Raiser's Edge NXT
Updated May 22, 2018
Raiser's Edge NXT
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Using Raiser's Edge NXT
5 - Executive Director, Database Manager, Executive Assistant, Accountant, Scholarship Coordinator.
1 - I am the in house support for Raiser's Edge NXT and I am the constituent database manager. I have worked with donor databases for 8 years and Raiser's Edge for 5 of those years.
- We use queries on a daily basis and I love how much information you can easily pull in queries.
- Being able to store so much information on donor records is a huge advantage
- Batching and processing of gifts is extremely easy.
- Having the mobile app has been a huge benefit for our fundraisers because they are now able to look up basic information on donors to prepare for a meeting instead of having to call me from the road to look up information on donor records.
- We did not expect to utilize the email marketing tool in Online Express as often as we have and it has been a pleasant surprise.
- I would like to see us use the events module more.
- Since we have a smaller staff, I worry we are spending too much on Raiser's Edge since we are not able to use it to its fullest capacity.
Overall Satisfaction with Raiser's Edge NXT
Raiser's Edge NXT is used by my whole organization as our donor database, consisting of around 63,000 constituents. We use it to keep track of our donors' contact information and their giving history. It addresses many problems for us. Most importantly, it gives us an easy way to record incoming gifts and send out acknowledgment letters in a timely fashion.
- The program itself is very user friendly, especially if you have previous experience with donor databases.
- You are easily able to pull very detailed reports that can be helpful in identifying lapsed donors or donors who have a higher giving capacity.
- Being able to access the Raiser's Edge app on your phone or tablet is very helpful for getting information about a donor on the go to help prepare you for a meeting.
- I would like to see the dashboard tab improved a little bit to give more detailed information and also for it to be slightly more accurate than it currently is.
- We have one team member who uses a Microsoft Surface Pro as her work computer and she has run into quite a few compatibility issues, so that is something that could be improved.
- Operational Efficiency
- Increased revenue from new donors
- Increased revenue from existing donors
- Reduced IT expenditure due to cloud deployment
I think we have been able to achieve all of the boxes I checked above. The biggest thing that I like is that I no longer have to depend on our IT department to handle updates and/or issues I have. Our IT department is small and they have many things to handle on a daily basis, so not having to wait days to get my issues resolved has been a big help and has allowed us to operate more efficiently and get full use out of the product.
We also use Online Express and that has been great. We have not run into any issues with online donations coming over seamlessly into Raiser's Edge and having that seamless transition has been a big help to us and has allowed us to process online donations in a much more timely fashion than we were before.
I used DonorPerfect at a previous job and while it was good, it does not come close to providing the same user experience as Raiser's Edge. I did not find the reporting feature to be all that helpful and was severely limited on how much information I could pull on the donors in our database.
Evaluating Raiser's Edge NXT and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Analyst Reports
Product usability was the most important factor to me. I find RE NXT to be user friendly for the most part and that makes training new employees much easier.
We are very happy with RE NXT, so I don't think I would change the evaluation and selection process.
Raiser's Edge NXT Implementation
- Vendor implemented
- Educating the staff on how to access Raiser's Edge NXT.
- Explaining the difference between having Raiser's Edge hosted by Blackbaud vs. our IT department.
Raiser's Edge NXT Training
- Self-taught
It was easy to learn without formal training because I had a lot of previous experience with Raiser's Edge and was able to train our other employees. I do not think this approach would work for other organizations unless they had someone who was very knowledgeable about Raiser's Edge and is good at teaching that information to others.
Configuring Raiser's Edge NXT
I do not.
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code - I'm not sure if this is what you're asking for, but I have added multiple entries into tables and constituent codes. I have found this process to be easy and quick to do.
Raiser's Edge NXT Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - Being able to get quality support immediately is something worth paying for in my opinion.
This is not a specific instance, but overall I could like to commend our account representative Richard Hull. Whenever I have a question or concern, he always gets back to me very promptly and his level of customer service always exceeds my expectations.
Using Raiser's Edge NXT
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | Slow to learn |
- Running queries is very simple.
- Creating and running dashboards.
- Processing Online Express donations
- I find some of the information being puled from Reports is not always accurate
- Running global changes in the Admin tab can take a long time
Yes - My organization does not use this interface all that often, but I have never had an issue finding what I need to find using the mobile interface.
Raiser's Edge NXT Reliability
Integrating Raiser's Edge NXT
- None.
We have not integrated any systems into RE NXT.
- No.
N/A
- File import/export
No.
I do not have specific recommendations, but I would love to see the import process simplified if at all possible.
Relationship with Blackbaud
The main thing we agreed on was a 3 year fixed price contract. Locking in the same annual renewal amount is very helpful for our organization when it comes to budgeting.