Our Story
Fifty years of getting people to act.
Since 1976, we've helped mission-driven organizations connect with the people who can move their work forward. Through five decades of new channels, our focus has stayed on understanding audiences and measuring results.
Carl Bloom, who co-founded the company in 1976
Where it began
Carl Bloom developed his approach to membership and fundraising in public television, where understanding audiences and earning a response mattered. In 1976, he and copywriter Pete Gelb started Bloom & Gelb, the agency from which Carl Bloom Associates later emerged.
Direct mail became a foundation of the business. It gave the team a way to reach defined audiences, test messages and offers, measure response, and improve the next campaign. Those habits still shape how we work.
New channels, the same discipline.
As new ways to reach people emerged, we added them to the mix. Direct mail remains strong, working alongside email, digital advertising, video, text messaging, and the pages and experiences that turn interest into action.
The right combination depends on the audience and the goal. Whether a campaign asks someone to become a member, make a gift, buy a ticket, or explore an opportunity, we bring the same care to the message, the execution, and the evidence of what worked.
A family business, still evolving
Rob and Carrie Bloom joined the business in the 1990s and worked alongside Carl as the agency developed new creative, technical and marketing capabilities. Today they lead CBA together.
That continuity matters to our clients. We pair decades of direct-response experience with people who stay close to the work, from strategy and creative through production, delivery, measurement and improvement. We continue to add capabilities as our clients' needs and their audiences change.
Fifty years, in brief.
- 1976
Carl Bloom and copywriter Pete Gelb start Bloom & Gelb. The New York Public Library is the first client.
- 1990s
Rob and Carrie Bloom join the family business. Today they lead CBA together.
- 2006
Email marketing joins direct mail, the first of the digital channels we now plan together.
- 2016
CBA co-founds the International Public Library Fundraising Conference.
- 2019
With the Seattle Public Library Foundation, we launch Library Giving Day, a national day of giving for public libraries.
- 2020
Text messaging joins our services, starting with peer-to-peer texting.
- 2022
We launch Digital Reach 360, bringing our digital advertising and Google Ad Grant services together for fundraising.
- 2025
Digital Reach 360 expands beyond fundraising to recruitment and event marketing.
- 2026
CBA marks 50 years, and the International Public Library Fundraising Conference celebrates its 10th anniversary.
What stays constant
Clear roles, direct access
You'll know who is responsible for your work, and you can reach them directly.
Meet the team →From strategy through execution
Strategy, creative, production, postage and reporting, carried out by the people who answer for the results.
How we produce the work →Coordinated channels
Mail, email, text and digital ads are planned together, because that is how an audience experiences them.
The lifecycle, run as one program →Decisions grounded in evidence
We test, compare results over time and share what we learn, including what to change next.
See the results →Let's plan what comes next.
Tell us where you want your program to go, and we'll show you how we can help.