Raiser's Edge is very similar to other database programs I've worked with and I wouldn't say it is better or worse. I wasn't involved with our organization's selection of Raiser's Edge, but I believe this decision was made because it is a popular tool with good customer …
Raiser's Edge is probably the highest functioning database that I've used and it has many positive qualities. I think overall it is a very useful and accurate product, though it could use several updates that other, newer CMS and databases have already instituted.
We have used several of Blackbaud’s products and have found Raiser’s Edge NXT to ultimately be the best option for our organization. Upgrading to Blackbaud’s raisers Edge from our previous constituent management database was a huge improvement for our entire organization and …
Raisers Edge was robust enough to be able to handle all of our data. It also helped that they came out with NXT, the web-based version to all our Major Gift Officers to work on the road. They used to have to keep personal notes and enter them when they were back in the office, …
I used Advance at another institution before my arrival at UCA. I would easily rate The Raisers Edge higher than Advance. However, the prior institution may have updated the CRM to better compete with The Raisers Edge. Yet, I have found The Raisers Edge to be more user-friendly …
Raiser's Edge is the Cadillac of fundraising software. I really don't believe it can be beat. It is a heavy database, but I think it is still fairly intuitive to navigate. There is a web view (NXT), which is an expensive add-on, but looks much nicer (though has limited …
Blackbaud CRM is an enterprise solution that adds more features, better reporting using the SSRS platform, and is web-based vs thin client. Salesforce, meanwhile, is a robust application where expanding the functionality is done via configurations vs full code, while allowing …
Our university already was using Raisers Edge before I started here five years ago. However, I have used Kindful in the past and thought their system was more user-friendly.
We made a transition to Raisers Edge from Donor drive 6 years ago and considered a Salesforce solution at the time. We found RE to be the most suitable for our overall needs.
Raiser’s Edge is by far the most powerful tool in its price range. With constant development, partners with plug-in options and multiple consultant alternatives, there is nothing else available in the same price range. It has good support, customer success managers to aid you …
I've used GiftMakerPro and Salesforce, and two custom built databases. Raisers Edge is by far the most sophisticated. Salesforce was far less expensive, and though it didn't provide as much space for complexity, it was well suited to small offices. GiftMakerPro was better at …
Raisers Edge was the system used when I started at the organization. We recently explored other software solutions to allow the entire institution (gift shop, cafe, guest services, hospitality, education) to use the same database, but none of the alternatives had the same kind …
The Raisers Edge stores information in a more organized fashion and prompts you to do action items. The Raisers Edge is also much more friendly to outputting data and easily searchable.
Senior Communications Associate for Public Affairs and Development
Chose Raiser's Edge
Salesforce has a more modern feel and I felt that it was easier to perform functions beyond the basics, such as running reports for analysis, on Salesforce. But The Raisers Edge already existed at my company and given that I only needed it for basic functions and did not need …
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 …
I have extensively evaluated Salesforce and I think RE is a dinosaur comparatively. It just doesn't have the customizations available to make it work as seamlessly as Salesforce.
I have used Banner, Colleague, and more DIY solutions like FileMakerPro and Excel as databases. While I did not personally selected RE as the database for my organization, compared to other database solutions that I have used it is exceptionally functional and user-friendly. …
Tessitura has a fully integrated ticketing system and the ability to be notified when a donor walks into your space. It is much better at predicting donor behavior because it is able to track full engagement with your organization not just donor-specific engagement such as …
Raiser's Edge is far superior to eTapestry in terms of queries, reporting, depth of data, analytics, and ease of use. eTapestry is a great product for small shops but our organization simply out grew it as our need to enhance our fundraising efforts, increase the channels …
Raisers Edge is outstanding for storing and reporting on constituent data and communications. There are many options for creating methods of tracking by different information included and also for creating personalized tracking methods.
Raisers Edge is not very well suited for an organization that also has a gift shop and visitors center. Allowing membership admission and item sales is not practical.
Data posting to Financial Edge (FE) is limited and complicated to understand (took us time to adjust). The posting report does not have enough info: Appeal, campaign and who posted to FE. In genereral, RE/FE integration is not explained by Blackbaud properly, we had to figure out everything on the go.
Volunteer module is a bit cumbersome; some fields have duplicate fields in the event module; the identical information ends up being recorded in two different places.
There are many CRM tools on the market however Raisers Edge especially with NXT offers everything you need in one database. It’s a little pricey however Blackbaud support is super helpful and they offer so many tools and add ins.
it does lots of things well (prospect tracking and event management), some things FANTASTIC (gift records and donations and relationships). It is rigid enough for the database administrator to maintain good clean data, but flexible enought for customization across organizations so specific data can be kept as needed for YOUR specific organization needs.
Since the software is expensive to use, only so many people are able to active users at once. There are times when I may have to wait or ask another user to log out so that I may log in.
For most users, only chat support is available. There is a phone number, but it is very labor-intensive to get someone on the phone, and the chat does not include an easy way to screen share. Those sessions need to be scheduled in advance and almost begged for; the chat line always has a long wait time, and sometimes it seems their support personnel is chatting with more than one client at a time.
It's critically important to consider where you are taking your fundraising efforts and strategy, and to collaborate closely with other departments who will also use RE. I would strongly recommend that you investigate best practices -both from Blackbaud (theory) and with other organizations (practice) - to create a user manual and guide for RE within your organization
Salesforce has a more modern feel and I felt that it was easier to perform functions beyond the basics, such as running reports for analysis, on Salesforce. But The Raisers Edge already existed at my company and given that I only needed it for basic functions and did not need much training to do those, I decided to use The Raisers Edge.
It takes longer than necessary to do things so that makes it cost more staff time to complete the work we need. One example is with online gifts since you can't import these into a batch we have to manually add all of the online gifts which is time consuming.