Converting from Salesforce to RENXT - Pros/Cons

Lisa Ricci
Lisa Ricci
Sixth Anniversary Facilitator 1
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions
Greetings,

Our organization is scheduling to bring Salesforce on for non-development program management. They are also discussing bringing it on for fundraising as well. We are currently using RENXT.  If there are any RENXT users that were former Salesforce for fundraising users that are willing to share pros and cons with me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

Lisa

Comments

  • Jennifer Wuchner
    Jennifer Wuchner Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant
    We went from RE to Salesforce about 2 years ago.  It has not been a good experience for us.  We struggle to get the information we need out of Salesforce and we have had it customized way beyond its capacity.  

    RE simply did not do what we wanted it to do and we were looking for a answer all program.  Hopefully if you choose Salesforce you will make sure you have some very qualified people who can help you get it all settled and in working order. 
  • Karen Diener
    Karen Diener
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper
    Hi Lisa,


    I've consulted for organizations that have made switches in both directions.  This is a really hard question to answer without knowing anything about your current RE database and what you're tracking, your program management / delivery needs, the size / capacity of your organization, etc.


    Salesforce certainly has its place in the world but there is an enormous amount of ongoing overhead expense associated with it.  You need people to build it properly and manage it, especially when the quarterly releases roll out.  Because the software very configurable, someone needs to pay attention to the releases and test your configuration to make sure nothing will be impacted.  It is safe to say that SF needs more ongoing attention than a Raiser's Edge database.  That is potentially one of the biggest cons for many nonprofits, but it may not be an issue in your organization.


    RE and Salesforce have fundamentally very different data structures, so there will be a big learning curve for fundraising staff that sticks around.  My general comment is to plan for a lot of resources - time and money - to be devoted to the project.  It won't be easy.  Some organizations end up loving Salesforce and others don't.


    Strategy needs to drive everything, and always make sure everyone knows what the problem is that they are trying to solve.  Don't create problems, or throw money at the wrong problem.


    Good luck!!


    Karen
  • Lisa Ricci
    Lisa Ricci
    Sixth Anniversary Facilitator 1
    Thank you so much for this information! This is what we need to hear! 

    Best regards,

    Lisa
  • Lisa Ricci
    Lisa Ricci
    Sixth Anniversary Facilitator 1
    Thank you, Karen!


    We are a mid-sized organization with little over 25,000 constituent records and approximately 2,500 donors each year. We are also on FENXT and Blackbaud also hosts our website. We use appeals heavily, like most orgs. Our main fundraising strategy are our events (including silent auctions). We host 6-8 each year (Golf Tourneys, Gala's, Dinners, Crowdfunding, etc.). We only send two large appeals each year. Our main "want" out of NXT is the ability for email auto-messaging and the ability to embed video. I know that Workflow can now handle the email portion but not sure about the video. We also would like to communicate with other constituencies within our organization, such as volunteers, that are held in a separate database. 


    My biggest concern with Salesforce is the common practice of over-promising and under-delivering, as well as the cost being much more than what was expected in order to meet our current needs. Your response is very helpful for this!


    Again, thank you so much for your feedback! I'm hoping to hear more from others that have gone through a conversion.


    Best regards,

    Lisa

     

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