Your Bloomerang database is the central donor management and fundraising platform for your organization, but Bloomerang likely isn’t the only app that you use day to day. We believe Bloomerang is your central system and that integrations supplement your Bloomerang database. Automation should start from a lens that Bloomerang is core to your donor management and fundraising technology.

Bloomerang is now connected to Zapier and Zapier connects to 7,000+ other apps. The combination of Bloomerang and Zapier offers an all-in-one integration platform for automating your day to day workflows.

The goal of this webinar is to show you how integrating Bloomerang with Zapier can support your fundraising efforts by automating the creation of stewardship tasks following donations in Bloomerang. 

During this webinar, we will:

• Introduce Bloomerang + Zapier, how they work together, and why Zapier integrations are a key feature of your Bloomerang system and fundraising strategy
• Explore and demonstrate how you can use the Bloomerang Zapier app to…
  • Create follow-up tasks for stewardship activities following certain donation activities
  • Assign follow-up tasks to solicitors, when applicable
  • Monitor task completion and status in Bloomerang reports
• Discuss how you can get started with Bloomerang integrations in Zapier.

Click here to download the webinar slides.

Webinar transcript (not including Q&A):

Good afternoon, and welcome to Bloomerang Academy! Thank you for joining us. My name is Margie Worrell, and I am the Curriculum Manager at Bloomerang. You might recognize me from attending Bloomerang Academy classes or listening to our release and help videos.

Today, we’re exploring Bloomerang + Zapier: Automating Stewardship Tasks for Bloomerang.

[SLIDE]

I’d like to introduce our presenter today, Jessie Gilchrist. Jessie is a Zapier Certified Expert and Bloomerang Integrations Consultant at Sidekick Solutions.

Sidekick Solutions is a Bloomerang Partner, specializing in system automations for Bloomerang. Sidekick Solutions has been a Bloomerang user since 2013 and was part of the team that launched the Bloomerang Zapier app. We’re excited to have Jessie here today to share her expertise and explore Bloomerang integrations.

Thank you. Hello everyone! It’s great to be here.

[SLIDE]

The goal of today’s webinar is to show how connecting Bloomerang with Zapier can support your fundraising efforts by automating the creation of stewardship tasks following activity in Bloomerang.

Our webinar today will…

• Introduce Bloomerang + Zapier, how they work together, and why Zapier integrations are a key feature of your Bloomerang system and fundraising strategy
• Explore and demonstrate how you can use the Bloomerang Zapier app to…
  • Create follow-up tasks for stewardship activities following certain donation activities
  • Assign follow-up tasks to solicitors, when applicable
  • Monitor task completion and status in Bloomerang reports
• Discuss how you can get started with Bloomerang integrations in Zapier.

We have demos throughout the webinar to show you how to set up these automations for your organization and are happy to answer questions. Please submit all questions through the Q&A.

[SLIDE]

It is common for organizations of all sizes to use many types of software and we believe that automated integrations are essential to your customer database. Integrations can help connect these systems, creating a tech stack that supports your organization and its strategic goals.

This is where Zapier comes in. As some of you may not be familiar with Zapier, we will start with a high level overview of what Zapier is and why we believe it is a key feature of your Bloomerang system and fundraising strategy.

[SLIDE]

Zapier is automation software that enables additional Bloomerang integration and fundraising opportunities. It’s a middleware that sits in between Bloomerang and other apps you use, helping them “talk” to each other.

Bloomerang’s Zapier app extends the power of your database by enabling integrations with over 7,000 other apps in Zapier’s directory. And, Zapier was designed for anyone to build an integration. You don’t need to be a developer or know code to build an automation.

The flexibility of the Zapier platform enables custom integrations. You aren’t limited to one-size fits all workflows, mapping, or formatting. You can build integrations that are perfect for your organization and your workflows.

[SLIDE]

Integrations are a key feature of your Bloomerang database and can take your fundraising efforts to the next level. Data should flow in and out of your Bloomerang database, connecting to other best in class tools your organization uses. By keeping Bloomerang as the central hub of your tech stack, you will create a global record of Constituent engagement with your organization and centralize reporting.

[SLIDE]

First, we want to do a quick poll to see how many are using Zapier and using it with Bloomerang.

[SLIDE]

Now, we want to start by demonstrating how to set up a basic flow to assign follow-up tasks for different levels of donations.

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We are going to walk through the set up of two similar flows. Both trigger on creation of a new donation, but have parameters established to assign a different follow-up task based on the amount of the gift.

[2 SLIDES – DEMO]

• Now, let’s hop into Zapier and set up our Zap.
• Click on the +Create Zap button in the upper left.
• The workflow starts with a New Transaction in Bloomerang. The trigger prompts the integration to run when that event occurs (i.e., a new transaction is created).
  • In the settings of the trigger, we could select certain transaction types and/or a minimum donation amount to limit when our automation rules.
  • For this demo, we are going to enter a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $999.99.
  • We do not need to include the cumulative giving or household details for this demo, so we will leave these empty/null.
• Next step is to test our trigger and generate sample data. This will return up to 3 recent transactions. These are samples only and will not run through the integration because they were created before the integration is turned on. Zap triggers run in real time only.
• Then, we’ll add our action to Create a Task in Bloomerang.
  • First, we must map the ID of the constituent the task is associated with. Select Custom and then search for and select the Constituent ID.
  • Select the Channel.
  • Select the assigned User.
  • You can make the due date a date in the future by adding “+” followed by the number of days and “d” (e.g., 3 days = “+3d”)
  • Enter the subject.
  • Select the Purpose.
  • Enter any applicable notes.
• Now, we are done editing and can turn on the Zap.

We could take this same Zap and create a variation for the $1,000+ donation segment. Let’s use the Duplicate function in Zapier to make a copy of the Zap we just set up.

• Then, we can update the parameters in our trigger to assign a minimum amount of $1000 and no maximum amount (i.e., $1000+).
• Then, we can update the Channel, Subject, and Note in our Create Task action to align with the different giving levels.

[SLIDE]

The workflow we just showcased is a simple, standard flow when the follow-up tasks should always be assigned to the same person. However, many organizations track a solicitor or relationship lead for many constituents and want follow-up tasks assigned to that individual.

A lookup table is used in the solution to dynamically code the User on the task, based on the assigned solicitor.

A lookup table in Zapier is a way to convert data from your source app to the corresponding value in your target app.

The lookup key is the data we want to search for (lookup) in our table. Sometimes this will be a human readable value/label, and others it may be an ID for the value or record. For this use case, it will be the Solicitor custom field on the constituent.

If the step is successful and finds a match in our lookup table, it will return the related value for mapping into the target system.

There are a number of apps in Zapier that provide lookup functionality. For this use case, we recommend using Formatter by Zapier.

Formatter by Zapier is a free app in Zapier’s marketplace that can be used to create a simple lookup table. Formatter allows you to:

• Return a single value for the lookup key
• Lookup and return a value for each line item in a record
• Assign a fallback value if the lookup key is not found in the lookup table

[SLIDE]

When adding dynamic coding into our Zap, we will add the Formatter by Zapier action between our trigger and action to create a task in Bloomerang.

[2 SLIDES – DEMO]

• Now, let’s hop into Zapier and update the Zap we set up in our last demo.
• First, we’ll add a new action after our trigger.
• Select Formatter by Zapier as the app and Utilities as the action.
• Select Lookup Table as the Transform.
• Map the Constituent Solicitor custom field.
• Add a row for each Solicitor value in your custom field on the left.
• The corresponding User ID should be added on the right. The User ID can be found in the Bloomerang URL after opening the user profile.
• If desired, assign a Fallback Value that will be used if the Zap runs and the Solicitor value is not listed in the lookup table (e.g., new solicitor or no solicitor assigned).
• Now we’ll click Test & Run to confirm this action is configured appropriately. This will return a payload of data we’ll use in our subsequent action steps in the Zap.
• Then, we’ll go to our Create Task action. Click in the User field, select Custom, and map the output from the Formatter action.
• Now, we are done editing and can turn on the Zap.

[SLIDE]

We are now going to take a few minutes to review some reports that can be developed to support management of stewardship tasks in Bloomerang.

[SLIDE]

First, let’s start with some native reports that can be deployed in Bloomerang.

• Overdue tasks by User – View for supervisors to see tasks that are past due
• Tasks due this week – Scheduled to delivery each Monday morning to prompt staff to completed assigned tasks
• Tasks completed last month

Bloomerang’s reporting utility is great if you need filtered data sets. If you want to get deeper analysis and/or charts and graphs, you can automate the sync of task data to Google Sheets to create a dashboard of task activity.

[SLIDE – DEMO]

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Getting started with Bloomerang automations is easy.

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The first step in getting started is signing up for a Zapier account, if you don’t have one already.

All Zapier accounts begin with a 14-day free trial of the Professional tier functionality. Following the free trial, your plan is converted to a Free plan until you choose to upgrade. Most organizations will need to upgrade to a paid plan in order to build multi-step Zaps.

It is also important to remember that Zapier provides a 15% discount to nonprofits. If you sign up for a paid plan, make sure to apply for the discount.

[SLIDE]

After signing up for Zapier, connect your Bloomerang database. After logging in:

• Click My Apps on the left menu.
• Click Add Connection.
• Search for and select Bloomerang
• Grant access using your Bloomerang login credentials.

[SLIDE]

If your team would like support setting up automations for stewardship tasks, we offer an integration bundle for Bloomerang customers. This bundle includes end-to-end configuration and deployment of your automations for up to two (2) stewardship flows (task types).

This service is optional and your organization may instead choose to implement Bloomerang automations in Zapier DIY.

Zapier subscription costs are not included in this pricing.

[SLIDE]

If you prefer to build your automations DIY or want to learn more about Zapier, there are plenty of resources available.

• Search available apps in Zapier’s marketplace
• Look at Bloomerang Zap templates
• Review Zapier resources on getting started with building Zaps
• Begin building!

[SLIDE]

Thank you for attending today.