What is your shared work environment like?

Vince Roe
Vince Roe
Third Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1 Blackbaud Certified
edited October 22 in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions

Hello - I'm wondering what everyone's shared work environment is like in RE. How do you and your colleagues run the same work flows?

For example, I'm trying to set up a shared workflow so that we can:

  1. Export a CSV from database view
  2. Open and refresh a shared Excel sheet (that is connected to the CSV via PowerQuery)
  3. Save and close the updated Excel sheet so it can be used in a Word merge template

I'm trying to think of a work environment where (a) files from RE database view can be exported and (b) can also be loaded into Excel by a data connection. I'm aware of the FTP storage space in NXT but there doesn't seem to be a way to establish a data connection to it in Excel (that my IT department will allow).

Right now, we have a shared local server that is connected to database view so I can save files there. Problem is, IT hates that we have this and I'm not able to connect my colleagues to it. We are a Microsoft school so we have Sharepoint and OneDrive to use as a workspace for our day to day file sharing. My colleagues are also not technical people - so much so that the steps I listed above might be too much for some of them (god love 'em).

Tagged:

Answers

  • Austen Brown
    Austen Brown Community All-Star
    Ninth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Product Update Briefing Feedback Task 3 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    You can use Power Automate to accomplish, especially the piece about grabbing a file from the BB FTP folder and saving it as an excel document on SharePoint; triggered when the file is exported to the FTP. You can even tack on an automatic email that shares a link to that file with your team. This would enable you to meet colleagues where they are, appease IT, and do it without adding work to your plate.

    Here's a blog with more info on this option: https://prengersolutions.com/fundraising-insight/can-power-automate-help-me/

  • Dan Snyder
    Dan Snyder Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 Raiser's Edge NXT Fall 2025 Product Update Briefing Badge First Reply
    edited October 23

    @Vince Roe

    Here is a sample of how you can do that with Power Automate, you can just skip the Power BI piece since folks would be accessing it in Sharepoint or OneDrive.

    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/61409

Categories