Blackbaud Grantmaking Review
Updated June 19, 2018
Blackbaud Grantmaking Review
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online)
Used by all staff. It is a tool that helps us manage our grantmaking activities.
- Grant application information
- Grant review and approval process
- Grant monitoring
- Grant payments
- Track outcomes
- Document manager
- Contact management
- Document manager needs folder structure
- You must check out a document to update and then re-post the document to the document manager when completed. Often you mail merge a document using Blackbaud Grantmaking, but to tweak it you need to save it elsewhere and the upload to the document manager.
- There is no notification given if 2 users are updating the same record except when the 2nd user tries to save their work.
- Portal for grant seekers could be more user friendly.
- Connecting the Blackbaud Grantmaking email to Outlook would help. Blackbaud has made improvements in this area. If I send an email from Blackbaud Grantmaking it does not show up in my Outlook sent messages.
- ROI has been positive, the cost has been offset by less staff time needed during the review process as well as better documentation and reporting options.
- Our process flow has improved with the dashboards. As one staff member finishes an activity the dashboard provides a vehicle to move it to the next staff person.
- Gifts Classic
Blackbaud Grantmaking is much easier to use and manage than Gifts Classic or Gifts Alta.
Using Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online)
1 - Grants Manager/CFO
- Efficiency, saves time for program staff, grantees, grant seeker
- Using technology instead of people to complete a task.
Evaluating Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online) and Competitors
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Existing Relationship with the Vendor
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
Long standing established grant management solution expected to continue in this space for a long time. Blackbaud Grantmaking understands the needs of their customers. Lots of peers to network/discuss usage of system.
Would not change.
Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online) Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - Changed process by making it much easier for Program Directors to document reviews and created dashboards to make it easier for them to use.
- No issues encountered during implementation.
Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online) Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - One bug has not been corrected yet. The grant amount field does not have commas when pushing a progress report form to grantee in the online portal. .
Blackbaud went beyond the scope of services when we transferred from Gifts Alta to Blackbaud Grantmaking. The Team assigned to us was amazing.
Using Blackbaud Grantmaking (formerly GIFTS Online)
| 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 |
- Dashboards are very easy to use.
- Grant payments/reporting
- Approval process
- Online applications and requirements can be cumbersome. Some of this may be due to frequency of designing new forms.
- Different login for templates
- Document manager can become cumbersome. Adding folders to document manager would be useful.
Yes, but I don't use it