New: Action Strategies Help Fundraisers Reclaim Hours Each Week

Kathryn Hall

A persistent challenge in high touch fundraising is preparing adequately for donor outreach.  

Today, before contacting a donor, fundraisers—or the database specialists who support them—often need to research recent gifts and engagement history, look for any recent life events or relationship changes, understand how outreach fits into a cultivation plan or opportunity, and draft talking points, emails, or meeting agendas.  

Even when all of this information exists in Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, assembling it at the right moment often requires navigating across multiple pages and records.  

We designed Action Strategies to reduce this preparation burden. This new premium feature compiles relevant donor context into timely, easy-to-read briefings to simplify preparation for donor outreach. 

What Are Action Strategies? 

Action Strategies summarize the most relevant donor context for actions due today or coming soon so fundraisers can prepare and act without navigating multiple pages. Each strategy: 

• Reviews recent donor signals, engagement, and giving  
• Connects strategy to donor cultivation plans or opportunities 
• Confirms communication preferences and consent 
• Flags recent changes like life events that could affect outreach timing or tone 
• Provides recommended engagement approaches  
• Generates optional content like talking points, agendas, drafts 
• Enables preparation and completion of the action in one screen 

 With this focused strategy briefing that encompasses many different sources of data, fundraisers can spend less time getting ready and more time engaging with donors. Action summaries can even be refreshed right before outreach happens to capture up-to-the-minute updates.

Who Can Access Action Strategies?

Action Strategies will be available to all Fundraisers using the Work Center—in accounts with access to premium features in the U.S. and Canada.

No setup is required if Blackbaud AI is already enabled in the account.

Eligible fundraisers see Action Strategies automatically within their existing workflows—from the My Actions tile on the Home page or the Actions tile on the Work Center.

What Changes for Fundraisers Day‑to‑Day

With Action Strategies:

• Fundraisers focus on what’s scheduled or due today, not their entire portfolio
• Preparation time decreases significantly
• Confidence improves because context is reviewed automatically
• Outreach planning and execution happen in one screen
• More time is spent engaging donors—not validating readiness

The result is a shift from “Did I check everything?” to “I’m ready to engage.”

Designed to Fit Existing Workflows

We embedded Action Strategies where fundraisers already work:

• My Actions tile on the Home page
• Work Center action summaries
• Chat for Blackbaud AI:
  • Fundraisers will now see a Plan today’s actions button when they open Chat for the first time. Prompts such as the following will support this feature:
    • What actions are planned for today?
    • What’s on my schedule for today?
    • What donor outreach should I prepare for this week?
  • And in the context of a constituent or action:
    • Should I proceed with this phone call as planned?
    • Generate content for this action – make sure to include [any personal details you want to mention]
    • What is the most recent activity with this donor I should know about?

There’s nothing new to launch, install, or configure. Where Premium AI features are enabled, strategies appear automatically. Where they are not, the experience gracefully falls back to existing workflows.

Role of the Database Manager

As with most AI-enhanced features, you’ll get the most valuable Action Strategies when data is clean and coding is consistent. Database managers contribute to the value of Action Strategies by:

• Maintaining high‑quality signals: Tags, engagement tracking, and communication preferences
• Encouraging consistent use of fundraising tools: Actions, Opportunities, and Cultivation plans
• Helping fundraisers understand this experience as a starting point, not a replacement for judgment
• Gathering feedback to improve how insights are surfaced over time

When fundraisers trust what the system shows them, they use it more effectively—and more consistently.

The Bigger Impact

Action Strategies don’t replace fundraiser expertise—they amplify it.

By reducing preparation time and cognitive load, this feature helps fundraisers:

• Engage more confidently
• Personalize outreach more consistently
• Spend more time building relationships that drive philanthropic outcomes

For database managers, enabling this capability means empowering fundraisers to do their best work—using the governance, data quality, and structure you’ve already established.