Worth its weight in gold!!
October 04, 2016

Worth its weight in gold!!

Elizabeth Jewell Becker, CFRE | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Raiser's Edge NXT

Our entire statewide development team uses Raiser's Edge NXT to manage multiple fundraising functions within the organization we serve. From grants tracking to donor stewardship to volunteer management, this product has truly professionalized the work we do. We no longer juggle numerous spreadsheets and are beginning to realize the benefits of having one database for ALL of our various types of constituent records.
  • Raiser's Edge is constantly tweaking NXT's capacity, and when a change is made, a pop-up window opens the next time you log in. This really helps me keep up to speed with the latest ways to use the system.
  • When I log into NXT, my personalized work center opens up as the homepage. It's great to be able to see at a glance any new actions I've been assigned or any tasks that are due that very day.
  • The analyze function of NXT is very impressive. Instead of relying on our database stewardship specialist to create every single report, I appreciate being able to generate some standardized ones directly from NXT in a timely fashion.
  • One downside to the NXT version is that it doesn't sync 100% to the database side. This is slightly annoying, particularly when it comes to adding file attachments. Similarly, sections aren't always called the same thing from one version to the other.
  • While you can manage what your screen looks like (e. g., hide sections, re-prioritize what comes first, etc.), I still feel like there is an awful lot going on on the homepage.
  • Operational Efficiency
  • Increased revenue from existing donors
We just switched to Raiser's Edge from Abila six months ago, and, as such, have not truly realized the benefits of the system yet. On our team of seventeen staff, only four had prior experience with Raiser's Edge, so much of the past six months has been spent in training. However, as our new fiscal year is just beginning, all team members are fully trained and have goals directly related to their success in utilizing Raiser's Edge NXT.
One of the best parts of our experience in transitioning to Raiser's Edge was the one-on-one training we received from the Blackbaud experts. In our case, the person assigned to our training had been in our shoes: he had been a professional fundraiser and was able to anticipate our needs and our challenges. He was more than willing to tailor our sessions to our unique circumstances. This went a long way in getting the buy-in of team members throughout training.
I've been working in nonprofit fundraising for eighteen years, and used everything from customized CRMs to off-the-shelf products like Abila and Salesforce. Raiser's Edge is worth every single penny: there is no question in my mind as to why it remains the gold standard for professional fundraisers!
I love that I can access NXT from my iPhone when travelling. It's quite beneficial to me to not have to find a place to boot up my laptop in order to utilize the system.