Connect RE in NXT

Danielle Lifshitz
Danielle Lifshitz
Eighth Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions

Has there been any discussion of what the new systems/changes will be once database is sunsetting in terms of Connect RE ? I haven't seen anything about Connect RE within the NXT web view.

Answers

  • Carlene Johnson
    Carlene Johnson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Data Health #3 First Reply

    My understanding is that the Common Records Engine is what will ultimately replace Connect RE.

    Common Records Engine:
    “A new, powerful data integration process that establishes a list of common records, listens for changes to linked records, and synchronizes common data between Blackbaud’s education management solutions and Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. This will save IT time importing and reconciling data between systems, and provide a complete view of a family’s interaction with the school — from application, to student experience, to billing and donations.”

    Tagging in @Jeanne Townsend to see if she’s aware of a client or someone at Blackbaud who can speak to this in more detail. There hasn’t been much communication about the Common Records Engine on the RE side (at least that I’ve seen), so it’s possible more of the messaging has gone directly to K–12 Education Management users.

  • Jeanne Townsend
    Jeanne Townsend
    Third Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    My news aligns with Carlene's, in that the new Common Records Engine is designed to replace Connect RE. It is currently in EAP, with general release planned for later this year (2026), as far as I know.

    @Stephen Boyle has some great visuals about the process his team is taking to make sure it works for the K-12 crowd. I'm not sure about the plan for rolling it out to non K-12 RE users, but I would assume it's the same timeline?

  • Stephen Boyle
    Stephen Boyle Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper

    There are some resources out there, if you're curious.

    Some slides I've presented on Common Records Engine:

    image.png image.png image.png
  • Sudha Joga
    Sudha Joga
    Seventh Anniversary Facilitator 1 Blackbaud Certified

    Hi Stephen,

    Do you have an estimated timeline for the release of CRE?

    Thanks,
    Sudha

  • Stephen Boyle
    Stephen Boyle Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper
    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/311382#Comment_311382

    The target release date for GA is June.

  • Carlene Johnson
    Carlene Johnson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Data Health #3 First Reply
    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/311561#Comment_311561

    Stephen, as we get closer to GA, I’m trying to get a sense of what training, documentation, and FAQs will be available in advance—especially for those of us who are primarily Raiser’s Edge users—so we can prepare for the rollout and think through any downstream implications on the RE side.

    I’m particularly interested in understanding whether workflows like Address Finder, Address Accelerator, or merging duplicate records will need to change, what the effect would be on records in CORE, and whether there are areas where we should be paying closer attention as we plan for the transition.

    Could you share what resources will be available ahead of GA, and whether there will be RE‑specific guidance to help us anticipate any operational impacts?

    One additional question that came up: does GA for the Common Records Engine automatically mean the sunsetting of Connect RE, or should we expect a more gradual decommissioning process?

    (And for anyone who may not know—GA = General Availability.)

  • Stephen Boyle
    Stephen Boyle Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper
    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/311575#Comment_311575

    Last one first:
    Connect RE can be run with Common Records. Any record linked in Common Records will be removed from Connect RE (passing the torch, as it were). Only one system can be allowed to manage syncing for a specific record. Connect RE's timeline will be tied more to RE's move to NXT and out of Database View than Common Records.

    Resources:
    There is lots of material for you to peruse already. Some may change based on the new features added from EAP client recommendations, but this will get you grounded.

    One thing I think is important, but often lost in the discussion of the technology, is the human element. Get your education team and your advancement team together and work out best practices and data entry expectations. Once your offices are connected - your offices are connected. You don't want your Dir. of Advancement to be surprised when their data is changed because the registrar updated a families information. In the end, with or without Common Records your school will benefit from the increased collaboration.

  • Carlene Johnson
    Carlene Johnson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Data Health #3 First Reply
    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/311582#Comment_311582

    Fantastic — thank you so much for all of this, Stephen.

    And I completely agree about the communication piece between offices. I’m actually coming at it from the opposite direction: I don’t want the registrar to be surprised when addresses change after we run Address Finder in RE. Once the systems are connected, the human workflows really matter.

    I’m looking forward to digging into all the materials you shared. One thought that comes to mind: have you considered doing some targeted communication to RE users within the K–12 vertical so they’re aware of what’s coming? My sense is that most of the messaging so far has been within the K–12 Community, and many RE users don’t subscribe there (or to Community at all). From a change‑management and product‑adoption standpoint, a bit of direct outreach could go a long way.

  • Stephen Boyle
    Stephen Boyle Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply Name Dropper
    https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/311584#Comment_311584

    I think the bias is toward RE in the EAP group - in terms of the main contact person for Total School. It's the RE folks most interested in this integration, and thus they tend to drive the discussions. In fact, outside of the private EAP discussion board for CRE, the RE board is the only place I've seen client-driven discussions pop up.

    Now, the BB devs skew mostly to the Education side, but I've worked on both. And all the other disciplines have reps from each side.

    But to answer your question: we haven't targeted RE users. I'm not opposed to it at all. And we have an Adoption team that is working on that messaging strategy. I can pass along the idea to them.

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