Blackbaud University continues to  celebrate our eTapestry users who became Blackbaud Certified in April, May, and June! Be sure to review our listing and celebrate your colleagues by viewing their profiles, becoming Blackbaud Community friends, or just congratulating them on their awesome achievement. To all our eTapestry Certified ... more

We’ve been on a quest this year to streamline the eTapestry curriculum . After condensing the Fundamentals  instructor-led courses, we’ve done the same for our Basics eLearning courses. Following the rollout of Basics of eTapestry and Accounts last month, we are pleased to announce the second installment of our “Basics” series: Basics of Queries, ... more

Want to learn how we’re enhancing Blackbaud eTapestry to meet the evolving needs of the social good community? Our product management team will recap recent enhancements to Blackbaud eTapestry and share a preview of updates coming your way in future releases of the solution. Watch today !  more

A lot of great stuff has been happening with eTapestry functionality recently. We at Blackbaud University also continue to shape up the user experience so that you can do more with less. Following the updates introduced in this blog post , we’re bringing new users a self-paced course that includes an overview of the system, plus the basics of accounts ... more

I bought my first house about the time DIY home improvement shows became popular. I was a young first-time homeowner, so there wasn’t much of a budget for decorating. Inspired by the do-it-yourselfers on TV, I decided to give painting a whirl. I learned the hard way that a $3 sample of paint is your friend. Trust me, a Christmas-green bathroom is not ... more

Blackbaud University continues to  celebrate our eTapestry users who became Blackbaud Certified in January, February, and March! Be sure to review our listing and celebrate your colleagues by viewing their profiles, becoming Blackbaud Community friends, or just congratulating them on their awesome achievement. To all our eTapestry Certified ... more

Have you ever had a conversation like this one I had at my house recently? Me : I told you that last week. Family member : No, you didn’t. Me : Yes, I did. Family member : Was I awake when you told me? Clearly, I missed the mark on the message I was trying to deliver. They say the most important part of a marriage, or any relationship for that matter, is ... more

My daughter has a gorgeous head of hair, but it’s a bit unruly. I’ve tried to help her manage it with detangling shampoos, leave-in conditioners, and a host of homemade concoctions. But, being a typical teenager, she wants to sleep late and then get up and run out the door for the school bus. That means her long mane of hair ends up in a messy bun on top of her ... more

Blackbaud University offers certified learning opportunities that recognize student achievement and help validate product knowledge. We provide these development opportunities to reflect our students’ commitment to excellence.  Great New Year’s news— Blackbaud University 2018 Certification is available now!   more

Over the holidays, my family was quite sick with the flu. Ugh. We typically spend our holidays on the go, visiting friends, going to local events, and going to the mountains to enjoy the snow. But we spent most of this holiday break in bed or on the couch watching TV. Ugh. As we prepared to return to work and school we discussed our recent situation. While my ... more

My husband and I are planning a summer vacation. To get in the spirit of international travel, we’ve turned to culinary travel shows where dishes range from “ Where has this been all my life ?” to “ How could someone eat that ?”.    A recent episode showcased a soft, French cheese – dispensed with an aerator of some sort – then sprinkled with a wide foray of ... more

My teenage daughter recently showed me a setting on my iPhone that made my life a little easier. I thought for sure I had discovered the best way to use everything on that little device, but low and behold – now I can adjust the volume with a just a flick of my thumb. Mind blown. How did I miss this nifty feature? Because I got comfortable. I thought I knew ... more

My family’s 2018 New Year’s resolution was to eat healthier. With two active hungry teens, I knew this was not going to be an easy task! Especially not time-wise —since I never seem to have enough time between home life and work life. So I resolved to create some nutritious, tasty, and quick meals that wouldn’t break the bank. Easy, right? Luckily, I ... more

As a working mom of two hungry boys, I rely on technology to help me get to my end result (full kids) as quickly as possible. When my crockpot broke and my microwave melted (thanks to my boys and a metal bowl), I started researching replacements. I read about a new kitchen appliance that saves time and takes less planning, the electric pressure cooker . ... more

Blackbaud University is starting the New Year by celebrating our  eTapestry users who became  Blackbaud   Certified  in October, November, and December! Be sure to review our listing, and celebrate your colleagues by viewing their profiles, becoming Blackbaud  Community  friends, or just congratulating them on their awesome achievements. To ... more

As I do every year, I logged into social media early on the morning of #GivingTuesday to see the creative and engaging posts and calls to action by various nonprofits. I wasn’t disappointed. I was motivated to share many of your #GivingTuesday posts to encourage others in the social media world to support this day, too! more

I’m looking at the upcoming holiday season—and I simply don’t know where to begin. The November and December dates on the family calendar are filling quickly. Out of town travel, Thanksgiving feast preparation, middle school orchestra concert, shopping, Friendsgiving , decorating, wrapping, charity work…just listing it all out is tiring! Every ... more

Everyone loves to save time, right? Well, if you’re interested in shaving some time off of common tasks in eTapestry then this is the blog for you! We will discuss a few ideas that can help you search, navigate, and perform data entry more efficiently. Let’s get started! Searching Advanced Find Make Advanced Find your default search option under your ... more

Working with eTapestry over the years, I’ve learned to use and appreciate a lot of the features eTapestry offers. Some are obvious—some take time to discover. Queries , reports , and integrated communications are all pretty nifty, but in terms of ease of use and bang for your buck (think ROI), nothing beats do-it-yourself (DIY) forms . Let’s suppose you ... more

Joe's blog reminded me that my youngest son’s birthday is right around the corner and year after year, I consistently fail at one thing … the Thank You notes. At best, the notes get sent out late although I won’t lie, some years, they never make it out the door. This year, I’m considering something revolutionary for me: a bit of advanced preparation. My plan ... more

Monthly newsletters, year end receipts, new donor welcome letters (if you’re feeling ambitious!), you can do a lot with eTapestry’s Communications section. As we swing into the latter part of the year, we thought it would be a good idea to offer some quick shortcuts and advice that can help you avoid some pitfalls when it comes to working with ... more

There’s a ton of criteria you can use in queries to find the information you’re looking for. For example, have you ventured into the Cumulative Amounts category? Criteria in this category are extremely powerful tools that can help you locate groups of accounts or journal entries based on combined totals of particular criteria. Let’s talk through a ... more

  Many organizations have one or two users that know their database in and out; they know how the big events and campaign drives are tracked, how to record certain types of constituents (ex: volunteers), and can pull a mailing list at the drop of a hat. Sounds like a great problem to have, right?   Having an expert on board is never a bad thing. However, one ... more

Have you ever wondered why the option you choose for the Data Return Type in queries changes your results? If so, you're in luck because today we're talking about how you make the right choice! Let's start by breaking down exactly what it does to a query. The Data Return Type is how you tell the query what kind of information you want to see in your end results. ... more

Custom Reports allow you to organize and showcase your data in a meaningful way. You can perform calculations like adding together numbers or even finding an average amount. There are a couple tools within custom reports that we often mix up because they appear to do some things similarly: Aggregates and Summary Fields. However, they are actually ... more

Throughout my years of working with Blackbaud products, I’ve learned a few basic things: constituents have records; debits and credits are tracked in accounts ; and financial activity is recorded with journal entries . That was my understanding until I started working with eTapestry. Since eTapestry is not accounting software, I was surprised to ... more

What’s the deal with these relationship reports? How can I create a report that gives me information about two related accounts? Why isn’t my report showing me all of the relationships? As an eTap analyst, I’ve heard all of these questions. Moreover, I get why you’re asking them! Relationship reports require a very clear intention from the get-go so ... more

The community of eTapestry certified users continues to grow and Blackbaud University wants to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment. In 2016, 40 individuals earned their eTapestry Fundamentals Certification. You can view the names of those who got certified during the first half of 2016 here . In the last half of 2016, the following ... more

The New Year is finally here and it is time to recognize all of your 2016 donors. By now your 2016 gifts have all come in, been processed, and entered into eTapestry. If you have not already, you will want to create a query containing all the donations as well as a template for your letter more

Have you just dauntingly inherited the responsibilities of your former database administrator? Or have you just received a well-deserved promotion to manage your organization’s database? Well, congratulations— you are now in charge of, arguably, your organization’s most valuable asset . And maybe you’re still trying to figure out the landscape ... more

There is no question of the benefits that volunteers can bring to an organization. In 2015 the nonprofit organization Independent Sector valued volunteer time at $23.56 per hour [i] . Beyond the fiscal benefit, volunteers can help you to grow existing programs, create a more efficient workflow, and help increase your base of support. A truly ... more

eTapestry has partnered with WalkMe to provide guided tours in eTapestry! Currently there are 5 activities to choose from but we’re always looking to add more. Each activity is loaded with tips and tricks that appear on screen while you are walked through a particular action, such as adding Accounts and Gifts or creating a Report. This tool is perfect ... more

It’s that wonderful time of year when you get to recognize and thank all of the people who funded your organization this year. If you missed our last post about finding those donors who gave in 2016, please  click here  to view that post. The next step in the process of sending end of the year letters is creating the template for your letter. You’ll want to ... more

As the end of 2016 approaches, it's time to start thinking about year end thank you letters so that you can acknowledge the loyal donors that have given a charitable donation this year. This three-part blog series on will cover tips, tricks, and best practices for querying on the donors that have given this year, creating a thank you letter template, and ... more

Course Release – Best Practices: Major Giving What an organization defines as a major gift can vary widely. At some organizations a $500 donation would be incredibly impactful, while other organizations define a major gift as a gift of $100,000 or even more! What remains consistent is that a major gift can truly be a game changer at an organization. The ... more

Fall is here, and that means one big thing (in our world, anyway!): end-of-year fundraising . November and December are busy for everyone, but especially for those of us in fundraising. During this generous time of year, it is essential to connect with donors. Blackbaud Univsersity is here to help with some tips to make your year-end smoother and more ... more

Is your organization participating in #GivingTuesday? In a recent npengage blog post , Danielle Johnson-Vermenton debunks common excuses that stop organizations from participating in #GivingTuesday. Not surprisingly, one deterrent is a lack of resources. However, as Danielle points out, you don’t have to go big in your first year. In fact, your ... more

This morning, as I walked out the door on my way Blackbaud’s Indianapolis office, I noticed that there was a distinct crispness to the air. My coffee felt a little warmer and the first-fallen leaves crunched under my feet. I love the Midwest in the fall, not just because everything is suddenly pumpkin flavored and apples are abundant, but also because the ... more

Is your case statement current? Do you know where it resides? When was the last time you used it? Perhaps I should take a step back and ask, does your organization even have a case statement? Having a mission and a vision statement is a good start, but that is only part of the picture. Your case statement is the rationale for why a donor should support your ... more

This month, I had the pleasure of meeting with my Blackbaud Education Services colleagues for our annual ”All Hands” meeting in Charleston, S.C. For three days, we brainstormed about the future of education and reflected on the impact that education can have on an individual’s success. We even had our personalities assessed, which was a great way to ... more

Hi! I’m Tasha. I work as an assistant to the executive director at Baptist News Global, an online news organization. Although I am new to eTapestry, I have benefitted greatly from all of the support resources. This blog post is my attempt to share how much fun it can be to make the most out of eTapestry.   more

Hello eTap Users! eTapestry's Onboarding and Adoptions Program Manager Geoff Arbuckle here with a tip for anyone who is building an online DIY giving form.  While this does get covered and mentioned in our "Creating Forms in eTapestry" Customer Success Webinar, I wanted to also post something here on the Community in the event that you have a question ... more

When is the last time you took an inventory of the users that have access to your eTapestry database? Do you know who your site administrators are on Blackbaud.com? These are both important questions that your organization’s administrators should consider, especially after staffing changes.   Who are these administrators we’re talking about? Your ... more

Does your website make a great first impression? As a nonprofit, your website is critical to your organization’s long-term success. A strong online presence can help you raise money, engage new and existing donors, attract supporters, create media opportunities, and spread the word about your mission. Your website needs to be designed with those unique objectives in mind, so visitors — including donors, potential partners, and the media — are inspired to take action and get involved.   more

Do you ever wonder what would be the best way to track your organization’s specific information, such as who your board members are, what constituents have attended your events, and any other information regarding the people that are important to your organization? The answer is…User Defined Fields (aka UDFs)! more

In a recent blog post , our always helpful support guru, Cynthia Lipkovitch provided a ton of tips to maximize your use of queries and reports. If you are new to eTapestry and these tips seem slightly beyond your grasp, I’d like to recommend a brand new eLearning course, eTapestry: Basics of Queries and Reports , designed just for you. In one short hour, you ... more

This final edition of Tips and Tricks will review some helpful tips you can follow when working in Communications, Import,  as well as show you where the additional resources are located within your database.    more

Now that you have had time to try out all of the tips and tricks related to Accounts, Journal and User Preferences, I have compiled a new list of all of the tips and tricks that I could gather from our different teams about Queries and Reports. Again, please feel free to leave your comments, or if you have found additional tips or tricks, please feel free to share them!    more

“I didn’t know I could do that” will always be one of my favorite things to hear from a user. In my position as a Support Specialist, I enjoy being able to make you more successful in your job while getting the most out of eTapestry. Since I don’t get a chance to speak to all of you, I thought I would create my next blog series about the best Tips and Tricks within eTapestry.   more

Learn from your mistakes. I wholeheartedly agree with that old adage— for the most part . But when it comes to the life of your database, I think that  preventing errors  is best for us all. more

“I’m excited to teach the ‘Best Practices: Grantseeking’ class, and help empower nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes to find and secure grants funding in the most efficient and effective manner.” – Shelley Hindmon: Blackbaud University Educational Consultant more

Blackbaud University wants to celebrate the growing community of eTapestry Certified users! more

Here is a special request from one of our Interns here at Blackbaud.  Between getting me coffee and washing my truck....uh.....did I just say that outloud? Just kidding everyone!  Our interns are hard at work helping us make better products for YOU!  I mean just becasue he knows I like French vanilla creamer in my coffee and everything bagels with honey ... more

My mother, a self-proclaimed poet, would always say at the end of Spring “Spring has sprung, the grass has ris, I wonder where my flowers is.” Not so much a grammatically correct poem, but something that I always remember when spring comes to an end. As we wrap up Spring, I want to make our final stop in the progress of cleaning up your database, focusing on what is personally my favorite topic: User Defined Fields.    more

Nonprofits are always seeking more—or better— engagement . But they don’t always take the time to define what it means for them.  more

Blackbaud University students manage their learning through Training Central , Blackbaud’s Learning Management System (LMS). This platform provides a repository of all things training related, including course information, schedules, registrations, attendance, and more. I’d like to share some usage tips that I think you’ll find most helpful.   more

Yeah, this post has nothing to do with giraffe's, but it did make you look! In honor of my daugter's birthday this week (she loves giraffes) this is what you get.  Actually, I think the below is even better than a cute giraffe picture, so read on! more

Welcome back to the second edition of Spring Cleaning your database! Hopefully all of you were successful in getting the Accounts side of your database cleaned up. Today I want to discuss the upkeep of Queries and Reports.    more

It’s event season for many and we thought it might be helpful to see what options are out there to help you sell tickets/registrations.   more

Your organization’s event planning committee is finally ready to make things happen. As the event coordinator, the thought of such a high-profile event is exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.  more

Ahh, Spring! It’s that time to open the windows to let in that fresh breeze that has us northerners aching for all winter. Spring is a perfect time for dusting out the cobwebs and planting the seeds for your organization to grow! To get the best results from your database, you want to perform maintenance on it periodically.  more

According to the Pew Research Center, 65% of Americans use social media websites. 1 What does this statistic mean for you and your organization?  more

For those of you who missed our first Live Chat last Friday, it was a great success! Our Product Manager Mike Rusche walked us all through some of the exciting changes we’ve seen in eTapestry with the release of Blackbaud Sky UX. more

If you perform any data entry within eTapestry, you are probably familiar with the Journal page. We like to think of the Journal page as the beating heart of the account.  more

If you’re new to eTapestry, you’ve learned it is a fairly intuitive program that doesn’t have much of a learning curve. But if you want to leave your newbie status behind and learn how to better use this remarkable program, why not take advantage of some convenient resources?  more

Happy Valentine's Day to all our eTapestry customers! It's been great to watch a lively discussion on community about User Defined Fields over the last few weeks.  more

Auto-process transactions are a win-win for your organization and your donor.  If the donor wants to give multiple times throughout the year, an auto-processing transaction can save them from mailing in cash, or a check, every month.  more

We’re almost three weeks into the New Year, and I’m curious—have you made any New Year’s resolutions to boost your professional development? If not, there’s still time. And, if you’re struggling to come up with some solid, achievable goals, here are some resolutions to take your career to the next level! 1. Take advantage of hands-on eTapestry ... more

I thought with the buzz around the High School Musical Reunion, it was perfect timing to talk about the start of "Something New" just like the title of the song from the orginal movie.  I knew all of the words and w hat can I say, it was a catchy toon, easy to remember words and  I really liked it.........er.......I mean I have two daughters that watched that movie over and over and over.    more

With the holidays over and everyone getting back into the swing of things, it’s important to start reviewing 2015 and see how your organization did.  This way you can start planning/adjusting plans for 2016.     more

It’s that time of year! As we approach the end of 2015, that means Year End Mailings.  Your organization can get a head start on their annual thank you/receipt letters.  You can get all your resources together now.  Then once you finish your 2015 data entry, you can just quickly generate your letters.   more

It’s hard to imagine that 2015 is coming to an end. So much has happened in eTapestry education this year! Our brand new curriculum has been delighting learners for six months now, yet it still feels like we just launched it. More than 700 students came through our virtual doors. Were you one of them? If so, please say hello and tell us about your experience. ... more

The eTapestry Road Map webinar is now available to you. CLICK HERE You will have to register to view it. Watch eTapestry Product Manager, Mike Rusche, and eTapestry Product Marketing Manager, Marshall Simmonds, as they discuss the latest eTapestry roadmap and plans for the future. This webinar will give you a clear understanding of the product vision ... more

We are on the home stretch.  We’ve built our query and we’ve built or template.  What is left to do?  Well now you have to run your query through the template in order to Create Documents.   more

In our last post, we talked about how to locate your 2015 donations using a query.  Next, you need to create a template in the Communication section.  The template is going to be the actual letter/email.  It contains what you want to say to the constituent. more

Registration is now open for the eTapestry Road Map webinar. more

Did your organization participate in Giving Tuesday this week?  more

Update your social media sites with these downloadable images for Giving Tuesday! more

If you had a question and I didn't get to it, just email me at pam.dechert@blackbaud.com and I'm happy to respond directly! I will post some sample manual screen shots as well - several people ask for them!  more

We had a great session at BBCON on data health. Part of it was really good conversation surrounding how to implement a data health plan as part of your overall development plan for the year.  more

At bbcon 2015 there was a lot of talk about SKY UX, a consistent, anywhere-accessible and always-modern user experience that will translate across the Blackbaud’s entire cloud portfolio.  If you attended the eTapestry Roadmap session then you learned how we’re planning to apply the best of SKY UX to eTapestry, if you missed the ... more

We are bringing the best of bbcon to you! eTapestry Community members are invited to sign up for our free webinar on Data Health from our Rock Star Consultant, Pam Dechert. more

Auto processing is great, right? It takes care of the data entry, charges the donor automatically, and you don't have to lift a finger! But, what if a donor's credit card is about to expire? What if a transaction fails? Good news - there are a few things that you can do to stay on top of auto processing transactions so that you can maintain those continuous donors!   more

You can now become certified in eTapestry! The new certification program was announced at bbcon.  more

Are you awesome? Would you like to earn rewards for helping others out? Join us for a LIVE chat about joining the Blackbaud Champions program! more

It's easy to stay up to date with bbcon happenings. This year, we've created a whole page dedicated to bbcon! more

It’s that time of the year where organizations need to find their Lapsed Donors and try to get them to donate.  We want to make sure that fourth quarter is a strong one.   more

One of the many benefits of being a eTapestry Community member is hearing about exciting things before anyone else.  eTapestry and Blackbaud University are happy to announce new certifications are coming soon!  Details will be released at bbcon 2015 in Austin in two weeks. These certifications are all included in any Learn More or ... more

Hello eTapestry Nation!  I wanted to take a few moments and elaborate on something you may have noticed in your database recently, which is called the Name Conversion Tool.  With the launch of our new name functionality, you will need to take Individuals that have names in one field and break them up into multiple fields.   To do ... more

One look at this name:  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ...and your brain may refuse to process it. This large community in Wales recently enjoyed the world spotlight after a weatherman perfectly pronounced its name during a live broadcast. Roll the video! What's in a name? Well, with the release ... more

Did you know that over 30% of support cases have to do with Queries and Reports?  They are two of the most used features in eTapestry, but getting familiar with them can be challenging.  I remember when I first started working for eTapestry in January 2006 as a support analyst I had no idea what a Query even was, let alone what the terms Starting ... more

In June we released split name field functionality to new eTapestry customers and in the 7.16.0 release on August 2 nd , we began rolling out the split name functionality to existing customers.  You may already have it!  Splitting the name into multiple fields, like First Name and Last Name, has always been one of the biggest requests we have ... more

Would you like to earn points redeemable for gift cards, swag, and discounts on Blackbaud products and services? Read on! more

I am going to share a little bit about overall data health issues and offer 2 great ways to keep your eTapestry database cleaner.  more

The new eTapestry Online Community is here! It's your place to connect with fellow fundraisers and eTapestry customers. It's  YOUR  Community. It’s your place to get answers, submit ideas, or read about the best ways to improve your craft. What will I get from this community? The Community is a great resource for Fundraisers. It’s also an alternative ... more

If you’ve recently implemented your database or perhaps spoken with your Renewals Specialist lately, you might have heard about the Customer Success Program. If you haven’t, you are probably thinking “What is the Customer Success Program? Is it for me?” Let’s spend a few minutes looking at the program- then you can decide if it’s right for you!   more

Securing the donation is just the first step! more

Check out the latest eTapestry release : 7.15! New browser support Name Enhancements Click HERE to read more and let us know what you think about the new release below!   more

Let's get to know one another!  more

To streamline account entry, and in preparation for splitting First and Last Names for individual accounts, we will end life on the Add Account Wizard View in the upcoming 7.14.0 release, tentatively scheduled for April 12, 2015 .  We will not be splitting First and Last Names until later this year. If you use the Add Account Classic View, then this ... more

In preparation for splitting First and Last Names for individual accounts, and additional upcoming improvements to make account entry easier, we will be adding Envelope Salutation as a system defined field .  It’s new location will be alongside the Short and Long Salutation fields.  The Envelope Salutation change will take place in the upcoming ... more

Did you know that you can now process ACH (direct debit) gifts in eTapestry using Blackbaud Merchant Services ? Blackbaud’s end-to-end payment solution has always supported credit card transactions processed in your database. However, with the January 25 release of patch 7.13.2 , you can use Blackbaud Merchant Services for both credit card and U.S. ... more

We have some exciting news for eTapestry users! eTapestry chat support is being upgraded in our upcoming 7.13.2 patch, tentatively being released on January 25. What does this mean for you? I'm glad you asked! Here are some Frequently Asked Questions I think will help: Why are we upgrading our chat support? We can answer your questions faster than ever! ... more

The eTapestry team would like to wish you and yours a happy holiday season and many joyous returns in the new year. Just a reminder: We will be closed on: Thursday, December 25, in observance of Christmas. For cases created after 3:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 24, we will follow up with you on Friday, December 26. We are also closed on Thursday, January 1 ... more

Now that we've talked about querying and templates for your year end receipts, the last piece of the process is to Create Documents .  These steps can differ depending on whether or not you have our eReceipt module.  Some of you may see a Receipt step during this process some of you may not.  Some of you may have the eReceipt module, but not want to generate ... more

In our last post, we talked about how to query for your year end receipts . Now, we want to talk about sending these year end receipts to your donors. You need to create a template in the Communications section.  The template is going to contain your message to your donors.  We have some standard templates already in eTapestry that you can use as a starting ... more

Happy Holidays! January is around the corner and I’m sure you are going to want to contact your constituents to say thank you for their donations in 2014.  Some of you will even need to generate an actual receipt number for your donors.  I thought it would be good to have a break down on how you can accomplish your year end letters. Querying First, you need to ... more

According to Blackbaud’s 2013 Charitable Giving Report , more than one-third of overall charitable giving happens in the last three months of the year, with the highest percentage coming in December. It is not too late to start an end of year campaign NOW! Charity Navigator reports that 20% of annual giving occurs within the last two weeks of the year, ... more

Did you know: Building Numbers and Street Names in the Netherlands are really like the zip + 4 in the US?  They can identify the exact location of a residence or office. There is no "City" field, but a "Suburb" field on Australian addresses? Ireland is one of the few countries in the world that does not have a postal code system? Sometimes when you are just ... more

A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted this on Facebook: If I see any of you post your bra color on Facebook, I will personally send you a bill for $10 to be paid to the breast cancer research foundation of my choice. Honestly, I was insulted by her post. Not because I was dying to share what color bra I happened to put on that morning, but because she had decided ... more

Queries and reports are a major part of eTapestry, but they can also be one of the more complex areas of the database.  Today I’m going to show you a basic, yet very powerful query that you can build and use as a stepping stone for other queries.  For some you may know how to build this query, but you may not have thought about why you build it that way. I always ... more

A few weeks ago my friend Pam Dechert, Blackbaud’s lead eTapestry consultant, gave a wonderful presentation on “Optimizing Multi-Channel Fundraising” at BBCON. It was extremely well-received and very timely, especially considering that 35% of all online gifts are received in the 4 th quarter. With this blog being posted in early November, the ... more

In 2012 I helped staff the social media “war room” for Super Bowl XLVI – the most socially connected sporting event up to that point. From a room overlooking Super Bowl Village, 20-30 social media volunteers and professionals monitored 100s of geo-tagged keywords, and offered advice, support, and a little humor to the thousands of people visiting our ... more

It’s like you've been dumped... A donor who regularly supported your organization for years just called and asked to cancel his recurring gift. You need to learn what went wrong and determine whether this is an individual issue or sign of a larger issue with donor retention . If you handle the situation well, you may be able to save and strengthen this ... more

Welcome to  What’s on eTap? : a new regular feature in the  eTapestry Blog ! What’s on eTap?  is a regular digest of upcoming product news, updates, and resources. We work with the entire eTapestry team here at Blackbaud in order to compile the most comprehensive list of resources and news in the eTapestry world. BBCON: Don’t Lose Momentum Now! BBCON 2014 ... more

This is the second of two posts by Pam Dechert, Senior eTapestry Consultant, about reconciling your fundraising and accounting solutions. The first half of this post can be found here .  It’s common for accounting and fund development to not clearly understand what the each other needs and how they operate. Adding to the confusion is that it is not ... more

This is the first of two posts by Pam Dechert, Senior eTapestry Consultant, about reconciling your fundraising and accounting solutions. The second half of this post will post the week of October 20.  “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” was a popular book by John Gray about the differences between men and women. The general idea of the book is that if ... more

Happy October! Welcome to a month filled with beautiful fall foliage, pumpkin flavored everything, and building your 2015 budget. While I’d love to share pictures of pretty little Indiana leaves with you while sipping a pumpkin spice latte, let’s be real: This is a blog for nonprofit pros. We’re going to talk budget . In fact, we’re going to dedicate ... more

Couldn't we all stand to be a little less busy? Your eTapestry database is here to help save time by letting you run reports during off hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. If you spend time each day running the same report, eTapestry’s Scheduled Reports feature can save you valuable time and you will have your report waiting in your email or ... more

We invite you to read more about the new Knowledgebase changes happening here in Support. Check it out:   New Knowledgebase Changes . If you want to be in the know, make sure to   subscribe   to our Support News blog! more

Welcome to What’s on eTap? : a new monthly feature in the eTapestry Blog ! What’s on eTap? is a monthly digest of upcoming product news, updates, and resources. We work with the entire eTapestry team here at Blackbaud in order to compile the most comprehensive list of resources and news in the eTapestry world. Do you have ideas for how this new monthly post ... more

Volunteers are magical, elusive creatures who, in a culture obsessed with “busy,’ look at their packed schedules and say: You know, instead of binge watching five seasons of my favorite show online this weekend, I think I’ll donate – yes, DONATE – my time and talents to a cause. Our organizations all benefit from the selfless time and talent of our ... more

Most of your data entry into eTapestry is probably focused on tracking donors/potential donors, donations, interactions, etc. But what about tracking volunteer information? For many of the organizations, volunteers play a huge role in helping raise money or working at events.  Volunteer tracking can help you see who has helped at specific events, ... more

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve just finished your Data Conversion Walkthrough and you have the login and password in hand. You are ready to begin testing on your own! And then BAM! REALITY CHECK - “What do I Test?” “Do I have to look at every record?” “What if there’s a problem?” “When will it end?” “HELP!” Now take a deep breath! I’ll be the first to say that a ... more

Have you ever wanted to learn something new, but weren't sure where to begin? Maybe you want to learn about cake decorating, dog training, or even playing the flute?  Well, we can’t teach you those skills, but what about learning a new fundraising software system? Blackbaud can help with that! We’ve made it simple to know where to start. Take our new ... more

A fundraiser friend recently told me that her coworkers joke how no one wants to make eye contact with their CEO on Fridays after 4 p.m. When I asked her why, she told me: “Because that’s when [the CEO] makes her craziest requests!” While some of the requests we get may seem a little ‘crazy,’ the reality is if a fundraiser has a robust database, she is able to ... more

You have heard the saying "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it does it still make a noise?"  Well, I am no expert in trees falling in empty forests, but I can tell you that when Blackbaud's eTapestry and Target Analytics meet up, yeah that makes a noise. If you have not seen the recent press releases or read in recent blogs right here, ... more

Hello my friends!  How many of you like donations?  Go on and raise your hand.  No one is looking.  Everyone reading this should have their hand up.  Now how many of you like two donations?  Now you should have both of your hands up.  Today we are talking Matching Gifts. It is not uncommon for a constituent to donate to an organization and have the company ... more

We are very excited to announce the release of the Data Health Scorecard, an exciting new feature that serves as the foundation for bringing automated data health and analytics into eTapestry.   This free data quality screening provided to eTapestry package customers in the United States automatically runs each quarter , and provides keen insights ... more

There are many different ways to communicate. You probably choose to use them all at some point in your fundraising efforts. Each has a very appropriate place in helping you achieve your goals. The tools and preferences by which many of your donors communicate have changed. People are using phones less, and text and social media more. They’re less ... more

Hey folks!  Many organizations collect pledge entries throughout the year.  Pledges are a great thing.  Typically donors pledge a high amount and pay it off in smaller increments.  This usually means two things for your organization: a larger donation and a steady stream of revenue. Even though pledges are great, keep in mind that a pledge is just a ... more

I was having a discussion in my office the other day with a potential new hire. We were having a great conversation and towards the end she asked me why after seven years was I still extremely passionate about my job and Blackbaud. I told her what I usually tell  folks who ask me what I do for a living; I told her we help organizations who are changing the world ... more

eTapestry offers different ways to allow supporters to register for events, whether through the Event Registration DIY Form, or you may have our eStore (Cart) enabled to take registrations.  Both of these options are great when you want to gather registrants to attend a dinner, a golf outing, a gala, etc.  But what about those events where you want to ... more

Along with the new packages that were recently announced ( click here for more information), consulting offerings will now be available for all existing eTapestry package customers (Starter, Essentials or Pro)! Customers can now purchase consulting in a variety of areas which are outlined below. Click here to access the form where you can make your ... more

We're very excited to announce brand new packages for eTapestry! Fueled with powerful analytics, these new packages are designed to help you better manage your data and achieve unlimited growth. Here are a couple of the additional features exclusive to the new eTapestry packages: Data Health Scorecard: eTapestry customers in the United States can ... more

Dublin, Amsterdam, and London can seem  like far off places that one thinks about visiting, but may never really think about cities to work in.  I had the opportunity to visit each of those cities recently and speak to fundraisers and fundraising consultants about the state of their sector, what they need to fulfill their missions, and of course show ... more

Here in the eTapestry Support department, we love to show you ways to save time. And what’s better than cutting back the time you spend on data entry to focus more on your mission? Through the Import module you can cut out the manual adding of accounts and journal entries to your database, and instead import them in one quick process. All you need is an Excel ... more

It’s spring.  Seems as though winter lasted forever! Now that the weather is improving, my thoughts turn to all things bright and new. Spring makes me think of clean spaces and fresh new ideas. Spring might be the right time for you to add some pizzazz to your website…maybe with a snazzy new eTapestry DIY Form! See, DIY Forms are a great way to streamline the ... more

At the end of April, we will be announcing several exciting new features for eTapestry package clients that will change the way you think about data health.  Here’s a sneak preview of one of the powerful new tools designed to help you manage data quality and harness the power of information. Introducing The Data Health Scorecard Did you know that 15% of ... more

One of the most effective and useful tools in the eTapestry arsenal is the eStore (Cart). This module provides shopping cart functionality that is tightly integrated with the eTapestry database. This easy-to-use tool allows you to manage the content of your eStore in eTapestry. It provides a new way of reporting and storing purchase transactions ... more

As more organizations are utilizing eTapestry's DIY Forms, we wanted to share a few best practices to keep in mind when setting up your form.  If this is your first time create a DIY form, please check out our Getting Started with DIY Forms guide. 1. Your Logo Your logo and branding should be visible and recognizable.  Potential donors need to be reassured ... more

So there I was standing at our foundation’s welcoming area in the Indianapolis Marriott in the summer of 2006, shaking hands, meeting and greeting our near 800 attendees to the opening reception of our very large biennial convention. During this time, I was seeing a lot of familiar faces and names. Some I recognized right away from more personal ... more

Last month Blackbaud had the honor of hosting nonprofit sidekick and Co-founder of Sidekick Solutions, Jeffrey Haguewood, for a webinar called Back-to-Basics: 3 Principals to Acquire, Retain and Upgrade Donors. Donor Retention is an especially hot-button topic today in light of the news that the retention rate of first-year donors is only 23.7%. ... more

Are you currently struggling with running queries and reports in eTapestry, and are looking for a few ways to make your database simpler to use? Well great news! There are a number of pre-built reports in eTapestry  that can assist you in your data tracking and fundraising needs, helping you stay on top of database maintenance, tracking the success of ... more

As someone who has worked with the eTapestry product for almost 15 years, and done a variety of things around the product, I have a unique perspective when it comes to the engineering side of eTapestry.  When I  ran eTapestry customer support, the job was always to find a solution to a customer's issue.  Many times that involved some type of workaround ... more

Congratulations !  You’ve joined eTapestry and you are ready to begin your conversion. Below is a short list of 6 items to help you navigate thru the conversion, stay on track with testing and go-live in a timely manner. 1.         Training! Training! Training! Before you begin testing you should have a general working knowledge of eTapestry. I know ... more

Are you using the Advanced Email functionality built into eTapestry?  If not, you should be.  Email marketing continues to grow as a top method of reaching constituents, so it is more important than ever for nonprofits to maximize this avenue for growth.  And as eTapestry clients, you are lucky enough to have tools to manage the entirety of your email ... more

A lot of things have changed in the past 15 years in the fundraising world.  In my prior life as a director of development, things like “online giving” and “email appeals” were thought to be one of two things: either a passing fancy or the wave of the future.  Depending on who you talked to, online giving was going to save us all thousands of dollars in direct ... more

Update: We are once again fully operational. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience! Due to severe weather, eTapestry and The Raiser's Edge continues to operate with limited resources. Please  create a case  for assistance. We apologize for the inconvenience. more

Hello everyone! With the end of the year only a couple of days away I thought I’d talk about something that could help you with your year end letters.  If you are an organization that wants to list out someone’s donations for the whole year in your year end letter then the Entry List Widget is the tool for you. Widget is kind of a funny word.  A widget will allow ... more

2014 is right around the corner. Like most people I am sure you are looking forward to the parties, the all-day football and maybe even preparing to kickstart a New Year’s resolution. I already have two in mind for myself; one is personal and the other is professional. If you’re looking for suggestions, I have one that I truly believe will impact your ... more

Jeff Haguewood, Co-Founder Sidekick Solutions, which supports nonprofits by helping to simplify technology and fundraising, recently published a free ebook called 10 Ways to “Get the Most” from Blackbaud eTapestry. This ebook is a thoroughly helpful tool for all eTapestry users and I wanted to take a moment to share a few of his tips and encourage you ... more

Hello eTapestry customers! As 2013 comes to a close, we look back over the year and reflect on what we’ve accomplished. We’ve had a lot going on here starting with the restructuring at the beginning of the year where we formed our Client Success Team. This change separated our Account Management team into Customer Relationship Managers (CRMs) and ... more

I’ve been working with the eTapestry product for almost eight years and I love all of the tools it comes with to assist nonprofit organizations with their fundraising efforts.  Today I want to talk about one of my favorite standard reports.  If your organization subscribes to our Executing Reporting module then you should run the Recency Report! The ... more

When joining eTapestry you likely have gone through (or will go through) an eTapestry data conversion with one of eTapestry’s Technical Consultants. Quite simply, the conversion process is the first step in replacing your old system by transferring your current records into eTapestry. However, it is important to not take the name “data conversion” ... more

I just got back from a remarkable marketing conference in Boston called Inbound.   Thousands of marketing professionals across an array of industries came together for three days in August to learn, network and hear from industry thought leaders like Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington, and Charity: Water’s Scott Harrison. The title of the conference, ... more

This year’s bbcon was the most successful yet!  In my What’s on the eTapestry Horizon session, users lined up to get a sneak peak at what’s next for eTapestry.  Didn’t get to attend the session or bbcon?  That’s ok; in today’s post, I’m going to share upcoming features to get everyone excited about the direction of eTap.  Our goal is to make eTap easier for ... more

Hello Everyone! I thought we would bring to you a series of blogs to discuss different uses of the eStore (Cart) module .  For those of you that don’t have eStore (Cart), this module is great for selling different types of items.  For those of you that have eStore, this blog and the next few may help bring some new ideas on how to use the module. One way users ... more

We are pleased to announce the integration of eTapestry support into Blackbaud’s phone system! eTapestry clients can now reach support by dialing 1.800.468.8996 and selecting option 1. We're excited for the positive impact this change will have on your Support experience. One of the major benefits is the ability to wait to speak with an analyst ... more

Finding all donors within a date range is simple enough, but how do you go about querying on donors according to what they’ve given cumulatively? This would actually require not one query, but two! The first query we create will find all donations within that time period. Let’s say we wanted to find all donors who gave $500+ cumulatively in 2012; in that ... more

The Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits, also known as bbcon, will be held at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel & Convention Center in Washington D.C., September 29 – October 1, 2013. If you have never attended bbcon before, it’s a pretty amazing event where we all socialize and learn new inspiring things together. There is a special registration rate ... more

How many of you have had an event and when it is over you have a stack of donations that you need to enter into your eTapestry database?  If you’ve ever been in that situation then the Quick Gift Entry tool might speed things up for you. You can access this tool simply by clicking on Giving on the menu bar. When you click Giving, it will load the Quick Gift Entry ... more

Hello everyone! Great news – eTapestry just released brand new functionality to help you use your database better. So let’s get started!  We have created a brand new integration between eTapestry and Friends Asking Friends.  This is a very easy way to bring your data from Friends Asking Friends into eTapestry.  All you have to do is put your Friends ... more

This summer eTapestry Support is adding some new faces into the mix of our staff, so we thought it would be a great time for you to get to know the eTapestry Support team a little better. You may learn a thing or two about us that you never knew, or never knew you wanted to know! Justin Curtis, Senior Support Specialist   Favorite indoor/outdoor activity: I ... more

In  Managing the Dashboard - Part 1 and 2 , I discussed what the dashboard is, how it can be customized, and what some of the tiles can be used for. Now that you have your tiles selected,  let's talk about organization.  To move a tile, select the four point arrow icon, hold and drag that tile to the location you would like the tile to be placed. Once you see a ... more

In my last blog,  Managing the Dashboard - Part 1 , I discussed what the dashboard is, how it can be customized, and what some of the tiles can be used for.  This week, let's review some more of the tiles available to add to your Dashboard. Two straight forward tiles that can be quite helpful are the Favorite Reports, which will list out any report you ... more

An eTapestry user recently asked, “How can I customize my dashboard?”  Well, I thought it was high time to discuss how users can manage and customize their Dashboard page. First off, what is the dashboard? The dashboard is an area users can find quick access to their calendar, recently viewed accounts, help and tutorials, favorites, and some hard coded ... more

Washington Township School Foundation is one the leading school foundations in Indiana. Established in 1985 the foundation has awarded nearly $3.6 million to benefit every student and teacher in the district. When faced with the decision of how to volunteer my time for Blackbaud's Day of Caring, there was no hesitation when it comes to Washington ... more

Have you ever created a compound query and found that the results were not what you expected? In a compound query, we can combine two queries by adding their results together, subtracting the results of one query from the other, or intersecting the results to find only the accounts or entries that exist in both queries. The results of your compound ... more

Hello everyone! Great news – eTapestry just released a brand new menu and some additional new features for you to help you use your database better! So let’s dig in!  We’ve created a brand new menu for you to use eTapestry.  To start out this project, we took every single item on the menu and wrote it on a piece of paper.  Then we laid out the little pieces of ... more

As many of you know, eTapestry Support has started creating cases when you contact us with a question.  A case is a unique identifier that allows you to easily follow the life of a question from the time you ask to the time you receive a solution. Cases are a great benefit for both you as a customer and us as an analyst. Unlike before where you could not access ... more

There are so many features to love about Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS)! Here are the top reasons: #7 Fraud Management - All Blackbaud Merchant Services customers benefit from standard fraud prevention.  For more information, review the Blackbaud Merchant Services Fraud Prevention Filters  User Guide. #6 Easy to Read Disbursement Report – ... more

There are two options, within eTapestry, that can be used to track negative amounts: Disbursements and Reversals.  Both options are very different in functionality and one is strongly suggested to be used for donor refunds over the other. Disbursements are an actual entry type within the Journal. These entry types are generally used to show funds ... more

Knowing whether you need to use aggregates or Summary Fields in an eTapestry report can be a difficult issue to tackle, as they appear to have very similar functions. However, there is a major difference between the two that we will explain here to help you know which one you should use in future reports you build. To get us started, here is a basic ... more

Hello everyone! Today I thought I’d talk about the eTapestryHelp YouTube channel .  Many of you have probably watched a few of our recorded training videos within the database.  You can get to those by clicking on the Help tab, and then clicking on Recorded Training on the gray bar below the tabs.  What you may not know is eTapestry has a YouTube channel ... more

Just as donors are an important part of your mission as a non-profit, volunteers are also a familiar and integral feature of the non-profit landscape and success of many organizations. In the U.S., approximately 65 million people per year volunteer for a cause worthy to their hearts. eTapestry’s newest module, the DIY (Do It Yourself) forms, offers a ... more

In a past blog post, we discussed fitting your duplicates together in eTapestry . But, what really happens to the data in your Target and Duplicate accounts, when you merge them together?  Depending on how a field is built (display type), it may behave in different ways. There are four types of display types in eTapestry: 1.  Text field     2. Note field       ... more