Regions Bank Skilled Volunteers Streamline Nonprofit Donor Management: A Data-Driven Future for Bach Akademie Charlotte
Bach Akademie Charlotte (BAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting vital performances and providing innovative educational opportunities about Bach’s music. They believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the timeless insight into the shared human experience that Bach’s music offers — they are an Akademie for all.
Bach Akademie Charlotte needed a donor management system to help them better manage their data as they continue to grow. The organization was using spreadsheets to track data, which was a time-consuming manual process. Through an Apparo Application Selection Community Impact Project, Apparo paired BAC with a team of skilled volunteers from Regions Bank who spent weeks working alongside the nonprofit to understand their current process. After thorough marketplace research, volunteers identified Bloomerang as the best solution for the organization’s needs. Bloomerang was selected over other recommendations, highlighting integration and extensive communications capabilities. Bach Charlotte President Elizabeth Hindal reflects on her team’s processes,
“The process of combining data was laborious. It was taking me hours to produce an analysis when I should be using that time to talk to potential donors. This kind of tool should ease a lot of our original pain points around data management and will allow us to grow our audience through increased donorship and ticket purchases. As we develop our understanding of our data, we can leverage it to support our goal of expanding unique ticket buyers, increasing our audience size. We never would have gotten through a process like this without Apparo’s facilitation and the support of the Regions team.”
Anticipated Nonprofit Impacts of Bloomerang Implementation
When Bach Charlotte implements Bloomerang, they anticipate many positive impacts, including saving over 120 hours annually on data management and reporting. The team looks forward to increased operating efficiencies, integration and automation capabilities, and those that allow a more targeted outreach to constituents. Emphasizing the importance of having timely, accessible data to increase the sensitivity of their marketing efforts, Bach Charlotte’s Elizabeth Hindal shared the example, “With this program we can see information on timely things to avoid, for example, communicating to ‘Mr. & Mrs., when someone’s spouse has recently passed.” With automated and fewer manual processes, they anticipate more comprehensive data management, more accurate reporting processes, and the mitigated risk of incomplete data.
With more accessible and complete data, the team can expand their outreach efforts and spend more time with potential donors. Through integrating these new data sources, BAC can leverage differentiated marketing efforts that reach unique buyers. They anticipate expanding their reach, revenue potential, and growing their audience size from 300 to 450 for major concerts. Bach Board Member, Christopher Maurer, shares, “We needed to become more data-centric and make this information more accessible to more key stakeholders without harming our operations. Having a good window into the data and a much better way to share it is a huge win. ”
Louise Hindal, with Bach Akademie, shares gratitude for the skilled volunteers, “The Regions Bank team was thorough, enthusiastic, and committed, and it was a lovely experience to have them be a part of this project. I felt like they were putting their best foot forward and were really dedicated to the work.”
Regions Bank Team Reflects on Skilled Volunteer Experience:
- “It’s been very rewarding to use our professional skills to help such a great group, but there is no way we could do it without Apparo (and especially you, Allie [Lavallee, Apparo])! You have kept us on track and guided the whole group through the process. Apparo truly is a special organization.” – Monica Gross, User Researcher at Regions
- “Thank you for everything! I appreciated being able to apply my research skills to support the work that the Bach Akademie is doing and, in that small way, contribute to their continued growth and success. You [Allie] have been a fantastic project leader, and the tools that Apparo provided to help us focus on the task were really helpful. This was my second project through Apparo, and I hope I’ll be able to participate in more and help your nonprofit clients where I can bring value.” – Karen Bachmann, Lead Researcher at Regions
- “I loved working with Apparo and Bach Akademie Charlotte! I learned so much about the nonprofit industry and even listened to the holiday concerts put on by BAC via the public radio link they shared. You [Allie] made the experience so smooth and easy. Allie, thank you for being a phenomenal liaison and always responding when we reached out. Looking forward to the next project, together.” – Nicole Bacomo, Content Designer at Regions
