Blackbaud CRM has solved all of our needs!
February 06, 2020
Blackbaud CRM has solved all of our needs!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud CRM
At Florida State University, we currently use Blackbaud CRM across the entire organization. About 7 years ago, we switched from another platform that was very outdated and hard to use. Blackbaud CRM allowed us to add more details about the many constituents we serve, including current students, alumni, and friends of the university. We can track interactions, event attendance, giving history, and even keep notes within each constituent profile. It has helped us immensely as we all work with the same populations in different capacities.
- It is incredibly user-friendly! From the first time I opened a constituent profile, I could easily navigate between tabs and find the information I need in a timely fashion without confusion.
- It allows personalization! Depending on what information is most relevant to me, I can organize the widgets that are shown first. I typically look at the same few pieces of information on every profile, so I don't have to dig for it!
- I love the "Recently Accessed" feature to the left of the main page. It helps me navigate to the last few records I've looked at. However, if I'm doing a fuzzy search for "John Smith" and I click on the wrong one, it'd be great if that search was added to my "recently accessed" list, instead of just the record I clicked on. This would allow me to keep up with which names in the search I've already looked at.
- Query View! I have recently started using queries and they are so helpful. However, they are very difficult to learn and hard to tailor to exactly what I need. The main issue, as a higher education institution, is that a lot of our constituents have multiple pieces of information for categories. For example, if I want to pull a list of alumni who graduated with a degree in Marketing, some alumni may be missing if their primary degree is not Marketing - and some alumni may be repeated.
- Positive: It has helped with the organization of data on our many constituents. Because so many people access the system for different reasons, we are able to keep a ton of information in one spot and allow easy access for all. This has saved so much time! It has also saved staff resources so we don't have a centralized staff that is looking up this information by request.
- Positive: The easy use of the system has made training for new users much easier! Our previous system required in-depth training for new users, and constant upkeep to keep everyone trained. Blackbaud CRM is user-friendly so the training is easy and quick. Users can maintain their quality of use with no need for repeat training. This has lessened the amount of time our training staff spends on training for this platform.
- Salesforce for Higher Ed and Raiser's Edge NXT
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.
Do you think Blackbaud CRM delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Blackbaud CRM's feature set?
Yes
Did Blackbaud CRM live up to sales and marketing promises?
I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process
Did implementation of Blackbaud CRM go as expected?
I wasn't involved with the implementation phase
Would you buy Blackbaud CRM again?
Yes
Blackbaud CRM would be a great tool for larger organizations or higher education institutions with a high quantity of constituents. It is great for organizing a lot of information in a single record. While it would be great for any organization, it may be under-utilized for smaller businesses that don't have repeat customers or constant information streams.
Blackbaud CRM Support
I have not personally had to reach out to Blackbaud CRM Support, because we have a central office that manages the Blackbaud CRM relationship. However, any time I've reached out to our support team, there is nothing they can't figure out by utilizing the support they receive from Blackbaud CRM. I've not had any issues that have gone unresolved, and they can always get things done in a timely fashion.