RE Handbook

Jackie Cuevas
Jackie Cuevas
Third Anniversary Facilitator 1
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions

Hello all,

I am working on a RE handbook for my organization (not a users manual) to streamline the process in my department. Does anyone have tips of topics to include in the handbook? Any feedback would be helpful.

Thank you!

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Comments

  • Bobby Steurer
    Bobby Steurer
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge Name Dropper

    @Jackie Cuevas Do you have any topics so far? If so, what have you chosen? How do you see the handbook being used, and by who? Knowing the above may help us give better tips. Awesome to hear you're taking this step!

  • Ryan York
    Ryan York
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Jackie Cuevas So, more of a map of where to find certain information within the database-- not follow Steps 1 to 5 to record this within the database?

  • Jackie Cuevas
    Jackie Cuevas
    Third Anniversary Facilitator 1

    @Bobby Steurer Hello! Some of my handbook topics include:

    • constituent management preferences
    • query field requirement preferences for reports
    • defining within the organization the features and how we would like to use them, for instance an inactive record
  • Jackie Cuevas
    Jackie Cuevas
    Third Anniversary Facilitator 1

    @Ryan York I might consider adding this as well, but for now the team seems to be looking for a handbook tailored to the organization. Defining what terms mean for them (ex. an inactive record) and preferences for constituent managements and reports.

  • Faith Murray
    Faith Murray Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper

    @Jackie Cuevas
    Consider a historical record of list criteria. At our org, that seems to be a highly-desired item: a record of “For this event, we invited all alumni over age 45, all residents of NH, and all regent-donors” – etc. And then, how that translates into query processing.

    Also useful: how we defined our ratings and donor profiles; a “data maintenance checklist” that schedules phone appends, deduping, imports, etc; a list of annual audit reports for pre-audit prep.

  • Bobby Steurer
    Bobby Steurer
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge Name Dropper

    @Jackie Cuevas Sorry for the late follow-up, Jackie. Maybe consider adding Actions: When and How to Use Them and Opportunities: When and How to Use Them. I can't tell you how many old, useless Actions and notes I've uncovered that were basically just “Left VM” or “I saw Chad today and waved.” Haha.

  • Christine Cooke
    Christine Cooke
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 Name Dropper Participant

    @Jackie Cuevas. Good to hear you are documenting!

    • your org's way of standardizing both individual and org records.
    • standards for establishing relationships between records and utilizing Assigned Solicitor
    • preferred formatting standards for Primary Addressee and Salutation and any other Add/Sal your org may have active
    • standards/rules for constituent Attributes. When and how to utilize and what are the parameters of establishing new ones.
    • outline of your gift processing procedure and why it is done that way
    • any rules you have about Constituent Codes - because if you have a hierarchy this is very important.
    • a list of (and corresponding folder) of monthly/annual maintenance queries for keeping data clean and consistent
    • tips and tricks to getting exports, merges, reports to print or save to whatever formats have been established as working for your department
    • outline of regular reports that are run weekly/monthly/annually and where to find them, or their reports/queries/exports to produce said reports
    • explanation of the Active checkbox as used or not used by your org and why/when
    • explanation of whatever system you have in place for maintaining phones and emails (whether you keep old ones and label them or move them out of phone tab to where? or delete them altogether)
    • explain why or why not you keep former addresses when adding a new one.

    I'm sure there are others that I am not remembering but these came to mind quickly.

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