Blackbaud Fundraiser Performance Management vs. Convio Luminate (discontinued)

I think there are better charitable relationship management platforms out there. BFPM serves a purpose, but it is an incomplete product for the hefty price tag it comes with. Certain aspects are billed as proprietary, like the MG EVI ratings, but they are inconsistent and often incorrect. BFPM has barely been updated in the decade I have been a user, which leads me to believe that the Blackbaud team is not innovating or devoting resources to enhancing/improving this product. It could stand a refresh to bring the entire product into the year 2022.

Incentivized

It does great with donor cultivation processes and the workflow feature is top-notch for automating processes. Where it does a less than stellar job is getting it to work more specifically for your organization. Often times building that kind of special feature costs a significant time and money investment and it is something that is hard to transfer when it's time to move to a new database.

Incentivized

• User-friendly interface
• Accessible from anywhere
• Multi-level search and query functions
• Streamlined prospect data pages

Incentivized

• Luminate takes some of the legwork out of setting up NSPS for nonprofit use of salesforce.

Incentivized

• "MG EVI" scores are a sham
• Doesn't seamlessly translate over to Banner in certain areas
• Clunky 'new tab' functionality quickly floods entire browser window.

Incentivized

• Big Investment
• It's a sales program with a donation management overlay so it has some troubles around reporting.

Incentivized

Support for the product is horrible; often support will have you bouncing between Blackbaud support and Salesforce support and it's very rare either are able to find simple solutions. Most of the time the solutions almost always cost money and hiring consultants which, for a smaller organization, means not being able to achieve proper solutions.

Incentivized

BFPM has the advantage because it is designed to be user-facing and user-friendly. It is a simple website to learn to use and navigate, but that does not mean it is flawless. It helps me and my colleagues engage with the database in a more straightforward manner, without having to learn and remember various codes and queries.

Incentivized

Of the databases I have used, Luminate CRM is my least favorite. However, it is powerful and large enough to function adequately for a large nonprofit; I couldn't say the same for some of Blackbaud's smaller products. We definitely need the full Luminate Suite (Luminate Online, Team Raiser, etc.,) to make it work, though - and we're constantly disappointed by the clumsiness of the way all the pieces interact.

Incentivized

• MG EVI is not the end-all-be-all it was sold as
• Still requires use of Banner for certain info
• Helps streamline data entry by allowing gift officers to enter their own contacts.

Incentivized

• Uncertain; we have not collected data on this. Our Luminate package is quite expensive, though.

Incentivized