Holly's Helpful Hints: How To Earn Points In Community

Stay in the know and up-to-date on what's happening in the Blackbaud Community.

Did you know every time you take actions in the Blackbaud Community, you are earning points? Those points are then used to determine your community rank and your community authority level (I'll talk more about both of these in future helpful hints posts).

Today, I'd like to start with the basics. Here is a list of the actions in the Blackbaud Community and their points values:

Action	Point Value
Write a Blog Post	100
Create a Community Event	50
Reply to a Forum Post	30
Update Your Profile	30
Upload a Profile Picture	30
Start a New Discussion in the Forums	20
Send a Friend Request	15
Download a File	10
Upload a File	10
Successfully Invite Someone to Community	10
RSVP for an Event	5
Comment on a Resource	5
Comment on a Blog Post	5
Comment on an Event	5
Invite Someone to an Event	5
Comment on Someone's Profile	5
Send a Direct Message	5
Update Your Product Selections	5
Add a Community Bookmark	3
Give a Like/Good Answer in Community	3
Respond to a Poll	3
Upload a Photo	1
Upload a Video	1
Accept a Friend Request	1
Reply to a Profile Comment	1
Log Into Community	1

If you have any questions about any of these actions, post them in the comments below. Stay tuned for next week's Helpful Hint, where I'll talk about Community Authority Levels!

Posted by Holly Herbert on Jun 8, 2017 2:19 PM America/New_York

Leave a Comment

Joan Perry

We have a not so pleasant name for a friend who is all about her hotel points...but at least going after these points makes me feel like I'm adding to my professional network...right?!?!?

Posted Thu 08 Jun 2017 03:48 PM EDT

Holly Herbert

That's the idea, Joan! Unlike hotel points, you don't redeem community points for anything. It's all about establishing yourselves as experts in the space!

Posted Thu 08 Jun 2017 03:50 PM EDT

Allen Davis

Thanks, Holly! I'm new to the Blackbaud community and to fundraising. This post was helpful as I try to figure out how to learn and grow in this new world. Being a part of the Blackbaud community will certainly help!

Posted Thu 08 Jun 2017 05:31 PM EDT

Eileen Disken

Thank you for this Holly. It is most helpful and import to keep us all continuing to connect and professionally network within the community.

Posted Fri 09 Jun 2017 08:56 AM EDT

Jennifer Judkins

Thanks, Holly! Do you have a page or post that talks about guidelines for writing and submitting a blog post?

Posted Mon 19 Jun 2017 09:03 AM EDT

Holly Herbert

Not yet, Jennifer! But that's an awesome idea! Look for a post about blogging in the next couple of weeks.

Posted Mon 19 Jun 2017 09:05 AM EDT

Carley Haynes

Eeek! Good luck everyone! :)

Posted Tue 11 Jul 2017 05:02 PM EDT

Jeff Seidl

Thanks Holly, good to know and not have it be a guessing game!

Posted Thu 20 Jul 2017 11:39 AM EDT

Karen Tuecke

Holly, thank you for your helpful hints. They truly are helpful!!

Posted Fri 21 Jul 2017 12:17 PM EDT

Roger Berg

Is it just me or does it seem odd that you get more points for replying to someone else's post than you do for starting a new discussion? Just wondering.

Posted Wed 16 Aug 2017 10:39 AM EDT

Holly Herbert

Hi Roger, that's a great question. The reason we valued responses higher than questions is that it takes more effort to help someone else through a response than it does to start a new discussion of your own. This way we incentivize community members helping community members as much as possible. :)

Posted Wed 16 Aug 2017 11:05 AM EDT

Annette Miller

How can I get my badge for attending BBCon 2016? Thanks!

Posted Fri 29 Sep 2017 04:49 PM EDT

Holly Herbert

Annette, we have turned off the 2016 bbcon attendee badge option at this point (so we don't confuse it with our 2017 badges). If you will be at bbcon this year, you can claim the 2017 badge here: https://community.blackbaud.com/bbcon/attendees

Posted Mon 02 Oct 2017 10:04 AM EDT

Nancy Sprowls

This is great to know! Thanks for this post, Holly!

Posted Thu 12 Oct 2017 04:30 PM EDT

Zar Castillo

Do submissions to Idea banks count? If not, I think those should count for something :o)

Posted Wed 08 Nov 2017 09:35 AM EST

Holly Herbert

Zar, we'd love to be able to count idea bank submissions in our gamification, but our idea banks operate on a tool outside of the Community platform, so we can't gamify them.

Posted Wed 08 Nov 2017 09:37 AM EST

Chris Fedor

I know I am BB certified, how do I connect that badge to my profile. I did it in 2016 and haven't re-done it, so does that make a difference?

Posted Mon 19 Feb 2018 05:05 PM EST

Lori Bockstanz

Thanks for the tips!

Posted Tue 03 Apr 2018 05:00 PM EDT

Judy Ramos

Helpful tips and I'm learning more about the resources here.

Posted Tue 03 Apr 2018 05:07 PM EDT

Jessica Thrift

Upload a photo means like, to a community discussion, right? Not like my profile photo? Or maybe it does mean my profile photo, not helpful batch screenshots. hmm.

Posted Wed 04 Apr 2018 07:33 PM EDT

Holly Herbert

Hi Jessica,

Upload photo means uploading any photo to the site - whether it is your profile picture or a screenshot you use to help clarify a forum post.

Posted Thu 05 Apr 2018 09:59 AM EDT

George Buss

This is a good reminder of how to be involved. Thanks!

Posted Thu 05 Apr 2018 04:46 PM EDT

Nancy Miller

Hi, Holly, This speaks to my competitive nature. I'm in!

Posted Fri 06 Apr 2018 12:52 PM EDT

Holly Herbert

Oooh... Nancy... If you're feeling competitive, you should keep an eye on our Member Leaderboard (https://community.blackbaud.com/memberleaderboard) :)

Posted Fri 06 Apr 2018 12:53 PM EDT

Sondra Berry

I passed my certification for K-12 onProducts: Core last week. How do I get that badge to show on my profile? Also, I was going to add the bCON suffix to my profile, but the suffix drop-down menu doesn't include that option! How is that possible and how quickly can you all fix that? Thanks for any answers you can provide.

Posted Mon 09 Apr 2018 09:52 AM EDT

Cathy Bergstrom

Thanks Holly. This chart is helpful and a great way to have a quick glance at some ways to earn points and stay involved!

Posted Mon 09 Apr 2018 10:33 AM EDT

Suzanne Smythe

Good information. Thanks!

Posted Mon 09 Apr 2018 01:51 PM EDT

Monica Scholl

Hi Joan, you are so right! I just started yesterday but looks like points help! :) Have a great day! Monica

Posted Tue 10 Apr 2018 11:22 AM EDT

Sarah Krenicki

This is a great networking/skill sharing incentive! Now if only LinkedIn did points, haha.

Posted Wed 11 Apr 2018 09:33 AM EDT

Holly Herbert

Congratulations, Sondra! If you email traininghelp@blackbaud.com, they will send you a link to claim your bCON badge and add it to your community profile. You can change your name at blackbaud.com under the My Blackbaud dropdown.

Posted Wed 11 Apr 2018 09:36 AM EDT

Erika Guerrero

Even though I have been using RE for several years, I am brand new to the community and I had no idea about the whole points system. Thank you!

Posted Wed 11 Apr 2018 06:00 PM EDT

JoAnn Strommen

Nice know and not have it be a guessing game! Thanks Holly

Posted Thu 12 Apr 2018 10:24 AM EDT

Leanne Vitanzo

Thanks for the information!

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 11:05 AM EDT

Annie Tomecek

This is a cool forum but am still learning how to take some of these actions. Love the posts I have "discovered" so far. What a wonderful resource!

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 11:18 AM EDT

Melanie Peck

Thanks Holly! This post is very helpful; would love to see more as to Jennifer Judkins suggestion: guidelines for writing and submitting a blog post. :)

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 12:26 PM EDT

Jill Carilli

Hey Holly, my RE Pro Badge is not on my profle just my regular RE certification. Do you know how I fix that?

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 02:50 PM EDT

Holly Herbert

Hi Jill,

If you contact TrainingHelp@blackbaud.com, they can send you the link to claim your Pro badge!

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 03:12 PM EDT

Deborah Willey

Thank you, Holly! This is most helpful to us beginners!
Deb

Posted Tue 17 Apr 2018 04:31 PM EDT

VOm Veer

Thanks Holly for this much needed information.
Could you please guid me to see my points ??

Posted Wed 18 Apr 2018 02:19 AM EDT

Holly Herbert

Community members can check in on their points totals on their MyCommunity Dashboard (https://community.blackbaud.com/mycommunity). :)

Posted Wed 18 Apr 2018 09:47 AM EDT

Stacy Wintjen

Thanks, this was helpful!

Posted Wed 18 Apr 2018 02:34 PM EDT

Lori Kelly

Thanks Holly. This is very helpful. I'm enjoying the Badge search and am really impressed as it is a great way to get me to check out the various sections in the Community. I've learned a lot already - and this is just the first challenge!

Posted Fri 20 Apr 2018 02:22 PM EDT

Melonie AllynSchwerin

This is very helpful and now I have it bookmarked!

Posted Mon 30 Apr 2018 12:55 PM EDT

Megan Kern

Thanks for the info.

Posted Mon 30 Apr 2018 12:57 PM EDT

Sauntel Richardson

I'm almost a whole year late, but this post is very helpful!

Posted Mon 30 Apr 2018 01:15 PM EDT

Faith-Anne Kyle

This is super helpful. Anyone know how to find polls?

Posted Mon 30 Apr 2018 01:48 PM EDT

Shannon Emery

Hey Faith-Anne! You can find the polls on various community home pages on the right hand side. For example, if you go here, you can find Community Polls on the right hand side: https://community.blackbaud.com/blackbaudbestpractices

Feel free to reach out to me if you need more help! :)

Posted Mon 30 Apr 2018 02:10 PM EDT

Christopher Blitz

Think i'll spend lots of time loging into and out of the community :) That's a good way to build up my numbers.

Posted Wed 02 May 2018 11:00 AM EDT

Danny Levy

Very helpful. Thank you. I've bookmarked!

Posted Mon 14 May 2018 11:16 AM EDT

Arnina Newsome

Hello. So after watching/listening to the Raiser's Edge NXT dba webinar, I noticed that there are a lot of items that are now going to be available for RE NXT that were originally for RE7 only. So how do they keep RE7 relevant?

Posted Wed 30 May 2018 10:21 PM EDT

Joshua Bekerman bCLO bCRE

Are points awarded when a post is marked "Best Answer?"

Posted Thu 31 May 2018 02:40 PM EDT

George Buss

Super helpful! Thank you!

Posted Mon 04 Jun 2018 03:30 PM EDT

Kristina Wheelock

Just found this point value chart. Super helpful to see how things translate to points. Thanks!

Posted Tue 05 Jun 2018 12:51 PM EDT

Lisa Hensell

I love this blog post! I always come back to! :)

Posted Tue 05 Jun 2018 03:25 PM EDT

Suzan Swartzentrover

This is so helpful. Thank you!

Posted Fri 22 Jun 2018 11:37 AM EDT

Betsie Chilton

Thanks!!

Posted Thu 28 Jun 2018 11:20 AM EDT

Bethany Burke

Thanks for posting, this is super helpful!

Posted Sun 01 Jul 2018 06:55 PM EDT

Jenna Anderson

You get points for RSVP'ing to an event, but what about for attending webinars? It feels like you should be earning points in the community for actively participating in Blackbaud's webinars (Outside of Blackbaud U).

Posted Mon 02 Jul 2018 04:18 PM EDT

Jennifer Neal

This post was very helpful, thank you!

Posted Tue 10 Jul 2018 10:28 AM EDT

Rebecca Wren

Great list! My 2018 goal is to level up to Expert status. I love that we have this diverse community to support our understanding and utilization of the Blackbaud platforms. It kills me that so many NPs invest a lot of $$ i their donor platform but don't invest the time into learning how to make it best work for the organization.

Posted Mon 23 Jul 2018 12:06 PM EDT

Debra Talbott

Sometimes it is hard to justify the time to look at all the content. But when there is down time I find the posting interesting.

Posted Fri 31 Aug 2018 01:31 PM EDT

Karintha Marshall

Very handy! I'm just getting familiar with BB Community and when I found my dashboard I wondered how in the world I racked up as many points as I have.

Posted Tue 11 Sep 2018 01:38 AM EDT

Elizabeth de Almeida

Thank you for this post. I look forward to growing my knowledge and hearing about different organizations and how they use their databases.

Posted Wed 10 Oct 2018 01:47 PM EDT

Jeanna Dawson

Thanks. Has anyone ever posted the actions it takes to become a ninja?

Posted Fri 19 Oct 2018 09:54 AM EDT

Shelly Gammieri CFRE

These tips are bomb. Just kidding, I don't say things like that irl. They really are awesome, though! Hey, how does one go about writing a blog post? (I promise not to use words like "bomb").

Posted Wed 28 Nov 2018 05:02 PM EST

Ray Bergman

Jeanna Dawson‍ - Yes, actually. We've actually broken it down into three "quests" 1 - https://community.blackbaud.com/contest/chamberofbadges 2 - https://community.blackbaud.com/blogs/61/4644 3 - https://community.blackbaud.com/blogs/61/4740

Posted Thu 29 Nov 2018 10:49 AM EST

Ray Bergman

Shelly Gammieri‍ - Why yes, there IS a link for that!
https://community.blackbaud.com/forms/edit-item/35/null

Posted Thu 29 Nov 2018 10:48 AM EST

Jeanna Dawson

Thanks , now how does one get the bbcon attendee and bbu attendee badges for 2018??

Posted Fri 30 Nov 2018 10:16 AM EST

Tim Stahl

Thanks for listing this out!

Posted Thu 24 Jan 2019 10:03 AM EST