Blackbaud

““As we enter our next comprehensive capital campaign, we know Fundraiser Performance Management will make a significant impact on our fundraising efforts,” said Harris. “We’re looking forward to leveraging its major giving predictive modeling against additional wealth screening data and additional ratings to optimize our gift officer portfolios.””

““We leverage Fundraiser Performance Management across almost every area of focus throughout our advancement operation now.””

““We needed the ability to predict fundraising attainment and track gift officer efficiencies over several years at a time,” said Harris. “Fundraiser Performance Management resolved this challenge, and we now have far greater informed attainment projections and goal setting, as well as greater optimization of portfolios.””

““The autonomy that our gift officers are given with Fundraiser Performance Management is incredibly valuable. It provides coaching tools for managers and a framework for evaluations, making operations more intentional.””

““We lacked a sophisticated tool to manage our fundraising operations, and while we had metrics, they were not displayed in an accessible way, which led to a lack of accountability,” said Jim Harris, vice president for University Relations. “Fundraiser Performance Management has allowed us to be more strategic in our efforts, as well as ensures that gift officers are accurately setting and achieving their goals.””

“The ease provided with the connector helped make sure that donors are thanked quickly, and lets the fundraisers easily mark the gifts as acknowledged. It has also allowed us to provide information to colleagues in other departments without having to give them access to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT—for example providing information on large gifts to our Finance Department.”

“You also don’t need to worry about how or where you’re going to deploy your solution as the Power Platform takes care of all of that for you,” Hudson said. He advised that users can be successful with minimal coding knowledge. “I would say that if you can understand formulas in Excel, you’ll be fine here.”

“My experience of using the certified connector between Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Microsoft Power Platform has been great,” Hudson said. “The connector lets you work directly on the business problem you’re trying to solve, rather than trying to understand how the APIs you’re using work, greatly reducing the amount of time taken to create a solution.”

““I’m able to take a data-driven approach to map out events and solicitations that can account for the months when giving is down,” Gumbel said. “Raiser’s Edge NXT ensures that we’re bringing in the funds to account for the 30% of revenue that isn’t covered by tuition every year. I look forward to expanding our use of the tools available in the software and seeing what greater impact we can make.””

““Having the ability to pay via Venmo and PayPal as an option through Blackbaud has helped our efforts gain traction,” Gumbel said.”

““We do our best to take care of everybody’s information and that’s one way Raiser’s Edge NXT helps us do that,” Gumbel added. “It keeps us organized, and if we didn’t have those different solicit codes or other ways to mark records, we probably would have lost a lot of donors over the years.””

““We’re starting to ramp up for our 150th anniversary campaign and Raiser’s Edge NXT will help set the foundation for another successful campaign,” Gumbel explained. “We really appreciate the actions and insights it provides. Gift officers are engaging more strategically with donors, which will be instrumental for and during the upcoming campaign.””

““If we had some other database provider, we wouldn’t be nearly as organized as we are with Raiser’s Edge NXT.””

““Trust in the process. It can be difficult, but especially when you have management buy-in, it’s well worth it. You learn so much, and you get excited about what’s happening. It will greatly benefit processes and efficiencies and reduce the ridiculous amount of time you spend trying to create reports.””

““If we had planned change alone, it would have become very long-fingered project. I don’t think we would have gotten this far this quickly—I think it would have taken us years,””

““We were looking for somebody who understood us, our needs, and requirements, and who would help us get customer value from the product. We knew we had a very good system—we had invested greatly into it—and to work with somebody who explained things to us clearly and told us, ‘Set your own pace,’ was extremely helpful. Everything was explained, and it was a very easy partnership and experience,””

““It’s the leading software provider in the higher education area for fundraising. It’s constantly developing, and support—I have to say—is second to none, and you get answers quickly. You know how to find answers, you know who to go to, and the turnover time trying to find something out is exceptional.””

““Previously, our fundraising was very reactive, and this will allow us to be more proactive. It has been an enabler in having us make strategic decisions for better fundraising to encourage the longevity of our projects rather than reacting to just what’s maybe a funding need this year.””

““ It’s the beating heart of what we are all about. Without it, we would not function as efficiently.””

““We saw a huge increase of $22 million by making a few adjustments to the data in Raiser’s Edge NXT coupled with changes in how our fundraisers targeted donors,” said Donadonibus. “Having the ability to conduct tailored and in-depth analyses that we couldn’t before has clearly been a game-changer for us.””

““The switch to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT brought immediate benefits. It could take between seven to 10 days to produce a gift receipt or run a report. Now we can issue receipts instantly and run the reports in a matter of minutes.””

“By eliminating the need for a third-party vendor for gift imports, we save about $250,000 annually . This strategic move not only saved money but also streamlined operations, ensuring that every dollar donated could have the maximum impact on our communities.””

“People are showing generosity in atypical ways,” Hofman explained. “When you have a good CRM system, you can see that—and you can appreciate what they’re actually doing.”

“For us, it goes way beyond being able to attract revenue,” Hofman explained. “It goes into truly knowing our constituents at a very deep level and being able to store that in a way that you can call that up at a moment’s notice.”

“For the Lutheran church, when we work with donors in a Lutheran theological framework, they respond. We’re putting control in their hands, and what they decide to do is between them and God.”