Raising 174% of peer-to-peer fundraising goal with Bloomerang
Key Nonprofit Highlights
Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine (LVIM) is a free and charitable clinic based in Lakeland, Florida, providing healthcare to the working uninsured in Polk County. With a team of 28 staff members and over 400 volunteers, LVIM operates as a unique nonprofit model, delivering 96% of its services through volunteers. The clinic emphasizes efficiency and donor engagement, ensuring that every dollar donated translates into nearly five dollars of healthcare services for the community. This equates to nearly a 5x return on investment for donors, amounting to $10.5 million of free healthcare for the Polk County community in a single year.
To enhance donor engagement, LVIM used Bloomerang’s unified Giving Platform for peer-to-peer fundraising, donor communication, and event management. Their annual Swan Derby event, supported by Bloomerang’s tools, raised $87,000—174% of its goal. Bloomerang also streamlined LVIM’s operations with features like email customization, automated reports, and exceptional customer support, saving the team at least 5 hours/week and boosting efficiency.
Challenge
The need to connect donors to the nonprofit’s mission
Many nonprofits, like LVIM, have noticed in recent years that people are less likely to donate without a personal connection to the cause. In choosing a CRM and fundraising partner, LVIM was looking for a platform that would help donors feel directly connected and engaged with their mission of providing free and charitable healthcare in Lakeland. With Bloomerang’s Giving Platform, LVIM has found just that. “I’ve been in nonprofit work for a long time, and Bloomerang is one of the best all-in-one platforms I’ve ever seen,” said Beth Hill, Director of Donor Relations. “It makes it so easy to run everything from our peer-to-peer fundraising to our transaction reports to event check-in.”
Solution
Peer-to-peer fundraising increases donor engagement
LVIM’s signature fundraising event, the Swan Derby, draws around 4,000 attendees annually. For the last 10 years, LVIM has included a peer-to-peer campaign called “Leaders of Polk” as part of the event, with community leaders raising funds. Their staff has reported that campaigns like this would not be possible without Bloomerang’s Giving Platform, thanks to the platform’s personal peer-to-peer fundraising pages, donation tracking, branded messages sent with the Email Builder, and much more. LVIM recently raised $87,000 with this peer-to-peer fundraiser, reaching 174% of their goal!
Bloomerang’s Giving Platform also makes LVIM’s event check-in processes streamlined and hassle-free. Attendees can show their tickets on their phones for instant scanning—no need for printing or mailing. It’s a simple solution that helps teams of all sizes manage events more efficiently. “We have a lot of elderly donors and volunteers, and I think it’s really easy for them to use,” said Sonia Glisson, Director of Community Engagement. “The way we have it set up, it’s literally just a click of the button. Another great feature is the ability to give recurring donations. It’s simple and easy.”
Results
Saving time with automated fundraising reports and tasks
LVIM has relied heavily on Bloomerang’s Giving Platform to manage operations, communicate with donors, track donations, and conduct robust data analysis. Their favorite feature has been email customization, which streamlined donor engagement. They have loved that the platform offers the ability to log a donor’s gift on their timeline, which then prompts an automated letter or email template. This has allowed quick and simple edits in managing financial and donor interactions. Bloomerang CRM’s user-friendly features, including automated reporting, also enhanced engagement with supporters and saved LVIM significant time. Their team has estimated that one such automation for financial reporting has saved them at least five hours every week!
The staff has also highlighted Bloomerang’s exceptional customer support, describing the platform as an integral extension of their team. “Customer support has always been great. No one laughs at you when you have a stupid question,” said Alice Koehler, Chief Executive Officer. “The team is always solution-oriented. I’ve asked a lot of questions and requested things that don’t exist, and over time, they come into existence because they are client needs.” Added Hill, “Their customer service team is part of our whole experience, and it’s like having little Bloomerang fairies at your fingertips.”
