Blackbaud Review

PROS: We don't know yet. Our team has wasted over 100 hours in researching significant delays and problems and chasing Blackbaud representatives for responses. We’ve been forced to manage our own project on-boarding process without proper support of the designated project manager. As a result, our launch date has been delayed by FOUR months during which time we could not use the fundraising products that we purchased due to the unfulfilled services that were mistakenly promised as part of our products but that Blackbaud was unable to deliver. Our complaints have been documented both by recorded Zoom calls as well as in writing yet Blackbaud has refused to compensate for their mistakes.

CONS: Blackbaud pushed us to prematurely end our training sessions without adequate functionality, training, and access to the program. We had to explain repeatedly over several months and prove to Blackbaud’s team that we had never received the complete training that was part of the products that we purchased. Since then, we have been granted a new trainer who has done a great job in completing our training but this delay caused by Blackbaud’s mistakes cost us both signficant time and lost income.

PROS: It has a large storage capacity! We use Blackbaud for keeping records of our supporters and beneficiaries. This is a great way to stay connected with them.

CONS: The UI of the database is quite intricate and it takes time and diligence to be familiar to.

PROS: The software is extensive and is highly configurable. Access your database in the cloud. And the support is always helpful.

CONS: It takes diligence to understand how to use the app.

PROS: Considering the price of the application, it is quite a great help for fundraising because the reports and donor recognition are accessible. Plus the support is amazing.

CONS: The CRM function is quite lacking for me, I cannot customize it the way I want it to.

PROS: We have been using NXT for our CRM functions. It enables our staff to access and create reports and queries in spreadsheets and dashboards, it makes our data more accessible in a secure manner, and it keeps records of many of our activities so we can see the trend of our fundraisers, visitations, and other outputs. Moreover, what I love about this app are the numerous and informative tutorials they have in using the app. This greatly helped us maximize the full potential of the application, and have the training of our staff be easy.

CONS: Nothing much, looking forward to further developments in the application.

PROS: A great way to have your database. Plus, the interface is user-friendly.

CONS: I prefer NXT than the standard Blackbaud Raiser’s.

PROS: Keep track, manage, and keep check, ACH, and credit card information. Plus the app is easy to use once you get to be familiar with it.

CONS: Understanding the system in the beginning.

PROS: This application has helped me gain more visibility on different platforms.

CONS: Provide shorter versions of the training sessions.

PROS: I love how easy to use this application is, especially with the email, the donation forms, and the website. It provides great data analysis and ratings from our stakeholders.

CONS: The reporting and query feature needs to be extensive.

PROS: Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT is a great application. It has an easy user interface which makes fundraising so much easier. It is also well-integrated with other software that we use.

CONS: It took time to be familiar with its features and navigation. However, upon knowing and understanding them, everything turned easy and smooth.

PROS: Flexible--smooth transition between website editing and managing the donor database.

CONS: The merge feature when creating duplicate accounts is a tedious process.

PROS: Raiser’s Edge NXT helps my organization to manage our donors, constituents, and stakeholders.

CONS: It is a complex application so it also needs some time to get used to.

PROS: The application is really convenient because it shows the team the primary information they need when interacting with our stakeholders. It is easy to use and can be customized according to the organization’s needs.

CONS: The software sometimes takes time to load and the database view is not as intuitive as the web view.

PROS: This has been the best application for fundraising that we have ever used! First off, the application is well-integrated with Raiser’s Edge; it’s features allowed us to gain more options and customization that would fit our organization and our donors. Secondly, we can go paperless when used together with PaperSave. When our clients and donors agree to paperless transactions, we can just set it up and everything is good to go. So convenient.

CONS: The Internet is a dire need in using the software. If internet services are bad in an area, the office would be having a hard time to adapt.

PROS: The application is a comprehensive tool for managing and connecting to the people involved in our organization. It is integrated with our website, too, so it’s so much easier to upload gifts and create acknowledgment letters.

CONS: When I input a gift for a certain donor or beneficiary, I wish it would automatically load letters which I can edit, to lessen the time in processing these transactions. Searching for a specific person in the system takes time. And, I wish there is a way to verify the addresses given to us by the donors.

PROS: Blackbaud Raiser has upgraded how we do things in our activities. What I really love is that our frontliners now have an accessible web database for uploading documents, creating lists, customizing the dashboard, and seeing the overall status of the fundraiser. It made things so much easier.

CONS: We need training, tutorial or at least a simple orientation on the features and navigation to fully maximize the app’s potential. It would be helpful if some features from our back office can be accessed by our frontliners, too.

PROS: The app is very intuitive and so easy to use. This is a great upgrade from the Citrix we use in our company.

CONS: Functions related to generating reports are quite lacking so I am looking forward to the update.

PROS: I use the application for my fundraising activities. I am more than happy to share that we modified our marketing strategy and web searching strategies through the Luminate and since then it has increased my capability to connect with my team, and our capability to connect with our beneficiaries and stakeholders.

CONS: Nothing noteworthy. I also love their support team, always helpful.

PROS: Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT has helped me in keeping track of my donors for check approvals. Plus, it is also a great database.

CONS: Be more user friendly.

PROS: I love the email functions that the application has. We were using Outlook before and sending and creating bulk emails are tedious. With Luminate, we can just create "templates" and then edit the dates and save them. Using this method, we can easily pass on the process easier for the next leaders.

CONS: I hope there would be a feature that can edit multiple emails at once and if the donation entries are more simple and user-friendly. A bit difficult to learn how to use it.

PROS: Organized emails, a larger number of recipients can be sent emails and we can add more recipients in a group email. The app is intuitive so it does not require a lot of "steps" to input data and reflect it for example on the website.

CONS: Sometimes the copied material on the email does not copy the format of the material so it needs to be formatted again.