Best Of
Re: Guide for handling 'your flow has a new trigger'?
It seems that Microsoft is aware of the issue with making the OPTIONS call and are working to fix this issue. Until then, the old URLS will continue to work until the issue has been fixed.
The 2026 Blackbaud Community All-Star Nominations are Now Open!
Are you someone who actively contributes to the Blackbaud Community and loves helping others? Do you want to expand your involvement with Blackbaud, gain recognition as a community leader, and enjoy some cool perks? Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond to support the community? Now’s the perfect time to nominate yourself or someone else to become an All-Star!
Joining the All-Star cohort means stepping into a circle of outstanding leaders who willingly share their expertise with our community.
What is the Blackbaud Community All-Star program?
This program highlights our most dedicated and knowledgeable members who are passionate about Blackbaud products and who actively share their insights to help fellow community members.
What makes an incredible All-Star?
- A customer, consultant, or Blackbaud partner who is regularly active in the community throughout the year
- Provides valuable contributions in the community and shares their expertise to help others
- Demonstrates expertise in Blackbaud products
- Upholds a friendly, inclusive, and respectful tone with everyone in the community
- Blackbaud Fundamentals or Pro Certified (not mandatory but highly appreciated!)
What’s expected of a Community All-Star?
All-Stars must complete the following each year to maintain their status:
- Monthly participation in Blackbaud Community, including responding to product-related questions and sharing best practices
- Attend the Blackbaud Product Update Briefings for their product(s) and participate in the monthly badge challenge by providing feedback
- Encourage other customers to get involved in Blackbaud Community
- Recommend other community members who might be a good fit for All-Stars program
Additionally, All-Stars are strongly encouraged to:
- Actively promote Blackbaud Community on social media and during speaking engagements, webinars, and other events
- Join Blackbaud’s reference program and share your Blackbaud product experience with prospective customers
- Write a product review based on your experience using at least one Blackbaud product on G2 or TrustRadius
- Share your expertise via the Blackbaud Community blog, webinars, and/or bbcon
Duration of Commitment:
The All-Star term lasts for one calendar year. Current All-Stars can extend their status by meeting the required participation criteria and expressing interest in continuing.
Exciting Perks for Blackbaud Community All-Stars:
As an All-Star, you’ll gain exclusive benefits, including:
- Recognition across the community, including a unique profile badge and mentions in the community newsletter, “The Buzz.”
- Access to a private space to connect with fellow All-Stars and the Community team.
- Opportunities to provide feedback on Community initiatives and features
- Invitations to beta testing and early adoption programs
- VIP experiences at Blackbaud events, such as bbcon
- Exclusive swag that highlights your All-Star status
Being a Blackbaud Community All-Star isn’t just about expertise—it’s about sharing your knowledge generously and helping your fellow community members thrive.
Check out what our current All-Stars have to say about the program here!
Ready to take action?
Click HERE to submit your nomination form and join the 2026 cohort or nominate someone who stands out in the community. The nomination window closes on December 30th.
We can’t wait to see your nominations! The 2026 All-Stars will be revealed in January.
Beyond the Giving Day: Turning One Day of Generosity into Year-Round Impact
Giving days, such as GivingTuesday or other designated dates, have become popular fundraising programs. Whether the giving day is an elaborate occasion with different kinds of programming or gamification, or whether it is simply communications via e-mail and social media, a giving day can stir up enthusiasm among donors and prospects and raise awareness of an organization’s mission.
Once the giving day itself is over, there is still a lot of work to be done. In fact, what happens after the giving day is more important than the day itself! Here are some steps to take after the festivities are over to keep the fundraising momentum going in the weeks and months to follow.
Send gift acknowledgments promptly
After the giving day, it is important to send out gift acknowledgments promptly. If your organization has an automated acknowledgment process, this will shorten the time between gift date and acknowledgment date. If the process is not automated, think about ways to save time and distribute the work involved in handling a high volume of acknowledgment letters. Can different individuals sign letters? Can other team members be involved in getting the letters processed for mailing?
In addition to the standard gift acknowledgment, this is also a great opportunity for gift officers to reach out to the donors in their portfolios with a personalized “thank you.” If the gift was focused on a particular area (such as an academic unit or sport for schools, or particular program areas for other organizations), this would also be a good time for the gift officers to ask donors about their engagement with that particular focus area and share any applicable news.
Prospecting after a giving day
Once the donations have been processed and the acknowledgments have been sent out, it’s time to do some prospecting. This can be done by focusing on two different groups: existing donors and new donors.
For existing donors, notice anyone whose giving day gift was larger than their typical giving; this could indicate increased giving potential. Also, look for any individuals who made larger gifts but are not currently assigned to gift officers, and determine if they should be in a portfolio. For example, an organization that I previously worked at had a major gift level of $10,000, but only a small number of donors typically gave over $1,000; any donor who made a giving day gift of $500 or more was highlighted and evaluated for possible assignment to a gift officer.
For new donors, in addition to noticing those individuals with larger gifts, it is also helpful to do a wealth screening. If you have unused group screens in ResearchPoint™, this would be a great time to use them! It is a good idea to screen all new donors if possible, given time and resources, as a new $50 donor could have great wealth and philanthropic potential that isn’t immediately obvious from the gift size. If there is not enough bandwidth to screen all the new donors, start with the largest donors first and screen as many as possible.
Notice giving patterns
A third step to take after a giving day is to notice any patterns that emerged from the day’s donations. If there were different funding areas where donors could focus their giving, did certain areas get a larger number of gifts? Did certain areas have a larger average gift size? If so, what factors may have led to this (greater number of individuals with affinity to those areas, more prominent promotion, etc.)?
Some organizations have giving day “ambassadors,” individuals who are charged with spreading awareness of the giving day via social media, outreach to peers, and other methods of communication. If you used giving day ambassadors, were some ambassadors more successful than others in facilitating donations? If so, are there techniques that can be learned from these individuals? This is also a good time to recognize ambassadors and thank them for their contributions.
In closing, the true impact of a giving day extends well beyond the event itself. By promptly acknowledging gifts, thoughtfully engaging both new and existing donors, and analyzing giving patterns, organizations can build lasting relationships and sustain fundraising momentum to strengthen the foundation for future success.
Re: Basic Procedures step by step Guide help PLEASE!!
Here are some additional resources on the topic as well: https://billconnors.com/resources/#policy
Re: Basic Procedures step by step Guide help PLEASE!!
Hi, I saw Christine tagged me on here - I have a sharable gift processing and policy and procedures manual, however aside from a few things it is largely database few. It is step-by-step and very detailed, with that said, it would probably be helpful as a template for developing yours and just tweaking the instructions where needed to suit NXT. I just accepted a job offer this morning and so will probably be temporarily out of BB community while my access transitions between orgs sometime in the next two weeks. So I will share in a PM in case in proves useful.
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT Product Update Briefing: Leave Feedback and Earn a Badge!
Blackbaud’s Product Update Briefings are coming up November 18-20. These sessions highlight the latest updates and give a sneak peek at what’s coming next, including features based on ideas from our awesome community! Sign up today, watch the briefings, and let us know what you think, what got you excited, or any other thoughts related to Raiser's Edge NXT.
Bonus – if you leave your feedback, you'll snag our exclusive special November challenge badge!
Re: What was the HIGHLIGHT of your year?
Professionally, our school winning the Silo Buster Impact Award was a definite highlight, as the crowning highlight of a wonderful bbcon!
Personally, welcoming a nephew and watching my niece grow have provided me so much joy 😊
Re: What was the HIGHLIGHT of your year?
Professionally - bbcon is always an annual highlight. So many conversations, meeting folks I've only ever known online, and sitting in on sessions that spark 'ah-ha' moments!
Personally - I finished my first crochet project. A cardigan that took at least 100+ hours over four months. Pretty proud of this one! (Deviated from the pattern on the sleeves and trim.)
What was the HIGHLIGHT of your year?
Hi Community!
2025 is coming to a close and I thought it would be fun to share our highlights from the year. What personal or professional achievement are you most proud of? Any fun trips/experiences? Did you finish a really great novel or tv show series this year?
What was your 2025 highlight?
I'll start - I started 2025 on a health journey and happy to report I'm ending 2025.. 51 pounds lighter!
Re: New Decision Release: EMS
@Mary Fernandez you should uncheck the publish option so they are able to anything apart from decision available and when they click on it there will be nothing there. Currently this is all you can do. The only reason they were able to see the screen shot you sent was because under "Candidate decision options" you forgot to uncheck "Publish". This will prevent them from seeing any decisions. You have to do that under each candidate decision options you have. Don't publish them yet until this stuff is fixed.
Ami Naik