Raiser's Edge

Enough detail and flexibility to record varied and complete information.

The ability to extract data via query and export.

Admin abilities to quickly change, add, or delete information.

Online Express has a dated feel when used for email and gift forms, however, it has more flexibility than Raiser's Edge NXT so although that looks better, it is not an alternative.

Differences in how information is stored in Raiser's Edge database view vs. Raiser's Edge NXT lead to inconsistencies.

This is not the easiest database for new users to learn with.

Raiser's Edge is good in allowing detailed categorizations for donations - Funds/Campaigns/Appeals/Packages

Raiser's Edge has good query functioning and is helpful in pulling lists and segments of constituents and donations

The variety of detail across sections (Gifts/Bios/Actions) is helpful for recording and archiving constituent information

Online Express is continuously problematic, despite repeated consultations with RE staff. It overwrites constituent information.

The house-holding element of RE produces issues when both spouses are active within our organization. It is confusing and messy and allows for duplication of information and efforts.

The lack of a History or Archived information tab also leads to issues, as records can be altered without specific documentation of when/who/why.

Record gifts

Tracking meetings and actions

Tracking event participation

Analysis

Output fields in query

Duplication in querying

Integration with other software

Storage of data for all constituents with access for remote employees.

Communications with constituents via letters, emails, etc.

Reporting on data in the database to provide necessary reports for administration.

Graphics (images) within online express emails

Character limits on gift attributes

Integration with gmail for emails sent to automatically appear as actions in Raisers Edge.

You can use Raiser's Edge to track all donations and constituents in an organized way so that you can get reports and queries on fundraising revenues and get constituent data to use for segmenting with your fundraising channels (ie. direct mail or email).

Raiser's Edge uses funds, campaigns and appeals, and other tabs/categories that help to organize all information required for a constituent.

Importing is made easier with tools such as import-o-matic.

Blackbaud customer support is terrible and if anything fails, it takes forever to get anything resolved.

Blackbaud [consistently] increases their fees without warning and charges several times for the same thing. They just added a new charge of $600/year to every client they claim to maintain the cost of keeping gifts in PCI compliance. They already charge $.25 per transaction for the same reason. If you have any issues with charges, you will most likely not get anywhere.

Reporting is not the greatest. You have to be very careful with your queries or you won't get the right information. Canned reports are not easy to use.

Sales tactics are crazy with having a Customer Service representative that is really only there for sales increases and not for customer support.

Blackbaud spends a lot of time making shiny things but doesn't spend a lot of time on improving their actual products and they very often just abandon their solutions and no longer help service them whether you like it or not.

Queries: This is an amazing tool that helps group the donors/gifts that you need to generate reports. I am able to be as general or specific as I want when grouping my info.

Export: This feature allows me to take my group (or query) and output any and all information I want to see on the particular group.

Canned Reports: I love that there are pre-built templates for general reporting areas that I can use and customize without having to re-create the wheel on my own.

Consecutive years giving is one of the biggest challenges in using Raisers Edge. There is no easy way to do this...

The latest version is cloud-based and has unlimited users

Very extensive functionality, almost anything that one could ever want to track, could be traced in The Raisers Edge.

There is a lot of documentation and a robust user community

In the new version, there are two ways to access your data, The Raisers Edge 7 database view and The Raisers Edge nxt, which is browser-based. This means DBAs have to manage two systems whose interfaces are distinctly different

The Raisers Edge 7 handicaps are that it is very old looking and its reporting capabilities are some very old looking and minimally insightful dashboards, exporting into Excel or publishing Crystal Reports thru a very old embedded version

The Raisers Edge nxt handicaps are that the system is not fully built and there is a lot of functionality missing

Easy to navigate.

Intuitive.

Expensive.

Had to bounce between two versions.

Customize the profile view to ensure the most pertinent information is featured first.

The map feature allows us to see where the densest concentrations of our alumni are easy.

We're still waiting on queries to be built that allow us to view membership reports through the web version. As of today, you still have to access the database version for these reports.

The web version can lag occasionally leaving you to wait for data to appear onscreen.

Manage donor records.

Track actions and upcoming actions.

NXT is always getting new features, but there are still some that require you to go to the database view.

Many improvements are happening on the NXT side, but not so many on the database side.

The Prospect information storage is very helpful. We can store proposal and wealth information and keep a history of our steps with each constituent record.

RE is very versatile for all users and the way they think and process information. There are many ways to get the information needed.

I like all the integration services available from Target Analytics a Blackbaud company. We don't have to go outside to get NCOA processed and figure how to get it back in the database.

We have a website which integrates with RE called NetCommunity. This is a Blackbaud product.

I cannot express enough how great I think the customer service is. You can choose to chat with support or find your answers through the knowledge base or go to forums or communities and get the answers or information you are seeking.

Consecutive giving is an area where it is hard to get the information in a timely manner. There are work arounds but this is an area that needs to be addressed because it is a very common and frequent need.

Export the Ratings is a challenge if you only want a specific source. You have to export all of them and then delete the ones you don't want and sometimes they are jumbled up in the export meaning the different sources are not in the same columns.

There are so many fields, almost all of which are options in query, export, and report.

The integration with Crystal Reports is critical. It is very convenient being able to run Crystal Reports directly from Raiser's Edge.

Th batch and mail functions also make gift entry and acknowledgement a breeze!

Query is missing a couple useful options. Most recently, I wished that it included being able to query on whether an address was shared or not.

Export is missing a couple useful options. We rely heavily on relationships, but you can't query or export at a very detailed degree on a relationship's record.

It would be really cool if Crystal Reports could be integrated into the dashboards.

It organizes information about constituents and organizations well.

It allows for complex exporting of information.

Allow for customization or UI and functionality.

More integrations with other SAAS tools.

Database management.

Integration with BBNC.

Not user-friendly.

Query/export are difficult to create.

Records various aspects of constituent involvement with the organization.

Keeps record of all gifts.

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.

Query/export of data.

Integration with Luminate Online.

Providing easy access to constituent information.

Contains all the necessary tools for an organization to manage fundraising efficiently.

Latency in online NXT product.

The user interfaces could be more intuitive.

The costs for additional module and customization are high.

Financial reporting.

Donor records.

Gift batching.

Dated interface.

Reporting is hard to personalize.

Lots of clicking.

Easy to learn: The system is somewhat self-explanatory, but there are so many courses offered online to learn. I learned how to use the system optimally within a few weeks.

Easy to manipulate: The grouping and reporting tools can customize how you present your data. It is very simple.

Great resources: The system has helpful tips and explanations on the screen. You don't have to go far to find a quick answer.

We are hosted, and there are limits to how much data we can put into the database. It can be frustrating at times to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of.

This integrates very well with Microsoft Office products, which for reporting, letter writing and syncing to Outlook calendars sets it apart from many fundraising software options.

The complex architecture means that there are standards built-in for many different types of data one might need to track. Many software options are customizable to each organization, but having many different standard fields means that many organizations are tracking data by the same standard. This also makes it easier to onboard new staff who have prior experience with the software.

The Blackbaud Knowledge base is great, but the user community puts it above the rest. If Raisers Edge is number 1 in anything, the forums are tops. They have a community of active users who share their software policies and processes, but also best business practices for others to adopt. What Blackbaud did is incentivize users to respond, and then organized responses by needs, indexed it for easy searching, and even when I'm not an org. using their software, I still go to their users to seek creative solutions.

Additional modules are not tied to additional Query types. This means if I pay extra so we can have unique records to track each major gift proposal, we can still only group by the people we are soliciting and then report on all of their proposals, rather than being able to target by type or date and so forth.

In places where they are lacking, people have created plug-ins. It would be nice if the function of these plug-ins was then incorporated into future upgrades, but they never are. It often seems as though once someone else solves a Raiser's Edge problem, the company deems the problem solved and pays no more attention to it.

The technical support staff are beginner to intermediate users and it shows. They lack experience using the software at an actual non-profit, they quote from the user guides and often, they are wrong about what the software cannot do. They often say the software can't do it, or they don't have a solution yet, but frequently they are underestimating the software, or don't know how to trick it.

The user guides and support are often experts in Raiser's Edge, but not in the other Blackbaud integrated software, so if you have issues with how one of their solutions (like NetCommunity) speaks/integrates to Raiser's Edge, you can speak to people who are experts in one or the other but not both. So neither are able to solve the problem because neither knows how the other piece works, yet they all work for the same company!

There are huge issues with gift reporting, and if you check out user forums you'll find that regardless of years of complaints, nothing has changed in the software architecture. Issue one is that there is no way to report on soft credits that come from a spouse gift as opposed to an corportate/foundation gift. Two is that there is no way good way to report on split gifts. You can get the data, sort of, and you can somersault in external reporting software like Crystal Reports, but at the end of the day it has never worked well. Three is that the built-in gift reports are extremely limited in the type of data they can display. Fourth is that the built-in analytical reports are limited in how they allow you to target data; for instance, there is a strong desire to be able to report on consistent giving rather than consecutive years giving - and here you encounter issues with the way soft credits are attributed, how the analysis makes no acceptions for one missed year out of 25 giving years, and so forth. Though these things can be built in custom reports, it'd be nice if more of the built-in reports met the needs of the average fundraising office.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Raiser's Edge stems from the customer expectation. It is the top of the line software in non-profits, it is very expensive yet widely used. It is very complex software, and every customer should have staff who are dedicated to managing the software, maintaining and cleaning the data. Three years after converting to RE, many clients find themselves scrambling to hire database managers or outside consultants to clean up the disasterous mess of data scattered, hidden, throughout the database. This seems like a very common occurrence, especially in mid-size to small organizations.

Ease of use: While there is a steep learning curve for database admins, the system is relatively easy for a user who simply wants to look up information on a constituent. The interface is clean and intuitive and the system allows a number of ways to search (partial names, street address, phone, etc).

Reporting: If you put it in to RE, there is a way to get it out. And 95% of the time there is already a canned report created that will give you what you need. If not, you can create your own report in Crystal Reports or use a query and Excel to further manipulate that data.

Support: Don't know how to do something? You've got user manuals, an online knowledge base , an entire Blackbaud Community site, and BB Support to help you out. The annual bbcon is also invaluable for picking up tips and pointers from experts and peers.

Learning Curve: This isn't a database you can become an expert on overnight. If your organization is interested in adopting RE, I definitely recommend training (formal or informal). It will be helpful for your organization to have someone dedicated to RE. I know there are organizations that purchase it and expect to either have everyone be an expert or for one person with an already full plate to take on the DBA functions.

Cost: It's not cheap by any means. I know the price can throw a lot of people but I truly believe that in this case you get what you pay for.

The upsell: I understand Blackbaud is a company but I feel like there is a lot of pressure put on people to upgrade/purchase additional BB products.

Raiser's Edge houses a large variety of data points regarding constituents.

The query and export tools are fairly easy to use.

Great for keeping a long and detailed history of constituents and gifts.

We recently moved to Blackbaud hosting for Raiser's Edge. That has been challenging because we no longer have control over when updates are made. While Blackbaud does communicate these updates, it can be frustrating if the updates break a process.

There are inconsistencies in exports in that some of the fields available in query are not available in export and that can be challenging.

As Raiser's Edge is migrated to NXT, some functionality exists in Raiser's Edge (database view) that does not exist in NXT (webview) and that frustrates our users.

Gift recording: gift tab gives you detailed information about where gift is coming from, why, and if the donor was thanked or not.

Relationship Management: Action/Prospect tabs allow you to record phone conversations, emails, and mailings and integrates with Outlook to set future meetings, solicitations, and grant application and report deadlines.

Query/export: We are able to segment our 100,000+ constituents to send targeted communications.

Interface: the system isn't very 'pretty.' Other databases are more user friendly, but may not be as powerful.

Online support: the online interface is embarrassingly old.

Storing in-depth information and being able to organize it

Exporting data in a way that makes sense for your organization

Easily accessible by all staff members at any time

While the in-depth functions are nice, it can be difficult to maintain that amount of information

The Raisers Edge could improve the issues of duplicates

The Raisers Edge requires in-depth training to be able to be user-friendly

The Raisers Edge makes it easy to quickly look up a name and find out information about that person all in one place.

The Raisers Edge is fairly intuitive for basic functions and does not require much training to get started.

The Raisers Edge allows information tracking for multiple pieces of data about a single constituent or gift, which is helpful for understanding trends and big-picture analyses.

The Raisers Edge feels very outdated and could benefit from a refreshed look and feel.

Running reports is not intuitive and could be made more user-friendly.

Raisers Edge is often slow to run, which can be very frustrating.

Running reports and queries is user friendly and intuitive. It could get complicated to run detailed donor reports however they offer some already created reports you may customize.

Blackbaud support is available daily to assist in screen sharing , reports, queries.

Raisers' dashboard makes it easy to track new donors, lapsed donors and you could customize what you are looking for in the results.

The consecutive year report is pre-made however it’s not always the most accurate with years of giving.

The NXT version consecutive years of giving is sometimes different then the database years.

The dashboard is usually off by a small number as far as donor number accuracy compared to query donor count.