Blackbaud Online Express vs. Fundraise Up

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.

Incentivized

FundraiseUp is best utilized in arenas where the non-profit has some room for growth/expansion and/or the market is medium/large (100,000+ city). Small audience organizations might see some improvement but in my estimation won't see the ROI from the 5% (or more) charge per donation. Both well-established orgs and growing ministries can benefit from this platform. Another great reason to go with FRU is the incredibly easy user-interface for both the donor and the admin. The AI features built into the form provide incredible LIVE adjustments to optimize conversions and monthly giving. It is worth the extra cost (per donation) if you're community is large enough

Incentivized

• Online donation forms are easy to create and place within our existing website. The donations received are easily transferred into our Raiser's Edge database.
• Creating email communications for our constituents is very simple to achieve in Online Express and the statistics provided are very helpful to see what our constituents are clicking on.

Incentivized

• Donation Upselling through AI
• Donation and Donor Management
• Integration with External CRMs

Incentivized

• It does have some "quirks." It can be a little tricky to process the batch until you have done it a few times.
• I had a problem finding a constituent yesterday - he was purchasing a program ad for an event - that I knew was in the database. It turned out that he had been marked inactive, and so apparently wasn't included in the search results.

Incentivized

• Pricing Model is a Bit Steep
• Non-Digital Donation Tracking Limited
• Tech Support Delayed Responses/No Live Chat or Phone

Incentivized

For both donors and admin, Fundraise Up is the best donation platform (gateway) that I have ever used. It is optimized throughout the experience to be incredibly easy and unmatched in how robust it is. The many options Fundraise Up provides from sticky buttons, to pop-ups, to full landing pages is diverse and serves any need an org might have.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Blackbaud Online Express is mainly used strictly because of its integration with Raiser's Edge. If a client uses Salesforce for constituent/lead management, other products can offer more flexibility in designing donation forms, email templates, etc. However, they all have their own negatives in Salesforce integration -- that is a whole other can of worms. While the Raiser's Edge integration of Online Express isn't perfect, it is relatively painless compared to the competition's Salesforce integration. Also, for NFP's, Blackbaud's NFP focused business model is a plus.

Incentivized

Fundraise Up understands their lane and they absolutely nail it! They have worked hard to be the very best in their niche and have gone above and beyond to integrate with other solutions for a streamlined approach to data management. I have not experienced a better solution in my almost 20 years of nonprofit marketing.

Incentivized

• Regardless of project or initiative, all fund-raising efforts are managed in one place for the entire organization.
• Donor management is concise, thorough, and systematic - no individual or organization is overlooked.
• Snapshot reporting of successful grant applications and fund-raising are readily available.

Incentivized

• 40% increase in monthly donors over 18-month period
• Processing charges covered went from 23% to 42% in 12 months
• Ease-of-use for non-tech Employees

Incentivized