Review of Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT Database View and Web View, 12/2024

The training for Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT when I took it can be broken into three categories: self guided courses, shorter hour long sessions on web view functionality and strategy with an instructor, and longer three hour sessions on database view functionality. Of these, the three hour sessions were the best, and worth the (not small) price tag. Instructors knew the software, group sizes were small, and instruction was detailed even on the most complex parts of the software. The Web View courses were good, and taught the functionality of the software at a medium to high level, but were not up to the same standard: the courses often veered into marketing for add-on functionality, and the instructors often had to be pushed by participant questions into addressing web view's limits and missing functionality and teaching how best to work around it. The self guided classes were a mixed bag: some were ads, others had useful videos showing step by step guides. Other resources are worth mentioning: Blackbaud's Knowledgebank contains a wealth of documentation and guides, and they also have an archive of webinars for DBAs, fundraisers, and marketing, and an active community forum.

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT is good for a medium sized organization who needs a central piece of software for communication and recordkeeping between office staff, executive staff, and fundraising staff. Front-line staff can record their interactions with constituents, which can be used for analysis and marketing by office staff, and in future fundraising efforts. Executive, fundraising, marketing, and accounting staff can have detailed reports on giving relevant to their specific work. And information can be communicated back to front-line staff by other departments and referenced as needed. Little coding ability is needed, security allows for staff to be limited to the features they need, and customizability means that most needs can be accounted for. Larger organizations might consider whether more robust software requiring more training might meet their needs better, and smaller organizations will likely need to look for something in their budget range. Prospective adopters should note that while web view has been out for a while, it has incomplete and limited functionality. Complete functionality only exists in database view, which is old. Database view functionality is being transferred to web view throughout 2025 - consider whether waiting to evaluate the new functionality first is prudent.

I don't know for sure what we'll do, and I wouldn't publicly share that anyways. Speaking only for myself, I wouldn't jump for joy if I was given the task of transferring CRM providers when this org has a Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT database that's 28 years old, but being aware of what's on the market is always responsible. With the planned functionality updates to Web View over 2025-2026, the phasing out of features in database view, and the changes to contract structure laid out in investor updates, there's a lot of factors that could change in the next few years. And Blackbaud has not made it clear how much work the transfer to Web View only will be for us over the next couple years: It means updating all of our policies and procedures and all of our documentation and retraining all of our employees at minimum, and that's assuming that all existing fields and features remain accessible without modification.

Usability in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT is a difficult topic. Database view is where most functionality is, and once you're trained in it, it isn't difficult. It can do almost whatever you want it to do. However, it is old software with quirks, and the reliance on Citrix introduces occasional glitches. The archaic UI intimidates some staff as well. Web View has user friendly UI and intimidates users less. But it's so barebones that working in it creates headaches for our staff who use it. The search functionality is too barebones to find records reliably. Data entry is missing important fields, which creates unnecessary cleanup work. It's common for the complexity of the workarounds required to deal with its limitations to undo the gains from the simpler, more user-friendly interface. It's relevant to note that Microsoft PowerAutomate is encouraged by Blackbaud and users for creating functionality that isn't in Web View: PowerAutomate is powerful and very useful, but not user-friendly. It can be more work to learn than Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT, which will need to be factored into DBA training.