Being the guinea pig is paying off
November 02, 2016
Being the guinea pig is paying off
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Raiser's Edge NXT
We're actually in the process of making the big leap from eTapestry straight into Raiser's Edge NXT. In combination with Raiser's Edge 7, our organization is using NXT to manage our relationships with donors, prospects, volunteers, and clients. We will also be using Blackbaud Merchant Services for payment processing and Online Express for email marketing and online donations.
- Moves Management
- Pipeline Management
- Executive Level Reporting
- Scheduled report delivery for Essentials subscribers and higher. Scheduling reports to arrive in a particular email inbox with a particular frequency is easy to do in a cloud-based application and should come standard like it does in eTapestry.
- As a built-in function of RE NXT, Online Express needs the option for customers to choose which communications to opt in/out of at both the Email Signup Form level and the Message Unsubscribe level.
- As RE NXT and Online Express are built out together over time, you should look at integrating them more such that custom ask amounts for recipients in a list will be automatically populated in the email based on recent giving and Action Tracks from RE can be applied to automatic emails in OLX.
- Operational Efficiency
- Increased revenue from new donors
- Increased revenue from existing donors
- Increased scalability due to cloud deployment
- Other
We also hoped to gain more buy-in across the organization resulting in wider use in all departments. Since we're just now converting, we have not yet seen hard results, but our internal customers are seeing the phenomenal capabilities the product offers and are expressing excitement about using it.
We really do benefit from Blackbaud offering a suite of integrated products. Moving from eTapestry to RE NXT has been MUCH easier because they are both Blackbaud products. Additionally, the integration of RE NXT with Blackbaud Merchant Services, Online Express, everydayhero, and third-party applications through SKY API was a big factor in or decision to purchase the product--it greatly increases our efficiency and reduces cost.
We also looked at Salesforce and Giveffect when evaluating CRMs.
Using Raiser's Edge NXT
30 - Accounting, Fundraising, Executive, Volunteer Management, Client Management, Marketing and Communications
1 - Since it's still being built out, you need someone with the skills to support RE 7. I think Bill Connors does a good job of outlining the kind of employee needed for this role in his book "Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A-Non Technical Guide." Personally, I would recommend identifying someone who is motivated by learning and who likes to teach others.
- Fundraising
- Volunteer Management
- Client Management
- From the database view we are using RE to manage our homeownership and home repair partner families. They have to pay program fees based on a pledge schedule, complete a certain number of volunteer hours, and attend a series of events before closing on their home and RE allows us to do that pretty well.
- We may consider granting access for volunteer fundraisers like Board Members.
- Not sure yet since we're still in the process of converting.