticking with MailChimp. There's not way to export letters in an editable form (pdf download is the only option). In general, I've lost SO MUCH functionality and productivity after my switch from eTapestry. I do believe they are genuinely trying to grow and improve this product. They at least don't stonewall some of the criticism and acknowledge things that need improvement, but their capacity to actually improve the product and fix bugs seems extremely limited. Fixes and improvements come out about as fast as molasses pours in Antarctica, and there's an obvious disconnect between what the developers think is needed, and what real fundraisers actually really need.

Best CRM for mid-sized non profit

Our overall experience with Bloomerang has been terrific. We have much better reporting functionality, we track interactions more effectively. We create make use of all the features, and chose event software that integrates directly into BLoomerang this year, which has saved us a world of duplicate entry. We're very happy users.

Pros

I've been in fundraising for over 25 years and have used a lot of different CRM systems for fundraising. Bloomerang is my favorite because it is intuitive, well-designed, and because the company is continually updating and improving functionality. The ease of creating reports and pulling the information we need is my favorite thing about Bloomerang, followed by how easy it is to get technical support when we need it.

Cons

It is never fun to transition CRM software, and we had been with our previous provider for 15 years. We had a lot of data, and much of it was not maintained as well as I would have liked. But, Bloomerang met a rushed time line and we had what we needed to move forward as an organization. While we're very happy with Bloomerang, I would like to have a less clunkly way to track tribute gifts, and to produce letters to notificants in Bloomerang.

Some limitations, but ultimately we are quite satisfied with Bloomerang, Live Chat Help is stellar

While building reports in Bloom is somewhat tricky (which I know is the same for all donor database programs), it is a remarkably helpful tool. The fast, friendly, and knowledgeable help from the "Live Chat" folks makes navigating these reports INFINITELY easier.

Pros

Initially, what I liked most about Bloomerang was the simple, attractive, and somewhat intuitive user interface. After a few years of using Bloom, however, I have to say that their online chat support is outstanding. Truly it is the absolute best online support team that I have ever experienced for any website or webservice.

Cons

We are a membership based institution which is slightly different niche of non-profit. Bloom isn't set up for that, but we've made some workarounds. A serious drawback is their lack of ability to handle class and event registration without setting up a new appeal for each program. They also cannot offer program registration with both paid AND free admission, depending on membership status. Sadly, I haven't discovered any program or plug -in that's able to do this. It's either all-paid or all-free registrations, not both.