Blackbaud eTapestry

We find Blackbaud eTapestry to be easy to use is many ways including data entry, query development and execution, and reporting. My assistant, who is not tech savy has no issues running the program and does so on a daily basis. The tabs make it easy to see where data needs to go and what data goes there. The fields are appropriately marked and many can be customized. We find the program to be very flexible and appropriate for our size organization.

This product is fairly intuitive, and as I've mentioned previously, it contains relevant information that all members on the team can access to push forward in their interactions with their constituents. It has helped greatly in our reporting and allowing us easy access to the information that we need most.

eTapestry (and Blackbaud) is very user friendly and there are many different ways to find something if you don't know where to look. The after sales support is one of the better support teams I've dealt with in six years of working in the fundraising field.

I gave eTapestry this rating because I didn't have any major complaints or concerns. All the ways that eTapestry can improve are really minor, really just adding small features to donation and donor tracking. It has the most room for improvement in its email design. It could be a lot more flexible with more options.

eTapestry was the first donor database I had ever used and always found it to be much easier to use and administer than the databases I was used to (patient care and payroll databases). The rare times I can't figure out how to do something, I just hope on the chat and someone from the team pleasantly walks me through the process. If it's something that database is incapable of doing, they encourage me to log my suggestion in the idea bank so it can be considered for enhancements. On top of that, the regular training provided allows you to continue building your skills within the database.

Once you are trained on the data entry side it is fine for basic functionality. The reporting and queries however are time consuming and not intuitive.

It's usable and very convenient, but not always intuitive. For example, we had difficulties figuring out how to pull a list of donors from a specific 12-month period. There were many settings and options, so it was very trial and error.

Some of the queries and reports are not as intuitive as I would like to see them. DIY forms also require a higher level of knowledge.

Information in past question

Overall, Blackbaud e-Tapestry is easy to use daily, but as tasks become more complex, the queries/reports are not set-up to be efficient to process.

I don't find the program that intuitive for my needs.

Intuitive user experience. Have very much appreciated that.

Users without database experience have difficulties with this system.

It's not a very intuitive system and lacks some basics of computer technology, e.g. autosave while producing a newsletter. Running reports is difficult to learn, but once you have the template it's nice that it can be saved. Sometimes when I call for support I feel like I'm trying to be convinced about how great the system is, or being sold on the next level up, but I just need answers to today's questions.

It is difficult to use reporting which is how I use fundraising. We are in the process of looking for a new CRM because of this

eTap is intuitive but also customizable. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who has no clue how to manage a database.

Once you have extensive training and grasp, then it's easier.
Once I had the email of a customer service rep (from taking the training webinars) it made a huge difference to have someone to turn to with any questions.
ETAP had many features regarding the emailing we didn't use, as it was easier with Mailchimp.

ETAP is a good CRM, but not as good with emailing and graphics.

eTapestry is a fairly easy platform to use and there are plenty of valuable documents available in Blackbaud that will allow any user to become familiar and comfortable with applying this software to your organization. Most processes are easy to use and because there are so many organizations that use eTapestry there is no shortage of links online that can steer you in the right direction.

It took me almost five years to become comfortable with the system, and I still am not proficient. I have fewer staff even comfortable with it. To have extensive training needed to accompany software that is vital to the industry is not good marketing or practice. The results, once mastered, are great - but the learning curve is steep!!!

Personas are very confusing and clunky; queries and reports make getting information out of the system way harder than it needs to be.

It is not that user friendly. It is hard to learn. If you don't know anything about databases, there isn't enough basic information to get started. Once you are familiar with it, there aren't training videos to learn more complicated tasks.

I use it every day and the software is easy to navigate. Doing queries/reports is easy. Click and drag features make using the Communications portion of the platform easy.

There is a big learning curve in eTapestry's usability. I find that eTapestry isn't intuitive and uses it's own language that can make it difficult to grasp.

So easy to use.

Basic functions are easily usable. For the more complex tasks I usually reach out to eTapestry's support.