Item: Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT
Rating: 9
Author: Jennifer Askew

Users and Roles

12 - College President
Senior Vice President
Vice President for Advancement
Executive Director of Development
Director of Development and Planned Giving
Director of Alumni Engagement
Asst. Director of Alumni Engagement
Director of Annual Giving
Director of Advancement Services
Advancement Coordinator
Executive Asst. to the President
Human Resources Coordinator

Support Headcount Required

2 - A knowledge of system and continued training is required to stay informed and relevant concerning efficient operations and evolving changes within the system. An attention to detail and an understanding of data integration needs is vital to success. A comprehensive understanding of the analysis of system data and its relevance to the success of departmental efforts increases effectiveness for database administration.

Business Processes Supported

Data integrity is always at the top of the list. Everyone depends on the inherits of the data in the system to be able to analyze and report accurately on our efforts to generate revenue and support the mission of the college.
Data segmentation is another key area of use for Raisers Edge NXT. The more specific dat we can save within the system, the more accurately we can communicate with our stakeholders and provide information that they want to hear.
Stewardship is what now separates one organization from another in the non-profit world. With a shrinking group of donors, it has become essential to steward donors well to retain them. This system allows for effective stewardship that utilizes specific data to build relationships effectively by communicating about the donors’ interests and demonstrating value to those donors.

Innovative Uses

This has become a way of sharing information across departments that otherwise would have dropped off the radar in the hustle of business. We can now speak intelligently about a stakeholder or a situation by accessing appropriate records instead of having to wait for the next meeting or phone call to discuss the situation.

Future Planned Uses

We will continue to increase the specific nature of the data we place in the system and further segment our stakeholders based on affinity rather than levels of giving.

Likelihood to Renew

Raiser’s Edge NXT has become our standard and an essential part of daily operations.

Return on Investment

Stewardship is an integral part of what we do and Raiser’s Edge NXT allows us to take that to the next level. It is vital to our stakeholder communication.
Planning of future campaigns and events is now driven by the data we analyze from using NXT. This allows us to revise and improve our planning and events to provide greater success and connection with our stakeholders.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Raiser's Edge NXT is only used in our advancement department at the college. I love the program and highly value the versatility it provides for our donor records, but it is challenging to use the program in isolation. I used to work in secondary schools where the school used several Blackbaud programs simultaneously and that was definitely my preference. Raiser's Edge NXT allows us to manage all of our donor related activities, contributions, and research in one place. The interface for the program is wonderful and very easy to use. We can keep all the information related to our foundation in one place and know that we have everything easily within reach within one program.

As we have implemented use of RE NXT across several departments, administrators have been able to access valuable information relevant to their own departments on demand.

Pros and Cons

Raiser's Edge NXT provides a way for us to share real time snapshots of current and evolving data with others in our organization who would normally not use the system.
Raiser's Edge NXT allows us to highlight our successes and share data quickly and easily while also being able to update data and enter notes within one platform.
Raiser's Edge NXT mobility allows those working outside the office and traveling to still have a live connection to giving and data. That platform creates a conduit for instant update of records and notes no matter where one of us is located.
The mail integration feature available in Raiser’s Edge NXT is allowing us to send specific information to those outside the system with ease. This integration also saves us time by saving these communications directly into donor records.
The integrated map feature of Raiser’s Edge NXT has made a positive difference for our Development Officers and Administrators during trips. They can instantly search an area they are planning to visit to contact additional donors as time allows and even add new visits during a trip based on a quick search of their surrounding area. This can be very helpful if a previous meeting is canceled or delayed and time is available to connect with additional constituents.

The time frames set in the recent giving lists need to be more adaptable. The choices start at 7 days and then jump to 90 days. We often need to see something like 30 or 45 days instead.
In general, I would like to see the ability to customize more within a list area. More options for sorting or culling a list by additional qualifiers like funds or appeals or campaigns would be great.
Additional reporting options should be made available within the NXT system without having to utilize the database version.

Desired Outcomes using Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT

Operational Efficiency
Increased revenue from new donors
Increased revenue from existing donors
Reduced IT expenditure due to cloud deployment

Operational efficiency is increasing. The ease of use for updating information within the NXT platform has been a great time saver for me personally. Increased revenue is one of our goals right now and the ease of entering notes and actions is assisting with field work as we meet with and cultivate new donor relationships. Increased revenue from our existing donors has been improved by being able to share with them live data as appropriate to encourage their understanding of accumulating impact. The efficacy of our stewardship is steadily improving as a result of Raiser’s Edge NXT implementation. It is allowing us to demonstrate return on investment in a more concrete manner to our stakeholders which has a direct impact on revenue.

Impact of Working with Vendor

At this particular college Raiser's Edge and NXT have been the only products used on campus. We are benefiting from the increased number of classes and training options especially with the "Best Practices" classes that cut across various industries and focus on real world application. The forums and ideas for non-profits and the routine research published is a great summary of what is happening in the non-profit world and helps us to see where we fit into a changing landscape. We are in the process of implementing a new product that Blackbaud recently acquired, AcademicWorks. This system will address scholarship management and integrate with Raiser’s Edge to provide additional functionality and data integration in the Enrollment Management, Finanical Aid and Business areas as well as providing a format for reporting on scholarships and endowments directly back to donors. Increased communication and access to relevant information across multiple departments is already having a positive effect on inter-departmental relationships. The more comprehensive solutions Blackbaud launches, the more integration and understanding we can achieve on our campus.

Alternatives Considered

The only other similar product I have used is Education Edge in a non-profit secondary school setting. We also used Financial Edge and Raiser's Edge there where all systems were operating simultaneously. It was a great way to approach the different arenas of the organization while utilizing the same system platforms. We are currently implementing AcademicWorks and I will soon be able to comment on its functionality and usage.

Likelihood to Recommend

Any organization wanting to track donors, analytics and giving trends will benefit greatly from NXT. If a company is particularly small and only has a small amount of donors or gifts, Raiser's Edge would be too much to deal with, but once an organization is moving up in size and volume of giving it becomes essential to donor relations and stewardship.

In this day of instant information and rapidly changing dynamics, a system like Raiser’s Edge NXT can provide an edge over the competition to integrate advanced stewardship practices across an organization. Stewardship is what sets one organization apart from another - it is vital to have the tools to steward stakeholders effectively.

NXT versatility in higher education and small development offices

Using Raiser's Edge NXT