Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT

Powerful CRM that will meet your needs!

Vorteile:

This is a powerful CRM service/software. We've expanded our utilization over the years, but I still know there are areas we don't even scratch the surface of when it comes to compiling information on donors and potential donors. A few years ago we made the leap to RE:NXT, placing our data in the cloud -- it's wonderful to be able to access data from wherever I am, whether I need a phone number or address, or some data on donation history. I've been a Raiser's Edge user for 20+ years, and I have to say I can't imagine keeping track of our donors without it. From historical data to personal notations, you can keep so much info here (even uploading photos, documents, etc.). With RE:NXT we have integration between the CRM and our web site donation forms. They're easy to build and drop in to the coding for the site.

Nachteile:

We've felt that there are a couple of things in the EVENTS module that we wish worked better for us/our organization, but that's a small hiccup when it comes to the functionality and quality of BB fundraising.

RE NXT is the Best for Educational Nonprofits!

Vorteile:

I use both database view and NXT. I like the powerful queries and reports.

Nachteile:

Sometimes a query can be difficult to run based on what has been entered in the database.

Not my choice product

Kommentare: I found the use of this very basic. It does not do all that I would like it to do. First of all, we did not have a a way to link relationships. So, if there was an umbrella organization that donated, and other related groups under that umbrella, then those all had to be accessed separately. In all fairness though, I was only a user and did not have admin abilities, so this may be an option offered. What I do know it that when I started my own non profit, Blackbaud did not even make the "to be considered" list for my organization.

Vorteile:

I like how it displayed and gave a good overview of donations. Very easy to navigate and access that information.

Nachteile:

Unless you enter a name specifically as it is entered, it is hard to find. In fact, often it took me much longer to find a client then it should have.

Blackbaud

Kommentare: Overall, we like and dislike this product. We are learning to live with some of the quirks of it because the organizational tools for fundraising seem to be quite good for us.

Vorteile:

What I like most about this product is that as a fundraiser, I have many tools that keep me organized and remind me to thank our donors.

Nachteile:

My co-worker who uses this software for only adding donations has a very difficult time with it. She says it takes way too many steps to add donations. It is also frustrating that you have to create a new record for someone who has been memorialized by a gift. It seems odd to add someone into your record base that is deceased and there is a cap on the number of constituents you can have in the database without having to pay more. The reporting pages are confusing and difficult to understand how to set up a goal and see our progress toward it. There are many things like this that we come across that are frustrating to us.

One Stop Shop for Donor Tracking

Vorteile:

Makes donor tracking simple and cohesive between fundraising department and accounting department.

Nachteile:

Not very intuitive but they do offer numerous tutorials which are great.

Good if you start with it, very difficult to transition into

Kommentare: Overall, since we transitioned from a very flexible database system, we eventually found that our data and needs for customization simply aren't supported by Raiser's Edge. Additionally, learning how to use the functions of Raiser's Edge if you don't already know can be very difficult, as customer support can be hard to get a hold of.

Vorteile:

Records in Raiser's Edge are very stiff - as in very difficult to customize. This can be good if you are starting out in it, as you can set a standard of how to keep data, and it doesn't give employees the opportunity to create messy records. Adding information is simple and easy.

Nachteile:

Many features of Raiser's edge can only be accessed in the Data base view, which is way less user friendly, and requires you to open a whole different software. For example, to you want to add a new kind of relationship? Need to go to Database view. Additionally, Records are so not customizable, that if you are moving data from a different system, you're data could easily look like a huge mess if you don't fit them exactly into Raiser's Edges categories.

Database Searching Made Easy

Vorteile:

I love web-based software that gives more freedom in filtering and report setup. I get to decide what columns I do and don't want to see. RE NXT makes searching so much easier than the desktop software, as there are fewer steps to take for searching. It's intuitive in the search box, and you don't have to enter in all information to get a list of possible answers.

Nachteile:

The pages are aesthetically bland. I wish the categories inside a search result were differently colored to quickly navigate where one category ends and another begins.

Getting there, but not quite

Kommentare: Not a whole lot more than RE Legacy.

Vorteile:

The web interface is easier to use than the legacy Raiser's Edge product. There are some cool features and basic level reporting available.

Nachteile:

It is read-only, pretty shell of the Legacy RE database, but users still have to login to the old RE database to enter data and advanced level reporting.

In a Limited Pack, Raiser's Edge Pulls Ahead

Vorteile:

A powerful database management software, Raiser's Edge makes it easy to search and organize donor information. Importing data into spreadsheets and documents is not difficult, once you master the software, but does require some practice.

Nachteile:

The user interface is not necessarily intuitive and isn't the most modern looking design, but after a while the user can get the hang of it.

Excellent for Large Organizations

Kommentare: I am a new employee of a large national NPO that is outgrowing the old way of collecting, tracking, and processing data. This is a perfect solution to help us continue to grow as a team!

Vorteile:

Dynamic data collection, tracking, and reporting make it easy to share and collaborate with co-workers, simplifying processes and ensuring that everyone can do their respective jobs more efficiently.

Nachteile:

It does require training time for employees to learn but fortunately, Blackbaud provides excellent learning tools, both self-study and instructor-guided.

The Standard for CRM

Kommentare: I have been a pleased user of Raiser's Edge for many years.

Vorteile:

I have been using Raiser's Edge with a variety of non-profits since 2007. It has consistently been a vital tool in tracking donor and constituent relationships.

Nachteile:

Building and pulling reports from RE can be challenging. There should be more advancement in making it more intuitive to do so.

WITH RE-NXT, BLACKBAUD MAY HAVE GOTTEN ON THE CLOUD TOO FAST

Kommentare: With the NXT version of its products, along with Blackbaud pretty much forcing its customers onto the cloud, Blackbaud is making some big mistakes. They haven't thought the web products out too much before pushing them out, for one (lots of functionality that previously existed doesn't exist now, although promised), and their customer service is no longer something to rave about. Anyone interested in RE-NXT but who hasn't used the older version of the product at all is going to be more impressed by (for example) Avectra's NetForum, which is cheaper and isn't waiting for significant functionality to be rolled out.

Vorteile:

It's good Blackbaud realized that it needed to build in the classic version ("database view") of the old Raisers Edge into its NXT cloud version of the product. The old RE remains one of the best donor-, events-, membership-management software packages around. I've been using since 1997, and Raisers Edge integrates perfectly with Financial Edge.

Nachteile:

As I mentioned, the cloud version of the software ("web view," or what you land on as soon as you click into Blackbaud.com and sign on) is weak. Adding to the frustration is that it looks completely different from the old version of the software. The worst thing about the cloud version is that a lot of the functionality in the old version has yet to show up in the web version, although Blackbaud keeps promising that future updates will contain familiar functions. In the middle of all this frustration is that Blackbaud's customer service, once the gold standard for what any customer service should be when paying this much for a product, has changed dramatically to customer service sometimes helping directly as they always did in the past, to customer service sending you Knowledgebase links for you, the customer, to figure out things yourself.

A Necessary Evil

Kommentare: While there are a lot of new, or newer, donor management systems out there now, Raiser's Edge is still the one most organizations go with. It has all the necessary features and if you already have RE 7, switching to NXT is easier than trying to move to an entirely different system. Frontline fundraisers will find NXT much easier to use for their purposes than RE 7, but those who use Raiser's Edge a lot will still find themselves in the regular database view with no major changes from RE 7. Slowly some important features are being brought into NXT view. First the only way to add a gift was in database view, then you could add gifts on a one off bases in NXT view, now adding gifts in batches in NXT view is being rolled out. But for data entry, database administrators, or other RE power users, there won't be much of a change from RE 7 for a while.

Vorteile:

Raiser's Edge NXT is much more intuitive and user-friendly than its predecessors. It has many neat features built it such as the map/location function and some automatic reporting. Its mobile friendly meaning its easy to review notes or update on-the-go and the email tools built in are very useful, even if not the most robust email system.

Nachteile:

With NXT, it seems like Blackbaud released things before they were ready. Many of the necessary features can't be done though the NXT online view and still require the database view, which is the same as RE 7. They are adding new features all the time and perfecting the ones they already have, but many times it seems like they should have perfected it before it was released. Often when they debut a new feature, I'm left with more unanswered questions. I do belive NXT view will get better over time, and it is necessary to switch over as soon RE 7 will not be available, but NXT is expensive and does often feel like it is still in development.

Raiser's Finally Got an Update

Kommentare: I use Raiser's Edge as our donor database and the data entry, reporting features are really updated. However, when they came out with NXT, it was a game changer. NXT is amazing! It has a very attractive interface and super user friendly. As soon as you search for a record, consecutive years and all information on the donor is clear to see and it lets you know which donors you should be reaching out to. You could assign donors to others to initiate contact. You could easily access information on your mobile device. It takes the Raiser's Edge data entry interface and completely gives it a makeover. You are easily able to review giving history and all donor information on one page and very clearly. The only thing I don't like about NXT is that the consecutive years aren't always the same as in the donor records in the database version.

Vorteile:

I use Raiser's Edge as our donor database and the data entry, reporting features are really updated. However, when they came out with NXT, it was a game changer. NXT is amazing! It has a very attractive interface and super user friendly. As soon as you search for a record, consecutive years and all information on the donor is clear to see and it lets you know which donors you should be reaching out to. You could assign donors to others to initiate contact. You could easily access information on your mobile device. It takes the Raiser's Edge data entry interface and completely gives it a makeover. You are easily able to review giving history and all donor information on one page and very clearly.

Nachteile:

The only thing I don't like about NXT is that the consecutive years aren't always the same as in the donor records in the database version.

Becoming a benefit to our organization

Kommentare: While we have had some hiccups converting our staff over, I think the product itself is wonderful and introduces features that we've wanted in the main database since we converted to Blackbaud products. For most, the features that it currently offers will suffice, and if they don't many of the missing features can be found in the main system. The development of new features has been going surprisingly quickly, and we expect that most of the problems we have had so far will go away as the product is updated.

Vorteile:

The interface is a lot friendlier to the average user than the database view, making it easier to use for our employees that don't like working in databases as much. It also introduced certain features that were missing from the main database, which added some new tools to manage data and keep our information clean. The analytics is my favorite addition; while some dashboard tools exist in Raiser's Edge, in NXT they are fully thought out and allow for excellent reporting and visual depictions of our progress.

Nachteile:

It's still an in-development product, so while this could be great for some organizations it's not at the point where it's great for all organizations. Despite the fact that it's user-friendly and many of our staff members prefer to use it, the lack of certain features from the main database make it hard for them to convert completely, and they feel that switching between the two views of the same system is a hassle. While it's understandable that the extra add-ons would take a back seat to the development of the main features, with our membership module missing it does make it hard for our organization to shift most of our staff over to it from the main database view. There are also some things that don't synchronize properly between the two systems yet, which sometimes makes database maintenance feel like we're checking in two different databases for information.

Great Product, but Could be Overkill for Most Nonprofits

Kommentare: It's doubtful to me, especially after having worked with a few smaller nonprofits which have used Raisers Edge, that even the heaviest users in this arena are using even 50% of the product's out of the box functionality. So while I love the product, and especially love it because it integrates seamlessly with Financial Edge for the accounting reporting, smaller nonprofits are probably better served with something just as user-friendly but much cheaper for donations/events/membership management, like Avectra's Net Forum.

Vorteile:

Blackbaud's Raisers Edge is great software for donations management, including special events and memberships. It's very easy to use, and very easy to get information from, whether through any of the many canned reports, or through queries and exports. Support is extra, but well worth the cost, at least in the initial years after set-up.

Nachteile:

The cost - upwards for just the donations management - is considerable. And things like the Special Events module and Membership and Tributes and Memorials modules are not included in the base package. Like most other software, a lot of thought needs to happen when setting Raisers Edge up. But seriously for every con that I could list, the customer support that comes extra with the annual maintenance, if purchases, offsets the con with quick answers and fixes, so that even the most complicated thing in RE is easily addressed with a quick phone call to support.

Raisers Edge - IF you are good to it, it will give you GOLD

Kommentare: Raiser's Edge is great for development departments of medium to large nonprofits, schools, etc, especially those with sophisticated fundraising programs. It may not be the best fit for small nonprofits with limited resources in the budget. The Raiser's Edge is an excellent software for cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship and allows for easy tracking of each constituent's relationship with your organization. Raisers Edge is being used by the development department to track donations and our constituents relationship to us as an organization. Our database is not large but the relationships are long and often complicated. A database like this allows us to see the constituent and all of the interactions we have had with them over the years. The Raisers Edge in combination with some of the add on's like online express have been helpful for seamless tracking of newsletter readership and conversions from our website and online publications.

Vorteile:

Queries are what we use to create lists of constituents with particular behaviors or similarities that we can use for creating mailings, invitations or actions. An amazing tool with endless possibilities. Raisers Edge is a beast of a program. It can do just about anything you could want for a donor database and Blackbaud offers several supplemental solutions that seamlessly integrate. Donor stewardship, from first contact, to donation, to acknowledgement letter, is a process that is handled particularly well with Raisers Edge

Nachteile:

The program is quite complicated and if data is not entered correctly than the program just won't work well. "bad in, bad out'. But that is not unique to this program. That some of the features that I like to use like global changes for adding appeals is pretty buried and the way of finding it convoluted. Attributes could be more flexible: like I would prefer to have all events under one table (which it can do now) but then there is no step further where I can then say whether they RSVP and then also whether they attended and their name for easy export for nametags.

Outstanding fundraising tool

Kommentare: Overall, Raiser's Edge is a helpful tool and provides the information which helps me do my job.

Vorteile:

The ease of use which makes training co-workers much quicker and more easily understandable. The various modules make database management more effective (specifically EVENTS).

Nachteile:

My biggest complaint with Blackbaud is customer service. Prior to the new procedures, I was able to call and speak to a human being and explain my issue. Currently, I can only get a CSR via CHAT, and that is only if someone is available at that time. Even during times where someone is supposed to be available, I frequently receive a message to try again later. When I CAN get a chat session, I find the CSRs are not as knowledgeable as they should be. I also find the CSRs have a hard time comprehending exactly what I'm asking and usually give up and find another way to get the information. In addition, while the standard reports typically give me the information I need, there are some that are sorely lacking and we are presently not in a position to create new ones (time and resources limitations) so we will piece together numerous reports.

NXT - Web view and database view

Kommentare: We've realized that some of our field modifications in database view are not available for use in web view in either lists or in the report builder because our use of them is not a universal one or the field is not required. We're thinking through how to utilize Attributes (Custom Fields) better in order to be able to more accurately view groups of data without having to apply too many exclusions or to include constituents that do not need to be part of the listing/report. These will be business process changes and will require some data cleanup, so we have not yet tackled them.

Vorteile:

The most impactful web view pieces are those that the fundraisers use most often: viewing their portfolio and opportunities, actions that need follow up, and reports that have been built to help look at work completed. Lists are helpful to them for travel planning and calling. The Reports that are already built are great for a starting point.

Nachteile:

Many of us use the database side (RE 7) more than the web view side still because there are so many areas that are not yet complete in web view. Roll out has been fast, though, so I'm excited to see what continues to grow. The areas we still use the most in the database side are query and export, adding constituents, adding gifts, and all work within funds. Those pieces still have some work needed on the web side to get to the sophistication we're accustomed to in database view.

Great CRM with good features

Kommentare: Before using NXT, make sure your team has a clear strategy on how to consistently use the "consent" module to record communications opt-ins and opt-outs. You need to make sure you are using it consistently across all records and it will serve you well.

Vorteile:

Constituent records Outlook plugin (quickly add emails to a constituent record) JustGiving integration is an exciting prospect Lists Reporting features - including the option to send out an automatically generated custom report to yourself or a colleague, for example every month or week Webinars and video demos of new features

Nachteile:

Doesn't have all the functions of Raisers Edge 7 so we still needed to use RE7 in parallel New features take a long time to arrive Terminology doesn't always match Raider's Edge (for example "canvassers" in RE7 are fundraisers in NXT, "Attributes" vs. "Custom tags") Emails sent out via NXT should be automatically added to constituent's record Difficult setting up new users on the system

A huge step forward from RE7

Vorteile:

RENXT is a wonderful leap forward for those that are currently using RE7. First off, it is online, so you can login anywhere and on any device, which for me makes it far more useful to fundraisers. Ultimately, I am a big fan and I think it makes your fundraisers spend more time reaching out to key donors, rather than working on back end tracking and database work. Also, what I appreciate the most is that I do not have to hire people who have RE experience anymore, because it is so easy for them to immediately start working out of NXT. It opens up the candidate pool!

Nachteile:

This is a general blackbaud critique, but their customer service is not always the best. They can be difficult to get in touch with and you sometimes have to wait for a while to get a question answered or problem fixed. I will say, we have not had any issues with NXT in particular, where we needed to call them though.

Raiser's Edge Lifer Rant

Vorteile:

My biggest likes for the Raiser's Edge are the various modules: Events, Membership and Online Express. I can organize the information and pull it back out in queries so easily. The canned reporting is not bad either. They pretty much have every kind of basic report you could need. You can pull some pretty decent reports that track actions, solicitors, giving and profiles. The key is making sure your data is clean and organized. Speaking of which, Raiser's Edge has done a great job of improving it's data clean up functions. They have improved duplicate removals. They have added e-mail and phone clean ups. And they are always on top of making sure their clients are heard (even if it takes them a little while to deliver).

Nachteile:

The reports have aged out at this point in the desktop version (non-cloud). Development departments are looking for different ways to report their money and we are now depending on Crystal Reports to constantly fill that void. I wished the reports were more malleable and you could really build out the layouts to accommodate what staff wants to see. The biggest thing I hear in terms of complaints from my staff are the number of clicks to get a process done, whether entering an event on a record to recording a membership. Sure we can set up default settings for many of the procedures, but there is still that need sometimes to have to go through and enter manually.

No Longer the Go To Software

Kommentare: Horrible. I wouldn't reccomend this company to anyone. Save your money, do your research and go with another vendor.

Vorteile:

I enjoyed the upgrades from the old school dinasaur program that was available until NXT. The features were comparable to other software on the market.

Nachteile:

THE PRICE!! They were very proud of their product and ultimately did not try to keep our business. They offered their product to us for $30,000 a year for a database with less than 10,000 constituents. I believe they have since lowered their price, but their security breach has had a huge impact on many of our fellow nonprofits. Their customer service is some of the worst I have ever endured and you will have 5+ people contact about the same issue. You're lucky if you get a respose, so I mostly didn't even ask a question.

Horrible Customer Service

Kommentare: PLEASE NOTE: I used Raiser's Edge, NOT Raiser's Edge NXT. I was new to a job that had been using Raiser's Edge. I worked with it for about 6 months and then started shopping for something else. The customer service was horrible; I was constantly being tossed around from rep to rep, and in the end, I had to figure things out by calling other schools. Blackbaud Merchant Services was just as bad, and the two didn't play nice together at all. I was so happy when we moved to Bloomerang and I was done with Raiser's Edge.

Vorteile:

Nothing comes to mind. I inherited this software when I began working here.

Nachteile:

The interface was unfriendly, the search engine awkward, and getting reports was very difficult.

Blackbaud NXT

Vorteile:

It's easy to learn and intuitive, and has decent reporting functionality

Nachteile:

Unfortunately it doesn't do the trick for larger nonprofits- it's limited in it's functioning capabilities, and the API's aren't up to industry standard.