With Blackbaud Online Express' online fundraising & donation software, users can create unlimited donation forms and send and track email communications. Plus, this simple, smart, cloud-based tool is integrated with the Fundraising and CRM solution, Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®. Blackbaud Online Express enables users to create and send mobile-responsive emails. Reach constituents quickly with pre-designed, mobile-friendly email templates created specifically for…
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Boardable
Score 8.6 out of 10
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Boardable headquartered in Indianapolis offers their eponymous board portal and board management application.
For 100% tax-deductible donations, I 9.5/10 recommend Blackbaud Online Express. The only thing is that it does not charge debit cards automatically, so I have to do it myself. Using Blackbaud Online Express forms for events gets more complicated. The way events work in Raiser's Edge in general is already complicated, so maybe it's more on Raiser's Edge than it is Blackbaud Online Express.
Overall this is a solid board/volunteer portal. It allows staff and volunteers to have an all-in-one place for operations, votes, and meetings. It is also built to allow volunteers to operate without the need for staff to do the work. A committee chair needs to set up a meeting - no problem they can go in, poll committee members, set a date, and with the preset zoom integration establishes the meeting using the company's Zoom account. Tired of building huge board packets of materials with tabs and chapters? No problem the system allows you to build it easily with attachments. Then you don't kill trees to print and mail with the Board able to view the agenda with all attachments in order with a few taps. Overall very solid product and cheaper than many other board portal services. They have some things that can be better, but nothing that should keep someone from adopting the technology.
Automatically matches the donor to a constituent in the database, if there is one, and gives you the opportunity to search if a match isn't found.
If gift is in honor or memory of someone, it matches the tribute in the database, if it already exists. If not, you are able to easily create a new one.
Transaction reports are easily accessible on the Blackbaud Merchant Services site.
Streamlined agenda building: Instead of spending time sending emails and attachments, I can easily build and share an Agenda with documents appended to specific agenda items. This keeps everyone organized and informed.
Accountability: I can see when board members log into the platform and keep track of who has read which content for increased transparency and accountability.
Real-time edits and updates: As things change or need to be added to an agenda, I can easily make edits and share these changes with board members. I can send them an email on the platform to remind them of new documents or information related to the board meeting.
Access via Blackbaud's web portal, and to Citrix, is clumsy and slow.
User creation and management is also clumsy, slow, and error-prone.
Integration with Raiser's Edge is a pro, but it also can make using Online Express more complicated than necessary for users just looking for a simple email marketing tool.
Customer service for all of Blackbaud's products has really lacked over the years. They are starting to get better in the last year but it can very frustrating. The online knowledge base community is the best resource for information. At times it can take hours for a customer sect even rep to help with questions or problems which is not at all ideal in this industry.
Boardable provides ample videos, information, and support to enable new members to learn how to navigate the platform. However, not all members are motivated to learn a new software system. Lessons learned with onboarding new members is to do a Spotlight meeting with them that utilizes as many of the popular features our board uses so that they shorten their learning curve. As with anything new, "practice makes permanent!"
Blackbaud's Online Express is MUCH easier to use than NetCommunity. Having the ability to "drop" donation forms directly into our existing website is a big improvement over NetCommunity's web pages. Only wish Online Express offered the ability to track constituents sign up for different email communications rather than just one option.
We didn't look at other products. I used Boardable for another organization first (as its President) and was thoroughly impressed with the easy-to-use interface, the low cost, and the quick onboarding process. I introduced the platform to our Board Chairman who gave the green light to move forward in 2019, which was a great move to do before the pandemic and our board meeting became virtual for nearly 2 years.
