Blackbaud eTapestry, your detailed overview of the good, the bad and the ugly.
January 24, 2024
Blackbaud eTapestry, your detailed overview of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud eTapestry
We use Blackbaud eTapestry in our day to day fundRaising activities. We use it to store supporter information, document donations, run queries and reports, compose and send communications and to make bank deposits. This software system supports all of our fundRaising needs in one software system.
Blackbaud eTapestry is very easy to use and is user friendly. Credit card transactions can be made seamlessly. Recording data has never been easier!
The program is also fully customizable for data fields. If you have volunteers, different affiliates, personal information or anything in particular you want to track, you can!
Blackbaud eTapestry is very easy to use and is user friendly. Credit card transactions can be made seamlessly. Recording data has never been easier!
The program is also fully customizable for data fields. If you have volunteers, different affiliates, personal information or anything in particular you want to track, you can!
- Easy of use for data entry
- Simple to create queries and compound queries
- Reports are fully customizable and can be run on or off hours
- Auto processing of credit cards
- Data fields are easy to populate with donor information
- Importing and exporting of information including deposits
- Integration with QuickBooks
- Acknowledgement letter creation and storage
- Would like to see a better integration with website forms. At this time, they are not as customizable as one would like.
- Mobile giving needs to be a priority to be added seamlessly.
- Accuracy of the email and social media finder is subpar.
- Wealth screening cannot be trusted. Could be for the wrong person with the same name.
- Price point for the database itself is high for small organizations and has dramatic increases.
- Credit card and processing costs and the payment enablement fee of $600 a year is unacceptable.
- With the rising costs of the program, Blackbaud eTapestry has driven our ROI down. In 2024, we had a 62% increase in the cost of the software alone. In 2021 and 2022, our fundRaising was down, so with a lower revenue stream and extensively increasing costs, Blackbaud eTapestry may not be your best choice.
- The positive impact is that the program is simple to use and to learn how to operate the program is easy. Data entry is a breeze and so is reporting. We love these features.
- We do not use the email finder service and had to remove and manually enter the emails and social media names we gather from our constituents. These services did not return the accurate emails or social profile names, therefore it cost us more time to remove them and identify the appropriate ones.
- Direct integration with Blackbaud Merchant Services and the ease of exporting to QuickBooks is a plus for our small organization.
- During budget time it took more than three months to get an accurate quote for renewing the software (and a quote that was not someone else). The customer service and account management lacked communication, lacked an understanding of who they were communicating with and has not made a positive impact on our organization.
We choose Blackbaud eTapestry ten years ago because some of the above did not exist or they did not have the features such as credit card integration and direct email. We also liked the ease of use. To create queries and to run reports are easy and to create and run acknowledgements are simple. Because of technological changes in the social environment, we do have to look at other programs. Today, we are reconsidering other software systems because other programs have integrated mobile and text giving, estate and will planning tools that are more extensive than Blackbaud eTapestry and better website integration.
Do you think Blackbaud eTapestry delivers good value for the price?
No
Are you happy with Blackbaud eTapestry's feature set?
Yes
Did Blackbaud eTapestry live up to sales and marketing promises?
No
Did implementation of Blackbaud eTapestry go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Blackbaud eTapestry again?
Yes
Blackbaud eTapestry Feature Ratings
Using Blackbaud eTapestry
4 - Our organization uses Blackbaud eTapestry for data entry, data management, marketing and communications and information technologies. The software is used on a daily basis for donor management and reporting. Other functions used are embedded links for the donor forms, direct integration with other software products like QuickBooks and Microsoft Office. We also run regular reports for other areas including support services, employee data, special occasions for the constituents, and mail services.
2 - As the manager of Blackbaud eTapestry, having a strong technical background in database configuration is important, especially if you are creating customizable fields to be used as it relates to your organization. As for the data side, Blackbaud eTapestry is very easy to use for data entry, queries and reporting. Basic computer skills are acceptable for data entry as the program is user friendly with the fields to enter information into.
- Donor data
- Donation entry
- Communications
- Queries
- Reporting
- Seamless credit card processing
- Reconciliation
- We have worked with Blackbaud eTapestry to create a disbursement option in the transactions to account for exchange rates of other countries once a check clears at the bank.
- Moves management tracking of a donors life
- Deceased record management
- Mobile giving if its created
- Direct website management
Blackbaud eTapestry Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
None | Slow Resolution Poor followup Problems left unsolved Not kept informed Escalation required Difficult to get immediate help Need to explain problems multiple times Support doesn't seem to care Slow Initial Response |
I am not sure, I am guessing yes, but unaware of what premium support means. With significant increases annually, I would guess we pay for support, but we definitely do not receive the support we deserve and we, as an organization, have been very generous with our time to Blackbaud eTapestry... especially in working with potential customers and networking.
Yes - Years ago, yes and it was handled very well and fast. Today I would not trust that it would garner attention.
We have one person who has been fantastic to work with and because of this fabulous experience, [S... D...] should be recognized. She works with me on a referral basis for potential clients and is very responsive, kind and compassionate. She listens and provides us feedback on the progress of the potential client. We truly appreciate her. To reference a particular instance would be tough because she provides a high level of service every time we speak.
Using Blackbaud eTapestry
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Data entry
- Locale of the data
- Query development and execution
- Reporting
- Deposits
- Integration with QuickBooks
- Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) for credit card processing is easy
- The NCOA Updates - accuracy
- Social Media Finder - accuracy
- Email Finder - accuracy
- Wealth Ratings - accuracy
Yes - Great. Almost identical to the full desktop version. It is a bit compact and organized a little differently, but easy to use.