Dennis Fois: Article Author For Bloomerang Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:59:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Accountability Means Consequences. It’s Time the Nonprofit Sector Acted Like It. https://bloomerang.com/blog/nonprofit-platform-accountability-consequences/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/nonprofit-platform-accountability-consequences/#respond Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:59:33 +0000 https://bloomerang.com/?p=149509 A Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion piece published last week laid out a reasonable position on online giving platforms. The authors, leaders from Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), GivingTuesday, and The Nonprofit Alliance, argued that the sector needs self-regulatory standards, not legislation. They worried, reasonably, that sweeping state laws and mandatory opt-in requirements could cut off […]

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A Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion piece published last week laid out a reasonable position on online giving platforms. The authors, leaders from Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), GivingTuesday, and The Nonprofit Alliance, argued that the sector needs self-regulatory standards, not legislation. They worried, reasonably, that sweeping state laws and mandatory opt-in requirements could cut off billions in donations and hurt the smallest organizations most. On the narrow question of legislative risk, they’re not wrong.

Today, AFP published something more concrete: a formal set of nonprofit-first considerations for platforms, reviewed by AFP’s ethics committee and endorsed by GivingTuesday and The Nonprofit Alliance. I’ve read it carefully. It deserves a specific response.

There’s a frustration I keep hearing from fundraising professionals who work on the front lines of this problem every day. Not frustration with the principles being proposed. Frustration with the gap between the principles and anything that could actually enforce them.

What actually happened

Last year, GoFundMe created 1.4 million donation pages for nonprofits. No consent. No notice. Pages timed to go live before year-end giving season, when donation volume is highest and competition for donor attention is fiercest. They pulled data from public IRS records, took a percentage of every donation, and let their pages rank above the organizations’ own websites.

Nonprofits found out by accident. A board member googling the organization. A donor asking a question. What they found was a page collecting money in their name, with no access to donor information, no way to thank anyone who gave, and no path to a relationship. To claim the page, they had to accept GoFundMe’s binding arbitration terms.

This was not a product launch that moved too aggressively. It was not an engineering team that didn’t think through the implications. It was a calculated decision to build a revenue stream on assets that belong to someone else. The identity. The mission. The donor trust that nonprofits spend years earning.

When I wrote about it at the time, I called it a full-frontal assault on donor trust. I’d use the same words today.

What AFP got right, and where the gap remains

AFP’s considerations document names the GoFundMe behavior directly. Consideration two says platforms may not proactively promote a nonprofit’s donation link in search results unless the nonprofit or a supporter has actively created a campaign. That is the GoFundMe problem, in plain language, called out as unacceptable. The sector has now said, in writing, that what happened was wrong.

The fee transparency provisions are right. The data portability provisions are right. Nonprofits should own their donor relationships. Donors should know what percentage of their gift actually arrives. These are the right principles.

My question is still the same one. What does a platform lose by ignoring them?

The endorsement language from GivingTuesday and The Nonprofit Alliance commits to “working alongside… to gather feedback, build alignment, and strengthen these ideas over time.” More process. More dialogue. No consequences.

Self-regulatory principles work when the parties involved have aligned incentives to follow them. Platforms and nonprofits don’t have aligned incentives. GoFundMe created unauthorized pages and captured year-end donations. It made money. The nonprofits those pages represented lost donor relationships. The principles proposed after the fact didn’t change that math. They didn’t cost GoFundMe anything.

That is the accountability problem. Not the content of the principles. The absence of consequences.

What real accountability requires

The organizations behind these efforts set the professional standards this sector runs on. AFP defines what ethical fundraising looks like for tens of thousands of professionals. GivingTuesday mobilizes millions of donors and nonprofits around the world every year. The Nonprofit Alliance advocates on behalf of organizations across the country.

Employers that run matching programs ask these organizations which platforms to use. Community foundations ask which platforms they should recommend. Major donors ask which platforms are trustworthy. Small nonprofits across the country look to these organizations for guidance on where to direct their supporters.

They don’t endorse platforms. But they define what acceptable behavior looks like. That’s real authority.

A public standard isn’t a product recommendation. It’s a line. When AFP says a practice is inconsistent with ethical fundraising, fundraising professionals pay attention. When GivingTuesday and The Nonprofit Alliance say the same, employers running matching programs pay attention. Foundations pay attention. The platforms themselves pay attention.

That influence is an asset. Right now it’s not being used like one.

Real accountability looks like this: sector organizations establish clear, public behavioral standards for giving platforms. Platforms that meet those standards earn endorsement. Platforms that don’t lose that endorsement. Publicly. With an explanation of why.

That removal has to matter enough that platforms change behavior to get it back. That’s what a consequence looks like.

On fee transparency specifically: the AFP considerations list it as a nonnegotiable. I agree. But we’ve been talking about fee transparency in this sector for years and donors still regularly don’t know what percentage of their gift actually arrives. If something is genuinely nonnegotiable, there has to be a cost for not doing it. Inclusion in a public scorecard. Loss of a certification. Something a platform’s leadership has to explain to its board.

The opt-in versus opt-out debate is a distraction from the more important question. It’s not about a default setting. It’s about whether a platform can use a nonprofit’s identity and donor relationships as raw material for a revenue model without that organization’s knowledge or agreement. The answer to that question should not be determined by a checkbox. It should be determined by whether the sector has decided this behavior is acceptable. Right now, the answer appears to be: acceptable enough.

What I’m asking for

I understand the nervousness about legislation. State attorneys general acting independently, mandatory opt-in rules written without sector input, legal frameworks that make no distinction between fundamentally different platforms. These are real risks. The organizations arguing against blunt legislative approaches are right to flag them.

But you can’t tell state regulators to stand down and then offer a principles document in return. That’s not a trade. State regulators are acting because someone has to. If sector organizations want to fill that role, they need to fill it with actual authority. Not aspirational standards.

AFP’s document calls these considerations “a baseline and a starting point.” The sector now has a shared, written definition of what good platform behavior looks like. The next step is deciding what it costs platforms to fall short of it.

Fundraising professionals at AFP ICON this week know exactly which organizations in their communities got hurt. They know about the small food bank that discovered a GoFundMe page collecting donations in its name and couldn’t do anything about it without a lawyer. The animal shelter that lost months of donor acquisition because a third-party page was outranking its own site. The youth arts program whose executive director spent a week trying to navigate a claims process designed to frustrate her.

These organizations don’t need a framework. They need the sector to treat protecting them as the actual job.

Principles are where accountability starts. Consequences are what make it real. The sector has the authority to create those consequences. The question is whether it’s willing to use it.

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Bloomerang’s Vision for 2026: Living the Promise of One Platform https://bloomerang.com/blog/vision-for-2026/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/vision-for-2026/#respond Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:08:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.com/?p=146110 There are moments when ambition is easy to talk about—and moments when it’s time to deliver on it. This blog is about the latter. At Bloomerang, we’ve spent years building toward a simple but demanding promise: one platform that allows nonprofit staff to focus on what truly matters. Serving their causes. Sharing their stories. Building […]

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There are moments when ambition is easy to talk about—and moments when it’s time to deliver on it.

This blog is about the latter.

At Bloomerang, we’ve spent years building toward a simple but demanding promise: one platform that allows nonprofit staff to focus on what truly matters. Serving their causes. Sharing their stories. Building real relationships with the people who believe in their mission.

The promise of the Giving Platform is not more features or more time spent in software. It’s the opposite. It’s about giving nonprofit teams clarity faster, helping them uncover insights they never had access to before, and enabling them to act with confidence—while spending the least possible time inside the system to do it.

That promise has guided every hard decision we’ve made along the way. In 2026, our focus is clear: delivering fully on that promise—not in theory, but in the daily lived experience of nonprofit teams.

If there has ever been a time to be excited about making complex problems work simply, this is it.

The hard work we did first

For nonprofits, fundraising has never lacked heart. It has lacked infrastructure that respects time, context, and continuity.

Most nonprofits move from one fundraising moment to the next—events, appeals, campaigns—without the benefit of momentum compounding behind the scenes. Each effort generates insight, engagement, and signals from supporters, but too often those signals are trapped in disconnected tools so teams feel like they’re from scratch with each new initiative.

That feeling is understandable—but it’s also deeply misleading. Opportunity never resets. The system and tools you trust just fail to carry that opportunity forward.

That’s the problem we set out to solve first.

In 2025, we made a deliberate choice to do the hard work of unifying the core of nonprofit operations. Not slapping logos on acquired tools. Not loosely integrating data. Not bolting separate systems together and calling it a day. But building a single Giving Platform where donor activity, fundraising performance, volunteer engagement, and payments live together and reinforce one another.

That foundation is now real—and it’s already delivering measurable impact.

Nonprofits using the complete Bloomerang Giving Platform grow 1.5x faster than those relying on disconnected tools. They see an average 22% increase in the number of monthly recurring donations, and those recurring gifts are 58% larger than the industry average. Organizations using the full platform also achieve meaningfully higher donor retention year over year.

These results don’t come from working harder or adding complexity. They come from clarity. When systems are unified, insight compounds. Decisions improve. And teams stop losing ground between fundraising moments.

That was the work that had to come first.

Deepening the Giving Platform—so the work feels seamless

With that foundation in place, the question for 2026 is not whether the Giving Platform works. It does.

The question is how far we can take it.

Nonprofits using the full platform can already see how donors, volunteers, and prospective supporters behave across moments that used to live in isolation. Engagement is no longer fragmented. Patterns are visible. Momentum carries forward instead of resetting after every campaign.

In 2026, our focus is on deepening that experience—making the platform feel seamless in daily work, not just conceptually unified. This is the year we remove even more friction so insight surfaces faster, actions feel more confident, and nonprofit teams spend less time navigating systems and more time advancing their mission.

That focus centers on three deliberate areas:

First, deepening the platform itself.
We are strengthening the connective tissue across fundraising activity, constituent data, volunteer engagement, and payments so every interaction contributes to a single, continuous story. The goal is to eliminate the sense of “starting over” and allow learning, relationships, and results to compound naturally over time.

Second, delivering AI that works for fundraisers.
This is not AI layered onto disconnected data providing generic answers. Let’s be honest, you could just use Chat GPT for that. Bloomerang’s AI fundraising partner, Penny, is grounded in your data stored securely within the Giving Platform and informed by real nonprofit best practice–over 2,000 consulting wins to be exact. Its role is to surface what matters, explain why it matters, and help teams know where to focus next—without replacing judgment or human connection. AI should remove analytical friction, not add cognitive load.

Third, continuing fundraising innovation where performance matters most.
From checkout optimization to continuously improving conversion, we are taking responsibility for the mechanics of giving. Nonprofit teams shouldn’t have to become experts in optimization just to raise more. High performance should be built in, not bolted on. In 2026 all our customers will benefit from a dedicated team that will continually optimize the giving performance for free!

The promise we’re ready to deliver

Across all three areas, the principle is the same. Technology should expand human capacity, not compete with it. It should make insight easier to reach, decisions easier to trust, and action easier to take—while demanding as little time as possible in return.

That is how we deliver on the promise of the Giving Platform.

Less time managing systems.
More time serving causes.
More space to share stories that inspire generosity.

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Why AI will expand, not erode, generosity https://bloomerang.com/blog/ai-for-fundraising-capacity/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/ai-for-fundraising-capacity/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:52:58 +0000 https://bloomerang.com/?p=143939 Every conversation I have with nonprofit leaders lately circles back to the same tension: expectations are rising faster than capacity can keep up. Donors expect more personalization, more transparency, and more meaningful connection. Meanwhile, fundraising teams are stretched thin, turnover is high, and institutional knowledge walks out the door every time a staff member leaves. […]

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Every conversation I have with nonprofit leaders lately circles back to the same tension: expectations are rising faster than capacity can keep up.

Donors expect more personalization, more transparency, and more meaningful connection. Meanwhile, fundraising teams are stretched thin, turnover is high, and institutional knowledge walks out the door every time a staff member leaves.

At the same time, the rise of AI has sparked both excitement and hesitation. Fundraising is a deeply human discipline—so the fear is understandable. But from everything I’ve seen inside this sector, and everything we’re building at Bloomerang, I’m convinced of this:

AI will expand, not erode generosity. 

When generosity falters, it’s rarely because people are less inclined to give. It’s because organizations lack the time, insight, or tools to activate that generosity at the right moment, with the right message, in the right way. This is the gap AI is uniquely positioned to close.

The real barrier isn’t desire—it’s the “work around the work”

When generosity falters, it’s rarely because people are less inclined to give. It’s because organizations lack the time or tools to activate that generosity.

Fundraisers know exactly what they want to do: Build relationships. Thank supporters personally. Identify their next major donor.

What gets in the way is the work around the work:

  • Pulling dozens of reports
  • Sifting through multiple tech stacks and tools
  • Guessing which donors to prioritize
  • Repeating manual tasks
  • Rebuilding institutional knowledge lost to turnover

This isn’t where generosity grows. This is where burnout happens.

AI gives fundraisers the space to focus on what matters most by taking on the analysis, pattern recognition, and administrative lift that slows them down.

Let AI handle the science so you can handle the art

The promise of AI isn’t about replacing the fundraiser; it’s about handling the “science” of fundraising—the data, the patterns, the first drafts—at a speed humans simply can’t match.

When we reduce the administrative burden of fundraising, we clear the path for the “art”—the storytelling, empathy, and human connection our sector is known for.

By connecting directly to unified data—giving, engagement, volunteering, event attendance, communication history—AI can handle the “science” of fundraising at a scale and speed humans simply can’t. It can analyze more in minutes than a person could in a full afternoon, and—crucially—it can provide context, not just numbers.

Here is where I see AI creating immediate, meaningful lift:

1. Pointing fundraisers to the opportunities that matter most

Instead of staring at a spreadsheet wondering who to call, AI can analyze years of history in seconds to tell you: “Who is likely to give before year-end?” or “Who is showing signs that they are ready for an upgrade?” It turns fundraising from reactive to proactive.

2. Making campaign and event evaluation fast and intuitive

Usually, teams only discover what worked after the giving season ends. AI allows you to review campaigns instantly—highlighting which appeals resonated and where messaging fell short—so you can adjust your strategy in real-time, not next year. You can evaluate:

  • Which appeals resonated
  • Which segments responded
  • Where messaging fell short
  • How donor behavior changed over time

The result? Walking into 2026 with clarity, not assumptions.

3. Providing a foundation for better content

Writer’s block is a capacity killer. AI can help draft personalized appeal letters, stewardship notes, or board summaries. It doesn’t replace your voice; it gives you a faster, stronger foundation to build from.

4. Preventing supporter lapse before it happens

Imagine an intelligent partner who flags a donor before they lapse, or spots an emerging pattern in volunteer engagement that you might have missed. This kind of ongoing insight AI can provide that will help teams avoid surprises, seize opportunities, and cultivate generosity with greater confidence.

How AI tools support a new fundraising rhythm

For decades, fundraisers have been asked to choose between depth and speed—thorough analysis or timely action.
With strong reliable technology and AI this becomes a false choice. At year-end especially, teams feel the pressure of: data everywhere, time nowhere to be found, high expectations, and the high stakes of December.

AI breaks that tension.  It helps teams move from overwhelmed to overflowing by creating three critical multipliers:

  • More Revenue from the right donors at the right moment
  • More Clarity to make confident decisions
  • More Time to build relationships

AI amplifies what fundraisers already do best—because it shifts their time from the “work around the work” to the art of fundraising.

This is why we built Penny inside the Giving Platform, not around it. Because true clarity comes from complete data, not fragments. Fundraisers need guidance they can trust. Penny is shaped by Bloomerang’s extensive nonprofit consulting experience, rooted in more than 2,000 one-on-one strategy engagements with organizations of every size, mission, and model. That means Penny isn’t drawing from generic internet advice or theoretical best practices; she’s built on real fundraising wins that have driven real growth.

The future of fundraising is abundant

I’ve said many times that our sector is not facing a generosity crisis—it’s facing an infrastructure gap. People still care deeply. They want to support the missions they believe in. 

Generosity expands when nonprofits have the capacity to connect, understand, and act with purpose.

AI is the key to unlocking that capacity. It allows us to move from overwhelmed to overflowing—giving fundraisers the one thing they need most: the time to be human.

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Meet Penny: the AI partner that’s actually helpful https://bloomerang.com/blog/meet-penny/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/meet-penny/#respond Mon, 03 Nov 2025 14:00:47 +0000 https://bloomerang.com/?p=143038 I’ve spent years around new technology. I’ve seen trends come and go. But it’s been a long time since something genuinely surprised me. That changed when I got access to our AI fundraising partner—an assistant we’ve been quietly building called Penny. Within minutes of using it, I found myself grinning. Not because she was clever, […]

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I’ve spent years around new technology. I’ve seen trends come and go. But it’s been a long time since something genuinely surprised me.

That changed when I got access to our AI fundraising partner—an assistant we’ve been quietly building called Penny.

Within minutes of using it, I found myself grinning. Not because she was clever, but because she was useful.

When I asked Penny to help me prepare for a board meeting, she gave me solid, practical input. Then I pushed further—“Help me build a scorecard with the most important metrics.”

Five minutes later, I had a sharp, thoughtful framework ready to guide the conversation.

It wasn’t a gimmick. It was magic that made sense.

AI fundraising assistant Penny

Why we’re building Penny this way

Everyone’s rushing to launch “AI copilots.” Every week, it seems a new “co-pilot” promises to change everything overnight.

Most sound the same: they summarize, they draft, they rephrase what’s already online.

They’re impressive—but not helpful.

At Bloomerang, we’ve decided to take a different path. We’re not chasing the hype cycle. We’re building something we’d actually want to use ourselves rooted in human expertise and empathy. And yes, AI can be rooted in the best parts of what makes us human, but more on that later.

Penny’s goal isn’t to automate your work. It’s to think with you—to help you plan, prioritize, and make better decisions without needing to become an AI expert first.

That’s what makes her special. She’s not another shiny new tool. She’s the assistant you wish you already had.

Built on real nonprofit know-how

Here’s Penny’s edge: she’s grounded in real nonprofit experience.

She doesn’t just scrape the internet or mimic what’s been done before. She draws on:

  • The field-tested expertise of Bloomerang’s fundraising consultants, and
  • Each organization’s own data within the Giving Platform.

So when Penny offers advice, it’s not a random guess—it’s guidance rooted in what actually works. You get tried-and-true advice grounded in real success, not advice based on a mix of good and bad campaigns.

We’ve woven our consultant’s  insights—and the rich, real-world methodology for success we coach our own clients on—directly into Penny’s foundation. That’s why she feels less like software and more like a trusted partner.

That’s AI in true partnership with people.

Practical, not performative

Nonprofit leaders tell me the same thing over and over: “AI sounds powerful—but I don’t have time to figure it out.”

Penny is being built for exactly that. You don’t need perfect prompts. You don’t need to know how she works under the hood. You just need a question, a challenge, or a goal.

Penny meets you there—with clarity, not complexity.

She’s being shaped by fundraisers, not just engineers. Because generosity is human, and AI should be too.

The real purpose of AI

For all the hype, AI finally has a purpose worth building toward: helping people who help others.

That’s our North Star at Bloomerang. Every design choice, every line of data, every prototype exists to make Penny genuinely helpful to the people doing the world’s most important work.

We’ll continue to share more about Penny over the coming weeks—proof that AI can amplify the human element instead of replacing it. Because the best technology doesn’t make us less human—it helps us show up as our best selves.

That’s Penny’s purpose.

And that’s why we’re building her right. Because when we build with purpose, technology doesn’t replace people. It empowers them.

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Bigger goals, bigger impact: why a scarcity mindset is holding you back https://bloomerang.com/blog/bigger-goals-bigger-impact/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/bigger-goals-bigger-impact/#respond Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.com/?p=141463 When I ask nonprofit leaders about their fundraising goals for the year, I often hear some version of: “If we can just match last year, we’ll be okay.” That mindset is not only limiting—it’s dangerous. Because if you set your sights at last year’s bar, you’re not building for the future. You’re standing still. And […]

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When I ask nonprofit leaders about their fundraising goals for the year, I often hear some version of: “If we can just match last year, we’ll be okay.”

That mindset is not only limiting—it’s dangerous. Because if you set your sights at last year’s bar, you’re not building for the future. You’re standing still. And in a sector where donor demographics, economic forces, and community needs are constantly shifting, standing still isn’t an option.

I know this may sound bold, especially in a time when many organizations are working harder than ever through staffing shortages, or recovering lost federal funding. These challenges are real, and I don’t minimize them. But they don’t erase the fact that next-level impact and growth are possible—and that aiming higher is often the very thing that helps nonprofits break through those headwinds.

I believe every nonprofit deserves to set—and achieve—double-digit growth goals. Here’s why.

Generosity is abundant

Despite headlines about giving declines, the truth is that generosity remains strong—and is growing. In 2024, charitable giving in the U.S. rose to $592.5 billion, a 6.3% increase over the prior year. Certain sectors saw even greater momentum: public-society benefit organizations grew 19.5%, international affairs 17.7%, and education 13.2%. These aren’t the signs of a shrinking pie—they’re proof that when people are engaged, generosity flows.

And engagement matters. During COVID-19, our data showed that organizations that sent crisis-focused appeals raised 30% more than those that kept their communications the same or stayed silent. The takeaway isn’t that urgency is the only path forward—it’s that donors respond when nonprofits meet the moment with relevance and authenticity. Generosity doesn’t vanish; it shows up when we invite it with clarity and conviction.

Scarcity is a mindset. Abundance is reality.

Bigger goals create better strategies

At Bloomerang, we set ambitious growth goals. This year, we aimed for 30% growth. Some thought it was unrealistic. But instead of intimidating us, the goal changed how we worked. We couldn’t just rely on what we did last year; we had to think differently. And today, we’re pacing ahead of that goal—because growth pushed us to be more creative, focused, and disciplined.

The same applies to nonprofits. If you set a 15% or 30% growth goal, you won’t get there by sending the same appeal to the same donors. You’ll start asking new questions:

  • How do we activate more of the people already in our database?
  • How do we bring new generations into our events and community?
  • How do we deepen connections so giving isn’t just a transaction, but a movement?

Those questions spark innovation.

Retention alone won’t get you there

Retention matters, of course. But it’s not enough. If your fundraising strategy relies only on holding what you already have, you’re building on sand. Donors age, life circumstances change, priorities shift. Growth requires activating new supporters, engaging families across generations, and tapping into the vast generosity that exists outside your current circle.

Think about it: most nonprofits, even large ones, reach just a sliver of the U.S. population. That means the opportunity ahead is exponentially larger than what’s already in hand.

Growth inspires everyone

Double-digit goals aren’t just about dollars—they’re about energy. Staff, volunteers, board members, and donors all want to be part of something that’s growing, thriving, and making a bigger impact. Progress fuels passion.

And here’s the thing: setting a bigger goal doesn’t guarantee perfection. You may not hit 10%, 15%, or 20% every single year. But even if you grow by 7% instead of 0%, that progress energizes your team and builds resilience. The point isn’t to chase a magic number—it’s to orient your organization toward growth rather than survival.

Burnout doesn’t come from setting ambitious goals—it comes from spinning your wheels without seeing results. Based on what I’ve seen guiding Bloomerang and working with customers, aiming higher resets your strategy, releases energy, and unlocks value in places you may be under-leveraging. When you can point to real progress, even if you fall short of perfection or the goal, the journey itself is motivating.

You’re going to need a bigger goal

If you lead a nonprofit, I challenge you: don’t settle for last year’s number. Don’t let industry averages—or flawed reports or negative news—dictate what’s possible. Set a double-digit growth goal.

Not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. Because your mission, your team, and your community deserve it. And because the generosity to achieve it is already out there—waiting for you to activate it.

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Beyond Good Enough: Why Nonprofits Deserve “More” to Achieve True Impact https://bloomerang.com/blog/beyond-good-enough/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/beyond-good-enough/#respond Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:00:39 +0000 https://bloomerang2dev.wpengine.com/?p=139679 There’s a mindset in the nonprofit world that needs to be retired once and for all: that we’re in the middle of a generosity crisis. Now, let me be clear—I don’t underestimate the challenges nonprofits face. Many organizations are seeing deep cuts in federal and government funding. These setbacks are painful, destabilizing, and in many […]

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There’s a mindset in the nonprofit world that needs to be retired once and for all: that we’re in the middle of a generosity crisis.

Now, let me be clear—I don’t underestimate the challenges nonprofits face. Many organizations are seeing deep cuts in federal and government funding. These setbacks are painful, destabilizing, and in many cases, may never be reversed. I empathize deeply with the uncertainty this brings.

But acknowledging those challenges doesn’t mean accepting the narrative that generosity itself has dried up. Because I know something else to be true: in turbulent times, people rise up. Individuals rally to support the causes they believe in—especially when institutions fall short.

The truth is, generosity isn’t shrinking—it’s shifting. It’s not that people don’t care. Giving is shifting along with our nation’s largest transfer of wealth and nonprofits too often lack the support, tools, data, and systems needed to activate and sustain the care that is out there.

I don’t believe in a generosity crisis. I believe in an infrastructure gap. And when we close that gap, more leads to more.

Why “do more with less” is holding us back

Nonprofits have been inadvertently asked, year after year, to do more with less. Less funding. Less time. Less staff. Less technology. The expectation that nonprofits should stretch, shrink, or sacrifice their way to success isn’t just unrealistic—it’s harmful.

Too often, I see passionate teams bogged down by:

  • Fragmented systems that make it hard to connect with donors holistically.
  • Underinvestment in staff and technology.
  • A focus on short-term gains over long-term growth.

The result is predictable: burnout, donor churn, and missed opportunities. At some point, the question must shift from “How can we make do?” to “What would be possible if we had more—the right tools and support?”

Because here’s what we see in action: when nonprofits connect data across fundraising, donor, and volunteer touchpoints, they consistently outperform the sector. Don’t just take my word for it though. Bloomerang clients increase revenue by 47%, achieve 12% year-over-year constituent growth, and drive 35% higher volunteer participation—proving that more connection and insight translate directly into more impact.

The problem isn’t scarcity

Let’s stop talking about nonprofits like they’re charity cases. They are engines of innovation, community, and change. But they’ve been conditioned to settle—for “just enough,” for outdated systems, for fragmented tools.

What happens when we give them systems built for growth? When we stop asking them to start from zero after every campaign? When we actually invest in their ability to connect the dots?

We see nonprofits transform from reactive to proactive. We see relationships deepen. We see giving multiply. Here’s what that looks like:

  1. Moving Beyond Isolated Events
    Fundraising events are valuable, but they shouldn’t be where your strategy begins and ends. Each event should add to your knowledge, inform your next move, and strengthen your relationship with supporters. The measure isn’t just dollars raised—it’s the new prospect donors engaged, the participation of family members of existing donors, and how many supporters return for multiple events over time.
  2. Connecting the Dots
    Imagine if every interaction—every email opened, donation made, or event attended—was part of one continuous donor journey. That’s what happens when your systems work together instead of in silos. With this approach every event or interaction can serve two purposes: raising more money and nurturing future donors.
  3. Relationships, Not Transactions
    Automation isn’t about removing the human element. It’s about freeing your team to do the work only humans can do—build trust, express gratitude, and tell compelling stories that move people to action.

An abundance mindset isn’t naïve—it’s necessary

There’s a misconception that striving for more is a luxury that only the largest nonprofits can afford. I see it differently.

I believe striving for more is a responsibility—because when you do more, you serve more. You lift more lives. You protect more rights. You spark more change.

“Good enough” is not good enough for the missions we’re all here to serve. Let’s stop accepting “good enough.” Let’s start building. And let’s move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset—where every donor, every dollar, and every data point works toward a shared purpose.

Why we built the Giving Platform

This belief in abundance is exactly why we built the Bloomerang Giving Platform. I didn’t want to create another fundraising tool—I wanted to help nonprofits escape the hamster wheel that resets with every campaign or event. I saw passionate teams doing incredible work, but without the connective tissue between fundraising, donor management, and volunteer engagement, their efforts couldn’t compound.

The Giving Platform was designed to close that infrastructure gap. To unify data, to make every interaction part of a continuous relationship, and to help nonprofits turn generosity into lasting growth. The Giving Platform is all about unlocking what’s already there, waiting to be activated.

When we invest in better systems, nonprofits stop settling for “good enough.” They build momentum. They attract more supporters. They raise more, engage more, and impact more. That’s the vision behind Bloomerang—and it’s why I believe abundance isn’t just a mindset. It’s a model for growth.

Your next step starts here

If you’re tired of the hamster wheel—of reinventing the wheel, of just getting by—it’s time to rethink what’s possible. That’s why we built the Bloomerang Giving Platform: to give nonprofits more than survival, to give them the tools to thrive.

You deserve systems that connect the dots. Your team deserves technology that compounds your impact. And your mission deserves abundance—not “good enough.”

Let’s build a sector that stops accepting less and starts embracing more. Let’s show what happens when generosity meets the right infrastructure—when more truly leads to more.

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Bloomerang Acquires Qgiv To Deliver The Sector’s First Giving Platform https://bloomerang.com/blog/bloomerang-acquires-qgiv-to-deliver-the-sectors-first-giving-platform/ https://bloomerang.com/blog/bloomerang-acquires-qgiv-to-deliver-the-sectors-first-giving-platform/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang2dev.wpengine.com/?p=107404 Today, I’m excited to share that Bloomerang and Qgiv have joined together to help more nonprofits deliver their mission and create the sector’s first – and most complete – giving platform. Since Bloomerang’s beginning, we’ve worked to bring solutions to fundraisers that help them spend more time on their mission. By combining Bloomerang’s leading donor […]

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Today, I’m excited to share that Bloomerang and Qgiv have joined together to help more nonprofits deliver their mission and create the sector’s first – and most complete – giving platform. Since Bloomerang’s beginning, we’ve worked to bring solutions to fundraisers that help them spend more time on their mission. By combining Bloomerang’s leading donor and volunteer relationship management platform with Qgiv’s best-in-class fundraising platform, we can help nonprofits raise more money and improve their fundraising outcomes through stronger relationships with supporters.

Nonprofits currently face a shifting landscape and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to engage supporters and deliver better outcomes. As one company working together, we can more effectively help nonprofits raise more through stronger relationships with their supporters. We’re eager to bring together what customers love from both companies: world-class customer support and easy-to-use systems that help them save time and focus on people, not paperwork.

I am beyond excited for what the future holds for Bloomerang, our employees, and the nonprofits we serve. Now, we have access to more resources, staff, and opportunities to help organizations strengthen their fundraising efforts. We get to expand our work and make a greater impact on the world by providing the best technology, tools, and resources that help nonprofits spend more energy on what matters most–furthering their missions.

Thank you to the many customers who have been with us on the journey. There’s so much more to come and we can’t wait to tell you about how we will keep growing together.

You can check out the official press release here.

– Dennis Fois, Bloomerang CEO

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