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Blackbaud/Convio daily user
Updated April 08, 2015

Blackbaud/Convio daily user

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Convio Luminate

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud CRM

Almost our entire organization uses Blackbaud CRM to manage our participant database for our clients' fundraising events, including event registration (teamraiser), donations, email campaigns and websites (PageBuilder). It is a one-stop shop for event fundraising and communications.
  • It integrates your database, allowing you to collect registrations and donations online, and then build email communications and websites that integrate with those contacts, so you don't have to import/export between tools.
  • It also provides tools for your participants, so they can customize their experience with your website and your communications, manage their own fundraising and participation, and conduct their own peer-to-peer fundraising efforts.
  • Blackbaud's responsiveness to their clients reporting issues with their CRM is notoriously delayed. It often takes them years to address bugs, and if the issues reported are just "nice to haves" and non-urgent, they often never get addressed.
  • The system has required significant customization on our end to make it work for us. While we've had clients who are smaller organizations use it right out of the box, if you are a larger organization with more specific needs, you're going to need a consultant or a IT department to help you customize the system.
  • The help feature built into the system is not very helpful and often outdated, with information that doesn't reflect the way the system currently operates. (They are also doing updates but not updating the help.) The online trainings that Blackbaud offers are pretty superficial and often don't speak to the way an organization uses the system. I've trained myself to use the system, through trial, error and explore, and our organizations trains all of our employees and clients on Blackbaud ourselves. Blackbaud does not provide that.
  • We have seen Blackbaud CRM (specifically Convio) provide increased efficiency for our clients in managing their participant database, and communicating with participants and leads.
It's very useful for a non-profit organization with a fundraising event (or events, or a series). When choosing which modules to purchase, consider whether you will be using it for your entire operations (registration, donation, eCommunication, website). It doesn't fully integrate with social media yet, but there are many consultants and other organizations that will provide that customization.

Using Blackbaud CRM

Blackbaud addressed most all of the angles for event fundraising, and there are few other options that have all of those pieces.

Blackbaud CRM Implementation