Blackbaud Online Express vs Foundation Directory Online (FDO)

Likelihood to Recommend

For 100% tax-deductible donations, I 9.5/10 recommend Blackbaud Online Express. The only thing is that it does not charge debit cards automatically, so I have to do it myself. Using Blackbaud Online Express forms for events gets more complicated. The way events work in Raiser's Edge in general is already complicated, so maybe it's more on Raiser's Edge than it is Blackbaud Online Express.

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Taylor Sleem

Director of Advancement Operations

Heritage HallEducation Management, 201-500 employees

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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.

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David S. Levine, CFRE

Development Manager

Christodora: Nature, Learning, LeadershipNon-profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees

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Pros

Online donation forms are easy to create and place within our existing website. The donations received are easily transferred into our Raiser's Edge database.
Creating email communications for our constituents is very simple to achieve in Online Express and the statistics provided are very helpful to see what our constituents are clicking on.

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Linda Behrman

Director of Membership & systems administrator

The Peregrine FundFund-Raising, 51-200 employees

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Summarizing foundation information (contact info, funding priorities, geographic priorities, etc.) in a user-friendly format
Recommending similar foundations based on certain criteria, this is helpful when looking for new funding opportunities
Being able to search through organization's 990s using crtl + F

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Verified User

Program Manager in Sales

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 51-200 employees

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Cons

It does have some "quirks." It can be a little tricky to process the batch until you have done it a few times.
I had a problem finding a constituent yesterday - he was purchasing a program ad for an event - that I knew was in the database. It turned out that he had been marked inactive, and so apparently wasn't included in the search results.

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Patricia Gauss

Raiser's Edge Database Manager

PARC - Turning Disabilities Into CapabilitiesNon-Profit Organization Management, 201-500 employees

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As this platform grows, more data will be available and I'm looking forward to even further narrowed search results.

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Abby Landmeier

Manager of Community Funding and Volunteers

United Way of Mesa CountyNon-Profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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Support Rating

Blackbaud Online Express 8.9

Based on 10 answers

Customer service for all of Blackbaud's products has really lacked over the years. They are starting to get better in the last year but it can very frustrating. The online knowledge base community is the best resource for information. At times it can take hours for a customer sect even rep to help with questions or problems which is not at all ideal in this industry.

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Emily Brady

Director of Development

Notre Dame High SchoolFund-Raising, 51-200 employees

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Foundation Directory Online (FDO) 10.0

Based on 2 answers

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.

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David S. Levine, CFRE

Development Manager

Christodora: Nature, Learning, LeadershipNon-profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Blackbaud Online Express is mainly used strictly because of its integration with Raiser's Edge. If a client uses Salesforce for constituent/lead management, other products can offer more flexibility in designing donation forms, email templates, etc. However, they all have their own negatives in Salesforce integration -- that is a whole other can of worms. While the Raiser's Edge integration of Online Express isn't perfect, it is relatively painless compared to the competition's Salesforce integration. Also, for NFP's, Blackbaud's NFP focused business model is a plus.

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Patrick Plaisance

CTO (Chief Technical Officer)

Pachyderm ConsultingInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

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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

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Verified User

Program Manager in Sales

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 51-200 employees

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Return on Investment

Regardless of project or initiative, all fund-raising efforts are managed in one place for the entire organization.
Donor management is concise, thorough, and systematic - no individual or organization is overlooked.
Snapshot reporting of successful grant applications and fund-raising are readily available.

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Verified User

Director in Research & Development

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 1001-5000 employees

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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.

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Abby Landmeier

Manager of Community Funding and Volunteers

United Way of Mesa CountyNon-Profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees

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Blackbaud Online Express vs Foundation Directory Online (FDO)