Item: Blackbaud eTapestry
Rating: 6
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Blackbaud eTapestry within our development department as a means of storing donor data, tracking income from individuals (donations, recurring gifts; pledges), foundations (grants), and licensing fees. We reference our data in Blackbaud eTapestry extremely frequently - to draw financial reports for accounting, to develop mailing lists/invite lists, to draft acknowledgment letters, etc. Blackbaud eTapestry has been helpful as a donor management database for us mostly.

Pros and Cons

Donor management
Reports

Not aesthetically pleasing or easy to use giving pages
No customizable tagging features
Lack of integrations

Most Important Features

Donor info management
Report making

Return on Investment

Spending too much time with manual tasks
Decent database for storing and calling forth donor data
Spending more money on other applications to cover for the lack of in-house capabilities

Alternatives Considered

Raiser's Edge, Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT and Bloomerang

Blackbaud eTapestry is easier to use than the old Raiser's Edge - it is more intuitive and modern in its front end and back end. Aside from Bloomerang's extensive donor analytics features and a wide array of integrations, I would say the donor management capabilities are fairly similar - however, Blackbaud eTapestry feels like the slightly outdated solution for non-profit CRM and fundraising needs. I do feel like Raiser's Edge NXT is a huge upgrade to Blackbaud eTapestry - not a perfect solution to all our department needs, but you get the same great interface with more advanced capabilities like customized tagging, analytical data points, better looking giving pages, grants management, automated communication, task tracking, etc. Blackbaud eTapestry served us well for a while, but we have outgrown it. Off to RENXT, we go!

Key Insights

Do you think Blackbaud eTapestry delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Blackbaud eTapestry's feature set?

Did Blackbaud eTapestry live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Blackbaud eTapestry go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Blackbaud eTapestry again?

Other Software Used

Mailchimp, Google Sheets, Box

Likelihood to Recommend

Blackbaud eTapestry is definitely better suited for small and budding organizations. It is a solid CRM for donor management and report pulling, but in terms of fundraising help (giving pages), integration with other platforms (income processing, email marketing, event management), and customizable features (like tagging, analytical information, etc.), it is lacking. This is not for organizations looking for totally centralized software. It is, however, great for those who are looking for their first CRM to help with keeping donor information organized and easily accessible.

Blackbaud eTapestry is a great starter CRM for small non-profit orgs

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud eTapestry