Ravenna vs. Slate for Admissions

Well suited to having the ability to import information when there are large numbers of scholars to be updated, such as graduations or moving up a grade. On the other hand, the program is geared towards a school and we are not a school so we had to do a lot of tweaking for our purposes.

Incentivized

I would recommend Slate, by Technolutions for any higher education institution, big or small. Though there is a higher cost associated with Slate than most other options, it's well worth the price. The level of detail that you're able to gather, maintain, and query on within your student data is far beyond anything I've experienced with other systems. These insights help you pinpoint areas for action and improvement so that you can pivot when necessary, helping you reach your enrollment goals quicker and more efficiently.

Incentivized

• Customer service in response to problem-solving.
• Extremely hands-on in making additions to the software on the spot to fulfill a need.

Incentivized

• Managing contacts.
• Smart communications (drip email campaigns).
• Real-time data management.
• End-to-end control of product (or instance of).
• Allows for easy to implement segmentation via smart rules and queries (data sets).

Incentivized

• There are a lot of terms used for different information in the database. It would be nice if that could be streamlined somehow and more intuitive for the users.
• There are a lot of details to go through to make custom list or create reports. If you don't do these processes regularly, it seems you are always relearning the process.
• There was a point when data changes needed to be done in two different places, but I think we may have resolved that issue.

Incentivized

• Being able to have students register at an event without needing a wifi network
• Easier way to update records for individuals who move to a different organization
• Being able to start an application first without needing to immediately set up a user name and password.

Incentivized

It's incredibly usable and easy to figure out. It's modern and does exactly what we need for it to do

Incentivized

Brian, our representative, as been tremendous. His response time is outstanding - and if he is able to alter the tool on the spot, he will. We've been able to do more sophisticated maneuvers because of his willingness to problem-solve with us. When the functionality isn't there, it is also a very honest conversation and we know when we have to work outside of the tool.

Incentivized

While I do wish they had actual representatives that we able to come to you for trainings for implementation and new users, I understand that a big draw is the money that is saved by instead investing in knowledgebase, which is it's online tutorials for different functions of Slate.

Incentivized

We were using the CRM database system, however it was too proprietary and when we wanted to make changes or customize we were continually paying an outside consultant to get things done. With inRESONANCE, we are able to make the updates, and customize as we need to internally. It has saved us a significant amount of money in this regard.

Incentivized

We had been on Recruitment Plus- it has been sunsetted, so we were forced to move. I also looked at Fire Engine Red. Slate seemed far and away the most robust CRM/Admissions solution.

Incentivized

• Annual fund tracking is very easy and pulling simple things like donors/non-donors is easy. Fine for a straight-forward appeal.
• If you are going with a comprehensive/combine ask - this is not the tool for you. There's no way to split gifts with % allocation. We're losing money in spending time trying to figure out how to configure pledges in accordance with the software.

Incentivized

• We aren't really a business, per se, but a nonprofit university. However, Slate[, by Technolutions] does allow us to easily sort applications into categories for different departments to review. And it provides a clear trail of who is looking at various documents when--and how long it takes to process them.