BlackbaudReviews of blackbaud.com

I'm reviewing the company as well as Raisers Edge. I've worked with them for 3+ years, and oh how I despise Blackbaud. When I joined my current nonprofit, they had just switched to Blackbaud systems. I am an end user, not a decision-maker nor a manager. The big take-aways are (1) Warn your constituents to ALWAYS scroll to the bottom and look at the fine print for what boxes are checked by default. I found out just a few weeks ago during my recent fundraising campaign that Raisers Edge has just added a new "contribute to them" button which is a contribution to BLACKBAUD, not the nonprofit. The wording is such that a normal person wouldn't really know who "them" is. I have no doubt that they intentionally worded it that way... PLUS, the charge ranges from 9 to 12% based on the person's wealth rating. According to "them", it's not a "fee" but a "contribution"... that means instead of an additional contribution to the nonprofit, the people get to send a bonus to the FOR PROFIT VENDOR just for kicks and giggles. We have a contract with the vendor that processing fees are 0 if the total is under $3,000. This company is raking in $25 to $30+ when someone donates $250 to my nonprofit. What a scam! (2) Blackbaud is partnering with all sorts of other companies who can connect to them. They offer subpar tools so that you can upgrade for even MORE money if you want better features. I would not be surprised if they got a percentage from the handshake. Let's take the Raiser Edge email tool for instance - very un-user-friendly and doesn't give you many options to make a pretty eblast. You can connect to Constant Contact for another fee. If you want better wealth data and analysis, you can connect to another vendor for an additional fee. And so on. When you sign up, you get locked into a software lifestyle so intertwined that if you decide to leave, you have to unravel all of your systems. READ THE FINE PRINT. I don't find their business practices ethical at all. If I were a manager and decision-maker, I would report them to the state attorney general, the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission for what I consider unscrupulous practices. But I am just me and speaking on behalf of my own experiences. I do not represent my company with this review.

The worst payment management company I have ever used. There are problems every time. Customer service is nonexistent. I canceled an educational program for my children rather than endure another payment experience with this negative-value firm. I would rather pay more than use Blackbaud again.

We are a smaller non-profit and not only was Blackbaud way too much for us, but it was difficult to use and understand and the support was not helpful. It is crazy expensive and when we wanted out of the contract is was hard. Even paying our bill was difficult. Not a fan.

A donor tried giving money through BlackBaud, but BlackBaud said there was a problem with our account. We tried resolving the issue following their instructions, but the instructions were inaccurate and vague. We used their chatbot, help articles, and customer service phone number, but we could never find accurate information or speak to a real person. We were often sent to pages that we were not allowed to access. We have spent more money on staff salaries trying to resolve this problem than we will receive from the donation.

They overcomplicated payment flow, which is mostly impossible to do. For each school year, customers needs to add the same bank account again and again. Also, rude customer support (agent Carlos to be specific).

Its anoying to work with, it stops working like every other week, and it’s really hard to work with

My school uses this platform to update on assignments and for grades. In previous years, we have used Google Classroom, which was significantly better because it notifies teachers of late assignments and does not sign you out of your account every time you get on.

Zero stars on a day like this, when the platform is down all day and a school can't take attendance or post assignments, in addition to many other basic school functions.