The Raiser's Edge NXT: Moving Blackbaud (and Fundraising) Forward
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RE:NXT is moving Blackbaud and fundraising software forward, in line with software and technology in other industries, and that’s a good thing. As it stands right now, coming up on a year after the Early Adopters Program (EAP) began and users from 25 organizations went live in NXT, it is still very much a work in progress. To some extent, it always will be. One of the great things about NXT being cloud-based is that features and fixes don’t have to wait for a new version or patch; there are new features released almost every week...with no action necessary on your part!
That said, one of the pieces of the whole puzzle that we, as customers, could be much better about is posting in the Idea Bank (via the Blackbaud Community). Posting, commenting, and voting on ideas here will give Blackbaud developers a better idea of what we want to see and how we want it to work. (Side note: there is an Idea Bank for every product in the Community, so be sure to check those out…and contribute!) Many of the new features and improvements in NXT are because of user feedback, which Blackbaud actively solicits.
Something else to understand as you consider migrating from RE:7 to RE:NXT is that it is being built for different Roles, with the first (and presently only) being the Fundraiser Role. This means that Database Administrators (DBAs) like me will still spend 85-90% of their time working in RE:7. The word “migrate” could lead to some confusion. RE:NXT doesn’t replace RE:7. It’s a different interface to the same data. Think of it like a room that houses all of your data with RE:7 being a window into that room from the North wall. RE:NXT is another window into that same room from the West wall. Same data, different view.
The exception to this is RE:NXT Attachments which replaces RE:7 Media. Embedded Media files existing in RE:7 will be converted to Attachments in NXT, but future files should be attached via NXT because from this point forward, files added to RE via one interface will not be accessible from the other. I would venture to say that all users will prefer adding files via NXT, as it is a simple drag-and-drop system.
Immediate benefits to RE:NXT are that staff can stop calling back to the office for the phone number of the donor they are on the way to meet, as they can access that data and make the call directly from RE:NXT on their mobile phone. Or click on the address to open a mapping and navigation app. Once the meeting is over, Actions, Notes, and Proposals can be added or edited directly from NXT on any mobile device, not just from a computer back at the office. Gifts and Appeals can also be accessed from NXT, although some of the summary information is still being developed with some filter controls.
Getting your users up and running in RE:NXT is still a bit of a struggle, because it involves setting up accounts on Blackbaud.com in addition to sending and accepting emailed invitations. Not a process as simple as the DBA setting up the user and sending a simple email of “this is the link to access NXT, bookmark it in your browser and use your same RE username & password” which is what we would have preferred.
Migrating to RE:NXT will also mean a move toward using the Solicitor Relationship features in RE, if you aren’t already doing so. And don’t get confused by the many changes in terminology…the term Solicitor becomes Fundraiser, Attributes become Custom Fields, etc.
Find out more about RE:NXT here, post questions here, and ask your Blackbaud Account Executive for references so you can schedule one-on-one calls with current NXT users.
As features continue to release and additional Roles become available, RE:NXT has great potential to help your development team be more efficient and productive. RE:NXT is the future of fundraising, so why not jump on board now and discover how you can leverage NXT tools to benefit your organization?
Something else to understand as you consider migrating from RE:7 to RE:NXT is that it is being built for different Roles, with the first (and presently only) being the Fundraiser Role. This means that Database Administrators (DBAs) like me will still spend 85-90% of their time working in RE:7. The word “migrate” could lead to some confusion. RE:NXT doesn’t replace RE:7. It’s a different interface to the same data. Think of it like a room that houses all of your data with RE:7 being a window into that room from the North wall. RE:NXT is another window into that same room from the West wall. Same data, different view.
The exception to this is RE:NXT Attachments which replaces RE:7 Media. Embedded Media files existing in RE:7 will be converted to Attachments in NXT, but future files should be attached via NXT because from this point forward, files added to RE via one interface will not be accessible from the other. I would venture to say that all users will prefer adding files via NXT, as it is a simple drag-and-drop system.
Immediate benefits to RE:NXT are that staff can stop calling back to the office for the phone number of the donor they are on the way to meet, as they can access that data and make the call directly from RE:NXT on their mobile phone. Or click on the address to open a mapping and navigation app. Once the meeting is over, Actions, Notes, and Proposals can be added or edited directly from NXT on any mobile device, not just from a computer back at the office. Gifts and Appeals can also be accessed from NXT, although some of the summary information is still being developed with some filter controls.
Getting your users up and running in RE:NXT is still a bit of a struggle, because it involves setting up accounts on Blackbaud.com in addition to sending and accepting emailed invitations. Not a process as simple as the DBA setting up the user and sending a simple email of “this is the link to access NXT, bookmark it in your browser and use your same RE username & password” which is what we would have preferred.
Migrating to RE:NXT will also mean a move toward using the Solicitor Relationship features in RE, if you aren’t already doing so. And don’t get confused by the many changes in terminology…the term Solicitor becomes Fundraiser, Attributes become Custom Fields, etc.
Find out more about RE:NXT here, post questions here, and ask your Blackbaud Account Executive for references so you can schedule one-on-one calls with current NXT users.
As features continue to release and additional Roles become available, RE:NXT has great potential to help your development team be more efficient and productive. RE:NXT is the future of fundraising, so why not jump on board now and discover how you can leverage NXT tools to benefit your organization?
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Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT® Blog
12/10/2015 11:16am EST
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