Luminate Online Enablement: What does GA4, the future of Google Analytics, mean for Luminate Online?

Kent Gilliam

This summer Google announced the move to depreciate their current (as of this posting) Google Analytics on July 1, 2023 and introduce "GA4." GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics (GA) that combines data from both apps and websites. GA4 is the new name for the beta reporting platform App & Web and has been renamed for clarity. All Universal Analytics (UA) properties can be upgraded to GA4, meaning a new Google Analytics property will be created for collecting data. If you previously had a Firebase Analytics account (for apps), this will have been automatically upgraded to GA4. Join our session, "What does GA4, the future of Google Analytics, mean for Luminate Online?," to:

• Learn what this means for your use of Google Analytics to track your Luminate Online and TeamRaiser site data
• Get info on steps you need to take to continue taking advantage of the power of Google Analytics
• Hear about any pros/cons that have been reported since the release of GA4

Session Live (8/24/2022)/Recording

Session Slides: What does GA4 mean for Luminate Online.pdf

GA4 Resources:

• Parsons | TKO: Are you prepared for the Google Analytics 4 transition?
• Google: Introducing Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
• Blackbaud KB: How to set up Google Analytics 4 in Blackbaud Website Package and Blackbaud WordPress sites

Highly recommended alternative to Google Analytics is Matomo. Find out more on the Matomo.org website.

Don't forget to search here in the Blackbaud Community for discussions about GA4!

Gwendolyn Chambers

@Kent Gilliam
Hi Kent, Any updates on when there will be another webinar on this topic? I saw some updates in the latest release notes for LO and we're eager to get more clarity around configuring LO with GA4, specifically around donations, e-commerce tracking and conversions.

Kent Gilliam

@Gwendolyn Chambers:

@Kent Gilliam
Hi Kent, Any updates on when there will be another webinar on this topic? I saw some updates in the latest release notes for LO and we're eager to get more clarity around configuring LO with GA4, specifically around donations, e-commerce tracking and conversions.

Hi @Gwendolyn Chambers …. so I'm sure everyone heard about our staff reduction in February by now. Well that impacted our team a lot so we are having to re-work how I can still do my job. We're getting close and I'm hoping I'll be back in action next month (May at the latest). My first session will be about the recent releases (23.1.1 & 23.2.1) which includes GA4 stuff (23.2.1). I'll also be touching on the new privacy stuff and the Facebook changes. There's a lot to cover when I'm back in business. I'll be posting those sessions in here so be on the lookout.

Thanks!

Gwendolyn Chambers

@Kent Gilliam
I did not hear that! Thanks for the update. I'll keep an eye out for announcements.

Elizabeth Favre

@Gwendolyn Chambers
Good afternoon!
I'm a technical writer on the Luminate Online product. I'm curious to know a few things about your use of GA4 with Luminate resources.

• Have you had a chance to see the latest documentation on GA4 in the Luminate support documentation? This is very recent, so I think not many people have seen it yet.
• Does this documentation address your questions? If not, what can we add to be more helpful?
• Do you use Google Tag Manager in addition to the standard Google Analytics? Tag Manager can be used to compile information from multiple sources.
• Do you need the ability to identify user data by a unique user ID like a member number, or is it enough to be able to identify by IP addresses and sessions?

Thanks!

Gwendolyn Chambers

@Elizabeth Favre
Yes, I just recently discovered this documentation and went through our site options and made the recommended updates. We do also use Tag Manager. I am now seeing the conversion ‘Purchase’ populate since making that change but we also have a ‘donation’ conversion event that had been set up prior to GA4. Should the 'Purchase' event replace ‘Donation’? I guess I'd like some guidance as to how we should have GA4 set up to track properly (donations, signups, actions, etc). I don't know if we need id information. Is that an option?