Luminate Online Review
Updated May 31, 2018

Luminate Online Review

Jennifer Mejia, MPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • Luminate Online

Overall Satisfaction with Luminate

Luminate Online is our main fundraising platform used for sending email communications, donation forms and campaign landing pages, as well as event registrations.
  • Luminate Online is great at keeping forms simple. You are able to make email sign-ups really easy for constituents. They can also manage their email preferences very easily.
  • Segmentation is also a strength. Luminate Online allows organizations to segment their constituents into groups or interests, making it easier to send targeted communications.
  • Raiser's Edge integration is also a big plus. Luminate Online is able to "talk" to Raiser's Edge to ensure that constituent records are up to date with their online giving. Raiser's Edge is also able to send information back to Luminate Online to make sure that any changes that are made in Raisers Edge are reflected on the record in Luminate Online.
  • Luminate Online's Raiser's Edge integration can still use further development. Specifically, allowing donation form comment/notes to be mapped into fields in Raiser's Edge for donors to add any notes regarding such gifts.
Luminate Online allows organizations to have a website hosted through any chosen platform and hosting service without affecting your donation forms, emailing platform, etc. Through Luminate Online, you can have a, say WordPress hosted site, while maintaining donation/event registration forms' integration with Raiser's Edge. NetCommunity was the all-in-one kind of platform. It was your website, email communications and donation/registration. It did not allow organizations the freedom that is sometimes needed to enhance their websites and other online marketing efforts. Metric reports were very limiting. We chose to go with Luminate Online because we wanted a website that was independent from our "transactional" pages allowing us to have freedom with design and functionality. We also wanted a product that fully integrated with Raiser's Edge.
Luminate Online is not appropriate with volunteer constituents. It is great for basic donation forms and event registrations.

Using Luminate

2 - Marketing and Database Management
1 - Digital marketing and html/css coding experience.
  • Online Donations
  • Email Marketing
  • Event Registration
  • Fundraising Appeal Landing Pages
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising
  • To create landing pages for fundraising appeals that aesthetically match the direct mail piece.
  • Further flush out peer-to-peer fundraising
We have already renewed and will most likely continue to do so years to come.
  • Higher conversion rates
  • Increased metrics
  • Higher newsletter sign ups

Evaluating Luminate and Competitors

Yes - NetSolutions
  • Product Features
  • Existing Relationship with the Vendor
We wanted to have a website that was customized using WordPress but not lose integration into Raiser's Edge when it came to email communications, event registrations and online donations.

Luminate Support

They are very responsive. They have a chat feature and the support person does try to help. When the issue requires more technical assistance, they create a case for you and will follow up with the case.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
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

Using Luminate

ProsCons
Like to use
Easy to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Feel confident using
Familiar
Unnecessarily complex
  • Donation form creation
  • HTML emails
  • Event Registrations
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising
  • landing pages for campaigns