Bloomerang Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

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.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
From day one, everything with Bloomerang has been great. I was incredibly nervous about switching over to Bloomerang from our current software and they made the process so seamless and so simple. Once all of our data was converted, I jumped right in and could quickly run reports, create new donation forms, add images to all of my donors, and even link up social media accounts. Something that I could not do with our old software. Bloomerang's interface is also 'clean' and it is fairly easy to find anything you need. But what I have been most impressed with is its help features, free webinars, and customer service people. They are top-notch and you can't beat the free webinars that they offer weekly! I've learned so much since switching to Bloomerang.

Cons
We've only been using the software for about 2 years and right now, I really haven't run into any thing that I don't like. It is so easy to use and is really great software.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

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.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 4/10

Pros
Bloomerang is extremely user friendly and has the best customer service I've ever experienced. Having it as a tool has allowed us to move from a barely functioning CRM to a more professional development office. We can now manage our moves management and have accurate reporting.

Cons
There are really small things that I'm hoping change, for instance I would like to have more options for customization in the newsletter generation. And, I miss my shortcut of putting in a zip code and having the city populate automatically. Small things that do not affect much.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

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.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10