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Dashboard Builder limitations: filtering by Gift Amount & using Queries as data source

Cheryl Yu

I'm currently building dashboards for different giving levels in Raiser's Edge NXT.

I noticed that Dashboard Builder does not allow filtering by "Gift Amount" (numeric fields). Is there a recommended approach to define giving levels (based on total gift amount) with NXT dashboards?

Also, is it possible to connect or use a Query/List as a data source for dashboards in NXT?

Thanks!

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Joe Moretti

Bottom line, Dashboards in RE NXT are pretty much useless as they stand. You would think that moving to RE NXT, we would get GREAT THINGS, but that does not seem to be the case at all. I will stick with Database View.

Karen Diener

Unfortunately, dashboards are somewhat limited and queries / lists cannot be used as a basis for dashboards.

I do not believe there will be much information in the upcoming PUB since the focus right now is bringing functionality into webview and retiring database view. I would look at other options to create this - possibly a standard report, maybe a series of queries - it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Alex Wong

Here's some option:

Setup Query with data needed, create Excel dashboard using Power Query and/or Pivot
- Con: offline, requires exporting, not any worst than what dbview offer, but not great b/c not "live" on RE NXT dashboard
Setup Query with data needed, create Power BI dashboard that utilize the Query export automatically, then embed the power bi report directly inside RE NXT, schedule refresh can be within a few hours
- Con: has a learning curve that "can" be steeper

Suzie Capps

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/313333#Comment_313333

Would the Power BI Dashboard option also have a con that it has a cost attached to it if you want to embed it back into NXT and for other users to be able to see it?

Alex Wong

You are right that there is a cost, but I normally don't think of cost as a con, it is more of a question about ROI.

manually exporting data and manipulating excel to create refreshed report each time is a "cost" (human resource cost).

Crystal Bruce

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/313320#Comment_313320

Hi Joe, thanks for sharing your perspective here. Your feedback—especially given your experience in Database View—has been shared directly with our product team. For others following along: Dashboards in Raiser's Edge NXT are still evolving, and we’re actively collecting real-world input to help shape what’s next. If members have specific use cases or gaps they’re running into, those details are especially helpful!

JoAnn Strommen

It would be great to be able to use a consistuent, gift or fund query when creating dashboard. I've recently been asked for dashboards on athletic funds. There is no single data point for the 200+ funds. Manually selecting all is a pain point.

Thought dashboard would be the way to go as can't use query for creating NXT lists either.

Matthew Duprey

@Crystal Bruce Echoing above comments that a priority for the dashboard build out really needs to be making the source data come from a query or a list. That's how Salesforce and I am sure many other CRMs function. For many users, dashboards are for visualization they are not a place people go to build reports, that is what Query is for.

Karen Stuhlfeier

We use a combination of both lists and dashboards and people have gotten used to what kind of information they get in each place. I'm probably in the minority, but I really like dashboards and insights. I would however like to be able to filter on the gift amount within the insight.

Shaundra Mitchener

Echoing the comments here, being able to set a min/max range within a dashboard metric, or even as a filter on a dashboard itself would be extremely helpful.

Bryan Horz

Echoing above comments that a priority for the dashboard build out really needs to be making the source data come from a query or a list. It makes it impossible to build $ based dashboards for specific entities such as athletics when it is necessary to include/exclude certain fields such as funds, fund types, fund specific attributes.