Raiser's Edge: multi-functionality of database and web views
What do you like best?
The comprehensive package from Blackbaud for the Raiser's Edge cannot be matched my any other vendor. Not only does the product work well in the cloud environment, but the support team for questions and their continued interest in making their knowledgebase better is great. The product continues to grow as Blackbaud is really putting an effort into developing the product, listening to customer feedback and implementing recommendations. The mapping feature is very helpful when relationship managers are on the road and need to fill time with a visit or two. They can see what alums are around them and gives them the opportunity to connect quickly with the Microsoft integrations. Overall I feel like it does provide comprehensive support to everything that is needed to be successful with fundraising.
What do you dislike?
The cost is prohibitive for many non-profit organizations. But the overall time saving functionality is worth it. Some features that are accessible in the database view of the product at not yet available in the web view, so that makes it difficult to consistently use one product. As an admin of the system, I need to create four log ins for people to join both the database and web view of the system. I also do not like that I cannot query on the tags and other features of the web version within the database view of the system. This would be helpful since half of our team is on the web view and the other half on the database view due to the functionality. There were some additional plug ins that we needed to purchase to make our lives easier. It would be helpful if Blackbaud incorporated some of these into their overall pricing so customers are most successful with their product, which is already on the high range of the spectrum.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Speak with users about the product, what you are interested in doing with it and consider your needs and the needs of your organization. Ask for demos of the product and ensure that it meets the needs you are looking to fulfill. Speak with Blackbaud about the functionalities that have been released and what is on the horizon, as they are developing the product so quickly and pushing through new updates every two weeks or so. Ensure that you are able to write reports and extract the data you need to do analysis. Also ensure that importing data is easy and does not require additional plug ins or purchased services.
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
We are solving ways to track our interactions with our constituency base. By using the Raiser's Edge, we have been able to implement and refine methods that work for our organization. With the flexibility that the product offers, we can adapt our methods to changing benchmarks within our area. Moves management for prospect research is really being tracked with this tool. It is easy for our relationship managers to access their portfolio and manage their prospects while management checks up on the work that they are doing. The integration with Microsoft products really helps create an efficiency when emailing and contacting prospects. Since the pandemic started, this was a perfect way for our team to take another look at the product, do some training and become accustomed to it.
