Educating my team

Colleen Beamish

I am new to my organization and I'm realizing that my fundraising team has never really been educated on the database. So now I'm facing the challenge of expecting them to be putting in actions, but they don't really understand how anything works. I'm just wondering if there's resources I can use to present the information to them in our team meeting without me having to create something from scratch.

JoAnn Strommen

@Colleen Beamish Check out BBU https://www.blackbaud.com/blackbaud-university

Check out the curriculum you are interested in. There are a variety of delivery methods - elearning on demand (free I believe), instructor led courses (cost, registration required). You can also google some things to find other options.

JoAnn Strommen

This is another resource: https://www.youtube.com/@blackbaudninjas

Karen Diener

While there are a lot of generic resources out there about "how to use Raiser's Edge", what your team will really need answers to are things like "what action type should I use?" and "what kinds of actions do I need to enter?" The latter question usually comes up when people are trying to connect with donors and wonder if they need to add an action that they left a voice mail, for instance. Also, make sure you understand the settings that indicate an Action is "complete", which is set up in webview. If you are using Action Status, anyone entering an Action needs to be trained appropriately.

Your organization needs to determine the answers to these questions, and it needs to be someone in a managerial / fundraising role. Not the database manager. You can advise on the options and the impact of the decision, but should not be responsible for making the decision.

Dariel Dixon

To @Karen Diener's point, I think it should be recommended by the admin, but enforcement needs to come from up top. Regardless of what materials you might find @Colleen Beamish, you'll still need to have some type of training to show exactly how to enter an action. I find that creating a process without the proper enforcement is an exercise in futility and frustration.

I would look at the concept of a cheat sheet. And a simple 30 - 50 minute training session to answer any questions in real time. But make sure you have buy-in from management, because otherwise it will not take hold.