Overall Satisfaction with The Raisers Edge
I work for the Development department and we have a team of four that uses Raisers Edge for our donor database. I am a site admin. We also have Raisers NXT as an additional resource which takes the database view and turns it into an attractive and user friendly view. We are able to easily and efficiently track donor records and run reports. We are able to run consecutive year reports and other detailed reports.
- Running reports and queries is user friendly and intuitive. It could get complicated to run detailed donor reports however they offer some already created reports you may customize.
- Blackbaud support is available daily to assist in screen sharing , reports, queries.
- Raisers' dashboard makes it easy to track new donors, lapsed donors and you could customize what you are looking for in the results.
- The consecutive year report is pre-made however it’s not always the most accurate with years of giving.
- The NXT version consecutive years of giving is sometimes different then the database years.
- The dashboard is usually off by a small number as far as donor number accuracy compared to query donor count.
- Increase in donors and consecutive donors.
- Ability to have support available at any time such as website hosting issues so we could continue to benefit from online giving forms.
- Ability to have reminders on major giving prospects, were able to raise most money this year.
- Salesforce crm
I have only used Salesforce in the past and I feel you get the most for your money with Raisers especially if you invest a little more in NXT. We currently use Blackbaud website hosting along with target analytics. I feel Blackbaud has a vast group of tools to add to benefits of Raisers including target gift range and other tools to track giving capacity. Salesforce is a little more user friendly and has a more modern look however NXT is the new Raisers update.
Using The Raisers Edge
4 - Development and Marketing Manager, Marketing consultant, Vice President Of Development and Grants Associate
We outsource IT. I get support from their chat services mostly or I call to screenshare for more complicated queries, reports, questions. You should have someone who could atleast screenshare and be able to assist with database challenges and have IT who could add new users if needed.
- Donor giving capacity. Target analytics allows you to pull target and annual giving ranges for donors.
- Consecutive year and other detail report tracking to recognize current donors.
- Donor record keeping and acknowledgements.
- NXT is an additional tool and cost which gives you a new look to the database view. You are able to receive reminders and tips for donor outreach.
- Consecutive giving and other detailed reports.
- Additional target analytics to upgrade donors.
- NXT tools including donor upgrade features.
Using The Raisers Edge
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using | Lots to learn |
- Custom Reports and queries especially consecutive years.
- NXT is intuitive and a very attractive view of donor records compared to database.
- Queries and reports other than custom ones.
- Sometimes the dashboard numbers don’t always match the query numbers.
Yes - NXT is the mobile version if you pay for the feature. It’s worth it since it’s super user friendly and allows you to easily look up a record, Giving and record actions.