Optimized Opportunities and Action Plans are now available in Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®

Evan Bullock

We are beginning release of Cultivation Assistant, a premium feature for United States and Canada-based organizations that combines the intelligence found within Prospect Insights Pro with the generative AI capabilities of Chat for Blackbaud AI. This initial release streamlines the creation of opportunities and definition of a cultivation action plan.  

With Cultivation Assistant, when you accept a Prospect Insights Pro recommendation to create an opportunity for a prospect, the system creates an Optimized Opportunity with essential data fields pre-populated based on available data and predictions for that constituent. You can review these fields along with brief context for how the values were calculated and edit them if necessary before saving the opportunity. 

After saving the opportunity, Blackbaud AI prompts you to create an optional Action Plan tied to the opportunity. Accepting the recommendation will open Chat for Blackbaud AI, where the user will receive a series of recommended cultivation actions to help secure the goal ask amount of the opportunity. These actions can be reviewed and refined within Chat for Blackbaud AI before being added to the opportunity in one click.  

These premium features help streamline manual tasks for fundraisers through automation while still allowing human users the ultimate authority over new opportunities and actions. Cultivation Assistant makes it easier to associate an active opportunity and plan of action with all high-potential prospects; this helps fundraising ensure these prospects do not fall through the cracks and are solicited in ways that align with their predicted capacity and giving likelihood.  

How do I get started?   

Learn more about Chat for Blackbaud AI capabilities, how to access it, and get prompting tips in the Chat for Blackbaud AI Quick Start Guide.  

What is the roadmap for Chat for Blackbaud AI?   

The February 10, 2026 webinar InsideTrack: Chat for Blackbaud AI covered the back story on how we conceived and developed Chat for Blackbaud AI and  our roadmap for further development. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the February 10 on demand session.) 

Enabling Chat for Blackbaud AI for your organization  

If your organization is new to using a generative AI feature like Chat for Blackbaud AI  within your Raiser’s Edge NXT, an org admin will need to enable Blackbaud AI features in the global admin panel. You may need to take additional steps within your solutions regarding AI roles and settings as well as specific feature usage. Use this help documentation to learn more.    

If your organization was using a gen AI capability within Raiser’s Edge NXT (like AI Acknowledgments) prior to Jan. 7, 2026, then Blackbaud AI features will already be enabled for your organization to ensure there is no disruption of your continued use.     

A note on data privacy and security  

Chat for Blackbaud AI works within your existing permissions and does not use your organization’s data to train the underlying model. It retrieves information from your Raiser’s Edge NXT environment based on your security settings, keeping your data safe and private.   

We want to hear from you!  

As you begin using Chat for Blackbaud AI, use the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons within the chat window to send feedback directly to the development team. Your feedback helps us refine and expand its capabilities as we optimize the use of this new technology for your needs.

Welcome to a new way of interacting with Raiser’s Edge NXT—thanks for joining us on this journey. 

Amber Salvage

If we decide to purchase prospect insights pro, are you saying the cultivation assistant is included or is it an extra cost?

Kathryn Hall

@Amber Salvage - As of this year, Prospect Insights Pro and Cultivation Assistant are part of the premium features included with the Raiser's Edge NXT Complete package.