Discovery Call Brief

Yadkin Arts Council

Sarah Smith, Executive Director  ·  John Willingham, Board President (Decision Maker)  ·  May 7, 2026  ·  48 min

Goals

What Sarah wants

1 🗂️

One central source of truth

Replace a legacy desktop-only system (Exceed) and a patchwork of Google Sheets with a single, cloud-based platform she and her assistant can access from anywhere.

2 ⏱️

Win back time

Eliminate hours of manual data merging so Sarah can focus on running the restaurant, staging theater productions, writing grants, and building the gallery.

3 📧

Consolidate email marketing

Cancel Constant Contact (renewal imminent) and handle all donor and ticket-buyer communications inside one platform — using the same drag-and-drop workflow she already knows.

Challenges

What's in the way

1 🗃️

Fragmented, messy data

Donor records live in Exceed on one desktop. Ticket-buyer emails (5,800+) sit in Constant Contact. Event CSVs are separate. Manually reconciling duplicates is a constant time sink.

2 💰

Tight budget & small staff

Only three employees. No dedicated database person. Board president John Willingham controls spend approval. Price sensitivity is real — she's mentally benchmarking $3,000–$4,500/year.

3 🏘️

Donor fatigue in a rural community

Low-income county means the donor pool is small and asked often for tickets, too. Board is cautious about over-soliciting. She only does one direct mail campaign per year — intentionally.

Demo

What to show

1 📥

Data import & smart segmentation

Show the templated CSV import tool, duplicate handling, and contact deduplication. Then demo filtering — "everyone who bought tickets last season" — to make the value immediately concrete for her workflow.

2 ✉️

Built-in email & Journey Automation

Walk through the drag-and-drop email builder (same engine as Constant Contact — she's already sold on familiarity). Show automated thank-you journeys to replace manual acknowledgment letters. Quantify: "cancel your CC subscription."

3 🔁

Recurring giving & mobile app

Demo the recurring donation setup with auto-updated card expiration — zero manual work. Show the mobile app + Tap to Pay for events. Tee up wealth screening for John to see the major-gift upside without pressuring existing donors.

What happens after you say yes

Your roadmap to success

1
Onboarding Specialist

Structured product onboarding through online resources and dedicated one-on-one sessions — so your team gets up to speed fast.

2
Conversion Project Manager

A dedicated expert guides you through migrating your data from Exceed — from first export to final import — start to finish.

3
Continuous Support

Ongoing help via phone, email, 24/7 chat, and unlimited daily group training sessions. You're never on your own.

Bloomerang has a 94% renewal rate among our 26,000+ customers — because we're with you every step of the way.