Item: Blackbaud Luminate Online
Rating: 8
Author: Katy Sorsher Smith

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Luminate Online to host and manage our website, for all our online fundraising and correspondence with donors and readers. The system is used mainly by our media department, which includes content and communications with our readers and donors.

It provides everything we need to communicate with donors and get them from the process of getting information about our ministry and presenting them with our projects and opportunities to donate.

Pros and Cons

Managing email campaigns is something we really appreciate about Luminate. Though people who do this at our organization have technical knowledge, it really is not required with an easy WYSIWYG tool and sending out mass targeted emails is something we do on a regular basis.
All our donation forms are hosted in Luminate, and they, too, are easy to manage and set up for various projects. It's also easy to get the needed data and reports in order to analyze our progress.

Today most websites are built in open code and provide easy access to clients in case changes are needed in the CSS etc. Luminate somewhat limits this access as not all the files are accessible through the online management areas. This can be improved upon.
As far as we know, Luminate Online does not support blogs, and so when we did have a blog, we had to host it outside Luminate.

Alternatives Considered

We have not used other products for our website and donor management. However, we do have experience with WordPress (our blog), but it's not focused on the non-profit sector. We have been with Luminate for a decade and are very pleased with the system. We have seen many improvements over the years and are looking forward to see more.

Other Software Used

WordPress

Likelihood to Recommend

Because I'm familiar with the system and have a lot of experience, I would recommend it for sure. Organizations who are looking for all-in-one systems to manage their online presence and also those who have limited personnel available will definitely benefit from this. However, Luminate is costly so probably not every organization will be able to afford it. Luminate is not an open code website managing system, so it would be better suited for organizations which do not have top-level-professional webmasters. They will enjoy 24/7 professional support for all their tech needs to compensate for lack of knowledge of HTML/CSS.

Users and Roles

4 - Office staff, database admin, communication director and webmaster.

Celebrating a Decade with Luminate Online

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Luminate