Challenge

Bloomerang launched in 2012 to help small non-profits across the US run their operations with a customer relationship management system, analytics and reporting, and marketing tools. When Bloomerang first enabled donations, it used Stripe and third-party payment providers to allow non-profits to take payments on their own websites. However, whenever transaction issues arose, Bloomerang had to consult third-party support teams, which made it hard to respond quickly.

Bloomerang prided itself on supporting non-profits and wanted to extend that experience to include donations as well. The company needed a simple way to process donations directly on the Bloomerang platform, while also automatically splitting each transaction between Bloomerang and the non-profit.

“We really wanted to own the relationship with our non-profit customers,” said Evan DaSilva, senior vice president of payments at Bloomerang. “We needed our frontline support team to be able to discuss any issues with them directly. That’s a big part of the customer experience.”

Non-profits were also spending too much time switching between their payment accounts and Bloomerang accounts. To improve the customer experience, and save non-profits time and resources, Bloomerang sought a payment provider that offered a fully integrated solution. It also wanted a simple onboarding experience to get non-profits started on Bloomerang as easily as possible.

At the same time, Bloomerang wanted donors to enjoy a fast, frictionless payment experience. It needed a reliable payment provider that could handle large spikes in demand during peak periods, such as GivingTuesday and Ramadan, and would allow donors to make donations in as few clicks as possible.

Bloomerang also wanted to minimise its customers’ exposure to fraud. Through its CRM data, Bloomerang noticed that some of its nonprofit customers on third-party processors and fundraising tools had experienced instances of card testing fraud – where fraudulent actors attempt to make small transactions with stolen credit cards in order to assess whether they still work. Bloomerang wanted to help solve this problem for its customers, but knew it needed to take a targeted approach to fraud prevention. It needed tools that prevented bad actors from using its customers’ forms, while also ensuring that its customers’ actual donors weren’t affected.

Solution

Bloomerang integrated Stripe Connect in 2021 with the launch of its Bloomerang Payments service. This solution for managing multiparty payments and payouts allowed Bloomerang to process non-profits’ donations directly on the Bloomerang platform and automatically split each transaction between Bloomerang and the non-profit. With Connect, Bloomerang is now able to interact directly with non-profits for all their payment needs.

“Part of owning the customer relationship is giving non-profits the answers they need about their fundraising and donations,” said DaSilva. “Stripe allows us to close the loop so that we can help our customer instantly. If a non-profit is having a problem onboarding to Bloomerang Payments or capturing online donations, it’s always a high priority for our Support team. Stripe helps us significantly reduce the amount of time it takes us to help troubleshoot any issues and ensure our customers can seamlessly process donations through Bloomerang Payments.”

With Stripe handling the KYC requirements, non-profits are now able to onboard to Connect in just a few clicks, allowing them to start taking donations on the Bloomerang platform almost immediately. Connect allows non-profits to track donations and manage all their accounting and reporting in one place, so they no longer need to switch between their payment accounts and their Bloomerang accounts.

With Stripe, Bloomerang also gained a robust, reliable platform capable of handling any surges in demand. It used Stripe Elements – a suite of UI components – to easily add Google Pay and Apple Pay, streamlining the donation process with popular payment methods that make donating as frictionless as possible.

To reduce its exposure to fraud and the resulting burden on its in-house team, Bloomerang implemented Radar for Fraud Teams – Stripe’s customisable tools for fraud professionals – and began using Stripe to automatically contest chargebacks. Bloomerang used Stripe Sigma reports to understand which accounts were most at risk for card testing, then wrote custom rules with Radar for Fraud Teams to reduce fraud attacks. Bloomerang also created custom logic to target bust-out fraud, rather than applying blanket rules. Radar for Fraud Teams allowed Bloomerang to model the impact of rules as it was writing them, allowing Bloomerang to reduce the number of false positives in the process.

Results

More than 60% annual growth in online donation volume since launching Bloomerang Payments

Since Bloomerang launched Bloomerang Payments with Connect, its in-house teams and non-profit customers have enjoyed a smooth, reliable payment experience with no availability issues – even during peak periods. Easy onboarding to Connect has helped reduce the onboarding rejection rate from 15% before implementation to about 0.25% today. Together, this has helped Bloomerang Payments achieve an annual growth rate of more than 60% in online donation volume.

20% increase in total non-profit donations year-on-year

Since enabling non-profits to take donations on Bloomerang Payments with Connect, Bloomerang has helped grow the total amount of donations its non-profits receive by 20% year-on-year.

“The average non-profit on Stripe raises around $75,000 a year,” said Katie Gaston, senior product marketing manager at Bloomerang. “The impact those non-profits will be able to make with that extra 20% a year is extraordinary.”

Nearly 8% of payments are now made with Google Pay and Apple Pay

Implementing Google Pay and Apple Pay with Elements has allowed Bloomerang to reduce friction in the donation process, by enabling donors to pay with fewer clicks. Donors have responded positively to the wider choice of payment methods, with nearly 8% of all donations now being made with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Over 200% decline in chargeback volume in 2023

Bloomerang doesn’t charge customers for chargebacks, which helps to align its financial interests with its customers’ interests. By leveraging Radar’s logic for writing rules and pairing that with Sigma’s data, Bloomerang was able to reduce the chargeback count in 2023 by 226%.

More than 20% win rate on contested chargebacks

With Stripe’s automated chargeback disputes, Bloomerang now wins more than 20% of all contested chargebacks – helping increase overall revenue. This automated process has saved the company from having to hire a full-time employee to process chargeback disputes manually.

80% reduction in the number of transactions needing to be manually reviewed

Using Radar for Fraud Teams in conjunction with Sigma has allowed Bloomerang to adopt a more targeted approach to fraud, saving its fraud team time, and allowing the company to scale without increasing workload. Bloomerang can now assess which accounts are most vulnerable to attack, allowing it to cut the number of large transactions it needs to review by 80% and freeing up its fraud team to scrutinise newly connected accounts more thoroughly. Bloomerang has also significantly reduced its card testing fraud rate, giving it an advantage over its competitors.

“The amount of card testing experienced by non-profits using Bloomerang Payments is significantly less than those using third-party processors,” said DaSilva. “We’re able to use that as a tool to show those non-profits what it’s costing them and persuade them to move onto our platform.”