Blackbaud CRM Reviews

“stay very very far from them

Pros

Absolutely nothing. One of our board members signed an agreement without getting proper approval from the board. When we tried to reverse it, they immediately involved their legal team against us.

Cons

One of our board members signed us up and then left the board. He was not authorized to enter into this agreement, so we tried to cancel it with help from our attorney. We are a small nonprofit and never even used the platform. Blackbaud sent us multiple threatening letters and even though our lawyer responded, we ended up making a full year of payments. Our repeated requests to cancel were ignored and they are still trying to collect from us today.

“absolutely terrible customer support

Pros

The most useful feature used to be setting up recurring entries until they removed it when they switched to web-only access. Now with more than 200 recurring entries to handle every month, it takes up way too much of my time and energy.

Cons

Their customer support is absolutely terrible. It feels like they hire people with no experience. In three years I think I only spoke to one person who actually understood accounting. And don't even get me started on the pricing as they hit us with a 25% increase after the initial contract. They said it would convert to an annual fee but now they are claiming it is a three-year agreement. No one at my organization signed a three-year contract, especially since their software is not even the best fit for small organizations.

“easy to use with everything you need

Pros

I really love how easy it is to use and navigate. The built-in payment processor is also pretty convenient and I love that you can fully customize donation forms and create multiple versions. The reporting tools are really helpful and there are tons of useful plugins available too. Overall it really has everything you need.

Cons

Nothing too major to share as it works well with other software like Constant Contact.

“Not very efficient, feels outdated

Pros

It offers a lot of features and is quite customizable. Plus the point and click interface is generally simple and user-friendly.

Cons

Well it is not very efficient as simple tasks take way too many clicks and the interface feels really outdated like something from the late �90s.

“Great CRM with Learning Curve

Pros

Getting help from their support team is incredibly straightforward whenever I need assistance.

Cons

The reporting tools can be a bit clunky especially when I'm trying to generate fundraising reports for our organization.

“a complete nightmare to use

Pros

I am a customer of the Russian School of Math (RSM) and they use Blackbaud to process payments. Every time I need to make a payment to RSM, it turns into a complete nightmare.

Cons

Every time I register for a new class, I get a new Family ID but I am not buying a family, I am just signing up for a class. So the terminology is very confusing. I also have to use one website for registration, a completely different one for payment and there is even a third site that I don't really understand. Even on the payment site, there are multiple school accounts to choose from. I mean expect one simple login for the whole company, not a different one for each branch. Also its password requirements are way too strict and make the whole process even more frustrating.

“Smooth Transition After Setup

Pros

What I appreciate most is how we can give our users access to a business glossary and documentation library. Having these custom listbuilders means our user groups can basically train themselves and figure out different CRM functions on their own.

Cons

For me, the customer service is really inconsistent here. We've run into miscommunication issues with troubleshooting tickets that end up causing delays and extra recurring charges hitting our donors' credit cards. Our CFO has been trying to get a meeting with them for weeks now to talk through these problems but hasn't heard anything back.

“Functional Yet Frustrating System

Pros

I appreciate how smoothly it connects with other tools we use. The CRM Cloud Portal has been a game changer for our development team really streamlining the process of building Blackbaud customizations.

Cons

Customer support is really inconsistent. Sometimes you'll get someone amazing who helps right away but other times you might wait days without hearing anything back. The conversion process was a nightmare to get through. Training new users can be tough especially if they're not very tech-savvy since the system has a bit of a learning curve for those folks.

“Solid tool with room for improvement

Pros

The information stored in the system is pretty accessible and pulling data when I need it is easy and simple.

Cons

I'm still figuring everything out after 5 months and there's definitely a steep learning curve to tackle.

“Great CRM with Excellent Integration

Pros

The API makes accessing data really easy which I appreciate.

Cons

The pricing can be pretty steep for smaller schools making it a bit costly for those with tighter budgets.

“Disappointing and Frustrating Software

Pros

Sales presentation was really compelling and got me interested in the product initially.

Cons

The process for cleaning up old and irrelevant records is really outdated and takes way too much time. It feels like they designed it to make you pay extra fees. It's a terrible choice for non-profits. The training is also pretty bad for organizations that depend on volunteers. Customer service has been mostly negative in almost every interaction I've had with them.

“Great advancement with minor drawbacks

Pros

I can quickly access important donor information whenever I need it and the system gives me a clear overview of key data right away. The integrations work really well, especially the Events module which helps me track overall engagement across different touchpoints.

Cons

Sometimes it takes a minute or two to refresh when dealing with large amounts of data since it has to search through such a massive database. That being said I don't really have many complaints about the system overall.

“Better Options Available

Pros

System shows incredible promise though it feels like it hasn't quite reached its full capabilities yet.

Cons

The platform gives you way more features than necessary but everything feels unfinished and poorly implemented.

“Simple and Easy to Navigate

Pros

The interface is really easy to use and training new team members on it is not a headache.

Cons

Some features are only available when using the database version which can be limiting.