Item: Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT
Rating: 1
Author: Lisa Norton

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I manage our Raiser's Edge database. We transitioned to Raiser's Edge in 2004, then switched to RE NXT in 2017, to allow us to integrate the Online Express giving forms into our website. Because NXT was still in the development phase (and still is today) we only use the database view, rather than the new sleeker NXT interface. While that interface looks clean and more modern, it is not at all intuitive and does not integrate well with the database view. The benefit of switching for us has been the cloud hosting, allowing for easier use of the software by employees working remotely, and having updates installed automatically. We use the product for gift entry, reporting, data management, tribute reporting, financial reports, and exporting .CSV files to merge TY letters in Word (which no longer integrates with Raiser's Edge).

Pros and Cons

Allowing users to connect remotely

Email lists and queries created in database view are not available in NXT web view.
Service is unreliable with frequent outages, slowness/lag
Inability to add calendar appointments to event registration emails for virtual events, even after two years of the pandemic
NXT web view queries do not allow for as sophisticated selection criteria
Web view not intuitive, even after using database view for over a decade
Unable to edit letters merged in web view (PDFs cannot be personalized)
Letters in database view must be exported and processed in cumbersome Word merge files which allows for minimal formatting on templates

Return on Investment

Increase in online giving

Data Intelligence

Database views offer many ways to customize lists which can be helpful in selecting donors for mailings. We have not purchased the add-on analytics functions. We use the NCOA function to update our mailing lists, but many of the other analytics functions seem to be an upcharge.

Training Types Used

Online Training
In-Person Training

Online Training

Training was not specific enough to our organization's needs and did not reflect the actual complexity of real-life development scenarios. It was not thorough enough in this way.

Key Insights

Do you think Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT delivers good value for the price?

Are you happy with Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT's feature set?

Did Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT live up to sales and marketing promises?

Did implementation of Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT again?

Likelihood to Recommend

NXT seems like it would be useful for gift officers in the field who need to look up constituent records while on the go, but it has many limitations otherwise -- including not reporting as accurately in web view as in database view. For the expense, and based on Blackbaud's extensive experience, they could have created a perfect database for fundraisers. However, it seems like investments are made in sales and acquisitions, rather than fixing the shortcomings in the software or improving gaps.

Not reaching its potential

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT