112 Reviews and Ratings
7 Reviews and Ratings
No answers on this topic
It works well enough for fundraising purposes and donor tracking. I think it would be less appropriate for instances or industries where you don't need so many data points on someone. You are able to attach a lot of information to a record so if you don't need that info (simply need contact info for example) you might want a simpler system Incentivized
Beyond any pros or cons, the simple fact is that FDO is the industry standard for grant prospecting databases. Others like GrantStation, GrantSearch, and more can offer some other functionalities or different UX/UI, but ultimately I've never found something that other search platforms had that FDO did not. If you are a non-profit organization, you need a subscription to FDO if you have any serious interest in prospecting (and getting) institutional funding.Incentivized
Accessing in-depth data for a single constituent is easily done and customizable by user working with "tiles" on the home screenGenerating lists of possible prospects with specific similarities can be done with a few clicks and then stored for more research laterwell designed relationship options allow for a a look at specific constituents and how they might relate to other constituents in the system leading to more effective prospectingScreens can be easily customized by user or user group eliminating irrelevant data and presenting only truly relevant informationIncentivized
Summarizing foundation information (contact info, funding priorities, geographic priorities, etc.) in a user-friendly formatRecommending similar foundations based on certain criteria, this is helpful when looking for new funding opportunitiesBeing able to search through organization's 990s using crtl + FIncentivized
Certain aspects of Blackbaud are oddly non-customizable.Blackbaud updates/support is slow and often ineffective - our organization switched to Microsoft 365, which is apparently incompatible with Blackbaud. Help/support recommended clunky workarounds that don't actually work, rather than proactively enhancing compatibilityThere should be a flag in constituent search to show which people in the results list are deceased.Query isn't very user friendly. It should be simple to locate the information that you want to pull, and add parameters to that information. Instead you have to write multiple queries to set parameters, then write a query that looks at those other queries. It's time-consuming and easy to make mistakes, and the knowledge/proficiency is difficult to explain or transfer to new staff.Blackbaud generally just feels like its technology is outdated. It wasn't built for the needs of a modern organization, and its developers have failed to make the necessary improvements over time to stay competitive.Incentivized
As this platform grows, more data will be available and I'm looking forward to even further narrowed search results.Incentivized
We've covered a lot, but mostly because we are happy with the system overall. There are a few kinks, and sometimes it takes a minute to figure out the right wording to pull a report or the best way to code a new category that we want to track. But Blackbaud is always there to help us, and once things are figured out - they are super simple to replicate. It wouldn't be worth it to switch to a new system and lose of all our information and time put in to mastering the system Incentivized
I have not personally had to reach out to Blackbaud CRM Support, because we have a central office that manages the Blackbaud CRM relationship. However, any time I've reached out to our support team, there is nothing they can't figure out by utilizing the support they receive from Blackbaud CRM. I've not had any issues that have gone unresolved, and they can always get things done in a timely fashion. Incentivized
Any question is answered within 24-48 hours, professionally. If one person can't answer right away, they will seek answers within their support group and find the answer for you.Incentivized
Most of our issues were self-inflicted and related to BB's work. We did not "staff up" correctly, our data to be converted was not in great shape and we set some unreasonable goals. With BBs help we were able to clean our data and prep it for conversion and we adjusted the goals to be more achievable with the timeline we were given. We found the BB staff to be responsive and focused, especially when working on-site with us.Incentivized
Blackbaud CRM is more robust and has better functionality. It is necessary for a bigger fundraising shop. Blackbaud Raiser's Edge and NXT worked well in smaller organizations with fewer users and fewer donors/prospects. RE was more affordable than CRM was for the smaller organization.Incentivized
I have also used Grant Station and GuideStar for foundation research and have found Foundation Directory Online to be the most user-friendly, provide the most detailed information about foundations, and to have the best search features in order to find the funders that I am looking for as well as to discover new funders Incentivized
Change is always expensive and painful, but CRM is worth the time and effort. One immediate benefit is improved transparency internally, especially for internal accounting, controls, and compliance departments.Cloud hosting helps cut cost and demand on organization staff. Improves access and meets compliance on every level.Ability to make global changes to recording donor phone communication makes it a one-stop resource for a well-run development team.Incentivized
We don't apply for many grants, however; we use look for resources to direct nonprofit when looking for additional funding outside of our funding process.Incentivized