Blackbaud CRM Reviews

We previously used Raiser's Edge NXT before switching to Blackbaud CRM. Raiser's Edge was helpful, but it was strictly from a fundraising standpoint. As a higher education institution, we needed the platform to do so much more than just organize fundraising information. We needed to keep educational records, interaction, event attendance, and so much more. Blackbaud CRM allowed us to utilize a CRM system while keeping a strong focus on fundraising information and data. I was not part of the team that selected Blackbaud CRM, but it has been extremely transformational in our ability to maintain constituent records.

I've used Salesforce, which is not good for donor management. I've used e-tapestry which has major limitations as well. However, for a basic user experience, this is a good program.

Blackbaud is the powerhouse and able to handle a large number of donor files. It is not difficult to learn if you take the time to utilize the tutorials. The conversion team was amazing as we worked through the transition.

Blackbaud is a big name brand, that has a lot of options for your organization. Since it has different layers, you have the ability to seek support from all of those layers whenever. There are organizations all around the world, so you have the ability to join support groups where you can find other organizations that are dealing with similar issues or things to figure out.

I was given Blackbaud when I started, and we ultimately switched to Classy because of their support, functionality, and flexibility in making new campaigns and pages.

Blackbaud CRM is a great product! We chose this CRM product because it was sold as being fully supported and easy to use. It overshadows some of the smaller CRM products with its vast amount of features. It was a hard choice between this or Salesforce. However, Blackbaud is better suited for the education industry.

Because we have Blackbaud, using their event module makes database updating and integration much easier that outside products. It is nice to be able to see the full event in one place (guests/seating/donations/tickets/meal choice...) rather than going from database to database to find the info or trying to import from one system to another.

While Salesforce for Nonprofits is great, Blackbaud CRM is built from the bones up for nonprofits. It doesn't borrow from sales-model CRMs yet incorporates many/most of the great features in a standard CRM.

Blackbaud CRM is a great product, especially when fully optimized, implemented, and supported. Its many features often dwarf some of the smaller CRM offerings on the market. That said it is a complex product requiring a great deal of training in some situations and not all organizations may fully utilize its vast features.

I didn't select Blackbaud CRM, it was chosen for us by our National organization. I would not choose Blackbaud if it was my choice. It's outdated and not user friendly.

In comparing Blackbaud CRM to Raiser's Edge, there is more room to configure, customize and seems more refined. In terms of more refined, I am referring to the user interface, the capturing of data, ability to perform simple or complex marketing processes.

With Blackbaud you are getting an industry specific solution. Other products can be molded and adapted to fit into a non-profit environment. However, the Blackbaud platform is made for this environment right out of the box. You are paying more than some of these other competing products, but your organization will be spending a lot more time trying to adapt it and integrate with other systems.

I have never used similar products, but I have used Basecamp for a CRM tool. Basecamp is super limiting compared to Blackbaud. They truly do not compare, as the size limitation of Basecamp is a fraction of BB's capacity.

eTapestry was the database in use when my boss and I came on board. We did evaluations in terms of price and capabilites and it wasn't worth it to switch. Many other databases were much more expensive, did not offer similar services, and were not as user-friendly. The Blackbaud team did a lot to help us with customization and cleaning up the database along the way. Additionally, training videos and online help systems really sold us on keeping the system.

They were about the same, with the same pros and cons.

This would really be like comparing apples and oranges. With the exception of Convio, the other platforms are more Enterprise focused where Convio was Non Profit focused. Silverpop & ExactTarget are going to be best in class at what they do just because of the resources they have. This does not mean that you can't accomplish the same with Blackbaud.

This system has been in place for awhile and we haven't had the opportunity to look at others yet. It was originally selected for price point and smaller size of our organization.

It is more difficult to run reports and extract the information you are looking for. They are a very large company who has no concept of customer service.

I found the Blackbaud database to simply be more comprehensive and easier to manipulate than the others. The user friendliness of the modules and availability of information in the Blackbaud system was just better.

Blackbaud CRM was much more focused on fundraising and was more customizable. Other products considered were often not 'out of the box' in terms of functionality, however much design was needed prior to implementation.

Honestly I have moved to Salesforce. Salesforce has a stronger user group community, less expensive, more innovation with the appexchange.com and because many corporations use Salesforce, it is pretty easy to get volunteers to support your efforts.