Ruminate about Luminate
Updated May 22, 2018
Ruminate about Luminate
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- Luminate Online
- Luminate TeamRaiser
Overall Satisfaction with Luminate
We use Luminate for all our foundation fundraising. From donation forms to TeamRaiser to eCommerce, we are using Luminate across our foundation and the hospital we support. Luminate makes it easy for us to accept donations and is starting to accept more payment methods. We just implemented PayPal in the last year and will be implementing Apple Pay and Visa Checkout this year. We use the eCommerce module to handle all of our event registrations and ticket purchases. We use TeamRaiser for our 5Ks and peer-to-peer always up fundraising events. Additionally, we use the Email module extensively. It is easy to setup an e-mail to send, note, we hand-code 95% of our e-mails. The statistics you get are the main ones that you would need to make decisions going forward. It is easy to setup an A/B test or a 10/10/80 test.
Pros
- The donation forms are easy to set up to start collecting donations instantly.
- Getting an e-mail out the door is fairly straightforward.
- The TeamRaiser module is great for fundraising for big events with multiple registration levels and allowing participants to fundraise on your behalf.
- Constituent management is fairly easy.
Cons
- Reporting needs some work, this is being worked on in their new BETA program.
- The eCommerce module needs some work. It would be great to have more ability to customize parts of it without having to rewrite the code.
- The Events module could use some improvements as well.
- The Personal Fundraising module needs a lot of work. It really cannot work as needed right now. We started using TeamRaiser to handle this, but it could be great.
Before I was hired here, Benefactor was used. The decision was made to change from that because it could not handle our needs. Luminate had the most options and was a leader in the fundraising field. It has definitely helped us grow our fundraising and has all the modules in one spot. This saves us from having to have disparate systems and getting all the data into one database. In using Luminate and RE, we only have to worry about two systems working together instead of five.
Using Luminate
30 - Marketing, IS, event managers, different departments of the hospital depending on if they are sending e-mails
5 - You need a technical background to do the heavy lifting. For the CMS you need basic computer skills
- Email
- TeamRaiser
- Donation Forms
- Event websites
- We use API donation forms and surveys that gives us total control of page layouts.
- We have turned the eCommerce piece into a ticketed events operation.
- We have customized TeamRaiser to meet our needs
- Advocacy. This is growing in today’s day and age and we will most likely add this module.
- Events. I added this module about two years ago, but it wasn’t robust enough to do what we needed. We updated how Luminate talks to Raiders Edge and we can now manipulate the Events module
- To do what we need. This will happen in the fall of 2018.
- We definitely make money, but the fees and contract costs are getting higher every year.
Evaluating Luminate and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Existing Relationship with the Vendor
We didn’t have an online fundraising software at the time. This was the most recommended one when we first implemented it.
There isn’t a lot of competition as Blackbaud buys any competition. So it’s hard to evaluate or even have the opportunity to evaluate other options.
Luminate Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Kept well informed Immediate help available Quick Initial Response | Poor followup Problems left unsolved Support doesn't seem to care |
Not Sure - I think support is included in our contract
Yes - Sometimes yes, but more often than not, it is not fixed.
The one time was when I was implementing PayPal as a payment method. Of course I was dealing with someone not from he support team. The rep was very helpful and responsive. She helped me work through my questions and it has been working great since implementation. The different teams of Blackbaud all operate differently with some being better than others.
Using Luminate
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Sending an email
- Creating an out-of-the-box donation form.
- Setting up an eCommerce store
- Setting up TeamRaiser
No - They don’t have their adm piece mobile friendly. They have some modules that are mobile friendly after you publish them. Pagebuilder pages, donation forms, parts of eCommerce e piece. But it has a long way to go.
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