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Reports->Analytical Reports->VSE Survey Report

Kim Berry

I'm having huge problems with this report and want to know if others are as well.

I understand it has never been viewed as a true solution for helping you complete the VSE, but my institution spent considerable time and money working with a Blackbaud consultant before my arrival to create a set-up that would make it possible for us to run the VSE Survey report to obtain the data needed to fill in the survey.

The set-up is doing absolutely nothing. I get a report returned in about 30 seconds that just has zeros everywhere. This is when running based on last fiscal yr, this fiscal yr and regardless of whether or not I specify any queries. I mean, come on - I'm saying run this against all gifts from all dates and it still just returns zeros in 30 seconds.

Have messages in to the consultant, have tried to elevate in support but no answers as of yet. If anyone can test their set-up and let me know if it is working in any way/shape/form for them, then I'll know if it's system wide or just my incredibly bad luck.

Thanks,

Kim

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Comments

Tom Klimchak

We've always had pretty poor luck using the VSE reporting from RE.

Our VSE report ran pretty quickly and it gave some semi-truthful numbers, though I didn't take the time to set up all the categories correctly. It's tedious, but you have to work through each tab, assigning your own funds and constituent codes to the constituent codes and fund categories used by the VSE.

I did get all zeroes in all the areas where I didn't take the time to assign codes just right, so I'm guessing that without the assigned values the report just skips over those giving records (makes more sense than RE trying to guess)... Good luck!

Dariel Dixon

Kim Berry‍ I've never seen that report work correctly. Not once. I've trained myself to act like it's not even there.

Kim Berry

Tom Klimchak:

[snip]

I did get all zeroes in all the areas where I didn't take the time to assign codes just right, so I'm guessing that without the assigned values the report just skips over those giving records (makes more sense than RE trying to guess)... Good luck!

The consultant built a bunch of specific queries and provided us with a saved report with the queries specified on each of the tabs. My thought was that if I specified the query, I didn't need to do any of the set-up below (especially with the funds - we have thousands of funds and there is no way we could possibly click and move all the correct funds from left to right) but maybe that was a wrong assumption. Which makes me think that I should follow Dariel Dixon‍'s advice to train myself to act like the report isn't even there ...

Lara Couture

This will be my first time having to report the VSE on Raiser's Edge. So if the VSE provided by blackbaud is unreliable, do I have to create separate queries/exports to handle all of the separate sections of the report?

I was really hoping VSE would be easier (cleaner) in RE as opposed to my previous system.

Dan Snyder

I think this all depends on how you have aligned your database to the VSE categories. For us, there are some sections of the report that are accurate and others which are not and we have to run separate queries for those.

We still have to update some dates in a lot of the queries that are attached to the report, but it cuts some of the work out making it a bit easier to complete. However, I am not sure if anyone is able to simply just use the report in RE and then be done.

Dariel Dixon

The way the VSE is set up can be confusing. Many of us know that concurrent constituencies exist, and determining which group a donor belongs in by VSE category can be tough. Making sure you aren't double counting gifts is also a thing for those donors who have multiple constituencies. I don't truly believe it matters how you do it, as long as you are consistent with the figures and only count donors and gifts once.

Carrie Gess

Lara Couture:
This will be my first time having to report the VSE on Raiser's Edge. So if the VSE provided by blackbaud is unreliable, do I have to create separate queries/exports to handle all of the separate sections of the report?

I was really hoping VSE would be easier (cleaner) in RE as opposed to my previous system.

Elizabeth Rich

I do not use the report from RE and have created a series of queries and exports. I'd be glad to assist offline if you wish.

If you have questions about what to include in the VSE, it is best to ask them directly at vsesurvey@cae.org. They are incredibly helpful and you get the information directly from the source.