Raiser's Edge Review from a Director of Development
Updated July 08, 2015

Raiser's Edge Review from a Director of Development

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

7.93.5782.7

Overall Satisfaction with The Raiser's Edge

Raiser's Edge is currently being used by the Development department to maintain our donor and volunteer records. We use it to record all gifts and to send out the necessary thank you notes. We also use it to manage events through the Event Module as well as Sphere. We recently had an audit performed because I am concerned that we don't use all of its capabilities.
  • So I am not the database manger but I believe that Raiser's Edge allows for an excellent query. I utilize the query function for simple queries and find it very useful and I have the database manger perform the more in-depth queries.
  • It also allows a user to put in very detailed information about each of the constituents and that allows all individuals in the development department to understand how we are interacting with our donors.
  • I am just beginning to use the Action function and I am finding it very useful to track actions with individuals.
  • I would like to be able to use Action Track and at this point I am waiting for someone to assist me in setting it up. It is not very user friendly but I think it could be very helpful in the long run.
  • One of the frustrating things about RE and Blackbaud in general and when you want to add some functionality it generally requires another module and that is an additional expense. That is incredibly frustrating for a nonprofit.
  • We have a Roots and Wings Society that consists of individuals that give $1,000 a year or more. I would love to have the system be able to add the cash gifts throughout the year in order to be able to track the Society better.
  • Duplicates in query are always a problem.
  • I would certainly say that RE allows us to thank our donors quicker. We thank our donors within 48 hours and that would not be possible without a system like RE.
  • As we all know RE is only as good as the information going in. We continually have to make sure that we are entering the information properly.
  • I would certainly say that the Database Manager is happy to have a system like RE therefore we see better employee satisfaction and efficiency.
I have not evaluated other products. Raiser's Edge was purchased in 2000 and I began working here in 2009.
It seems that the product is particularly well suited for larger organizations. We also use a few other Blackbaud products and I don't think we were a good fit when we pruchased the product 14 years ago but I think we are now. Truly it is a matter of using the product to its fullest and that takes time. I think there is so much that it offers and we have to learn to use all of the features.

Using The Raiser's Edge

Truthfully it would be just too much to try to switch. We are happy with the product and its functionality. We are slightly unhappy with the value because as I mentioned before, whenever you want to add functionality that seems quite basic, it costs more money.

The Raiser's Edge Support