Blackbaud Online Express (discontinued) vs. Bonterra OneCause

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.

Incentivized

OneCause is great for managing online and mobile bidding, managing event registration and ticket sales, processing donations during the event, handling checkout and payment collection after the auction, and significantly reducing manual work for event staff. On the other hand, OneCause does not handle complete donor history or constituent relationships, which would be super helpful to have

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• The onsite staff support is amazing for troubleshooting issues.
• They assist with our raise a paddle fundraising.
• They assist with messaging for our attendees before and during the event.
• They assist with Auction close out at the end of the event.

• 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.

Incentivized

• OneCause could improve their messaging - the fact that custom emails are not as easy as custom texts can be frustrating. I wish all the automated messages were possible over email as most of our professionals that we work with, they prefer email over a text.
• OneCause could make it easier to copy and paste text into site design or other features. Having to re-type out the text is a time-suck, when it would be easier to adjust the text to the font default without having to type it in the HTML editor on it's own.
• PLEASE make it easier to resend the "assign tickets email". The fact that the main way to do that is when you first enter them into OneCause, but then are not able to resend that message to ticket owners at a later date makes it difficult for them to find what they need when they are ready to assign their tickets.

Incentivized

We are a very small non-profit and are actually looking to use another service just to cut costs, but we may not stay with them and will coming running back to OneCause if we can't make the other option work! The ONLY reason to move would be to reduce the over-head cost of the platform.

Incentivized

Use of the software is generally fine, but the setup and implementation are not always intuitive. Though the knowledgebase is robust and covers a lot of areas (and the support team is pleasant and knowledgeable), the event setup process (particularly when setting up payment and bank information) can be a bit cumbersome and should really be streamlined

Incentivized

Support staff is there to help out and it is nice knowing there are available on event day as well

Incentivized

This feature is amazing. Nice to have reports immediately when the event (auction) is over

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Shelbe was my point person and she was available for me at absolutely anytime. No question was stupid or obvious in her eyes and she always gave me the exact responses and resources I needed to succeed. Could not be more complimentary of this software! Just have to convince my team to use it for more areas now!

Incentivized

We hired OneCause to guide us through our first event after we signed up with them. The staff they sent were pros. They gave us professional guidance and support. Once we had been shown the ropes, we knew we could take the reins and confidently run our next event

Incentivized

Very thorough and nice to have a refresher when needed. Nice to see when I haven't used in a little while and refresh my mind how to update.

Incentivized

I don't know if my insights are key but I can say that implementation was done in-house without any outside support for the solution. The staff influencing the solution had very little technical expertise and ability as well which showed just how easily the software was to implement.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We looked at Auctria and GiveSmart, though we didn't go into great detail with either. We ultimately selected OneCause based on the recommendation of another local school that used it for its auction software. The customer service and support as we made this decision and transition was a confirmation for us.

Incentivized

The product has everything I need

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• It has had an extremely positive impact on our Online Auction, with more items available, and the user-friendly platform makes our donors bid more.
• It has elevated our events with the easy check in features to keep the event smoth.
• It has saved so much time and stress with the customer service support accessibility and knowledge.

Incentivized