By Stacey Segal, COO Have you ever found yourself lost in a sea of acronyms, wondering if you stumbled into a tech jargon vortex? It's no wonder we feel like we're swimming in alphabet soup! In the digital era, nonprofit organizations use more advanced technologies to enhance their operations, expand their reach, and maximize their social impact. Among these tools, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Customer Data Platforms (CDP), Master Data Management (MDM), and Data Quality Management (DQM) stand out among the acronyms that can transform the way nonprofits operate. In this blog post, we'll explore how nonprofit organizations can effectively leverage these technologies to drive positive change and achieve their goals. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI encompasses the replication of human intelligence processes by machines, particularly computer systems. Nonprofits can employ AI in various capacities to streamline operations and improve decision-making processes. For example, AI-powered chatbots can offer immediate support to donors and stakeholders. Additionally, AI can enable predictive analytics to anticipate donation trends, identify potential donors, and personalize communication strategies. Nonprofits may have security concerns regarding adopting and implementing Artificial AI solutions. Some of these concerns might include: Data Privacy: Nonprofits often deal with sensitive donor information and beneficiary data. Implementing AI systems may involve collecting and analyzing large volumes of data, raising concerns about data privacy and compliance with GDPR, CPRA, or HIPAA regulations. Bias and Fairness: AI algorithms are susceptible to bias, which can lead to unintended discriminatory outcomes, particularly in decision-making processes. Nonprofits will need to evaluate and mitigate bias in AI models carefully. Ethical Use of Data: Nonprofits must consider the ethical implications of using AI technologies, particularly in data collection, analysis, and decision-making. Concerns exist about the responsible and ethical use of data, including potential misuse or unintended consequences. Compliance Requirements:  Nonprofits operating in some sectors or countries need to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations governing the use of AI. This includes understanding data protection laws, industry-specific regulations, and ethical AI development and deployment guidelines. Machine Learning (ML): ML, a subset of AI, involves developing algorithms that enable computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions. Nonprofit organizations can utilize ML algorithms to analyze extensive datasets, such as donor demographics and behaviors, to optimize fundraising campaigns and tailor engagement efforts. ML can also play a role in program evaluation and impact assessment, empowering nonprofits to measure and enhance the effectiveness of their initiatives. Some of the considerations nonprofits may consider when adopting ML technologies include: Cost and Resource Constraints: ML projects can be resource-intensive in time, money, and infrastructure requirements. Technical Complexity and Expertise: Implementing ML technology requires specialized skills and expertise in data science, statistics, and programming. Nonprofits may need more resources or technical capabilities to effectively develop, deploy, and maintain ML models. This could lead to more costs and investment in off-the-shelf technologies and partnerships with providers focused on the nonprofit sector. Customer Data Platforms (CDP): A CDP is a centralized system for collecting, organizing, and analyzing customer data from diverse sources to create a unified view of individual donors or constituents. Nonprofits can leverage CDPs to gain deeper insights into their supporters, understand their interactions across various channels, and deliver personalized experiences. By segmenting donors based on interests and engagement levels, nonprofits can craft targeted fundraising appeals and communication strategies tailored to specific audiences. Master Data Management (MDM): MDM involves processes, governance, policies, standards, and tools consistently defining and managing critical data assets across an organization's technology. MDM ensures the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data related to donors, beneficiaries, programs, etc. By establishing a single source of truth through MDM practices, nonprofits can eliminate data silos, minimize errors, and enhance data quality. MDM and CDP are complementary technologies that provide a comprehensive view of customer data and enable organizations to manage and leverage data effectively. Many organizations ask, "Do I really need an MDM or a CDP solution or both?" Why might an organization select one or the other, or both? If your organization deals with complex data structures and diverse data sources, MDM can help ensure consistency, accuracy, and reliability across critical data entities such as donors, programs, or projects. On the other hand, if you primarily focus on managing donor data and require insights for marketing and engagement purposes, a CDP may suffice. Some of the reasons this question is asked include: Integration Challenges: Nonprofits may rely on disparate systems and databases to store and manage data, making achieving a unified view of critical data assets difficult. MDM solutions require seamless integration with existing systems and data sources, which can be complex and time-consuming, particularly in organizations with legacy IT infrastructure. Data Governance Issues: MDM initiatives often involve establishing data governance policies, standards, and procedures to ensure data quality, consistency, and compliance. For a host of reasons, some nonprofits may struggle with defining clear governance frameworks or enforcing data management policies across the organization, leading to challenges in maintaining data integrity and reliability. Resistance to Change: Implementing MDM may require changes to existing data management processes, systems, and organizational structures. Nonprofits may encounter resistance from staff or stakeholders who are comfortable with the status quo or are reluctant to adapt to new technologies and workflows. Data Quality Management (DQM): DQM tools aid organizations in ensuring the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of their data. They encompass features for data profiling, cleansing, enrichment, and monitoring to uphold high data quality standards. Nonprofits can leverage DQM tools to enhance the quality of their donor data, improve reporting accuracy, and adhere to industry requirements. Ultimately, DQM may be the key to successful AI, ML, etc. Because, after all, bad data is bad data and may result in bad outcomes. Some of the reasons a nonprofit organization may want to use DQM include: Enhanced Decision Making: High-quality data enables nonprofits to make informed, data-driven decisions. Improved Operational Efficiency: Poor data quality can lead to inefficiencies and errors in nonprofit operations. Implementing DQM practices helps streamline processes, reduce manual interventions, and minimize data rework by ensuring that data is clean, standardized, and readily accessible when needed. Cost Savings: Poor data quality can result in costly errors, rework, and missed opportunities for nonprofits. Investing in DQM helps minimize the financial implications of data inaccuracies by reducing the time and resources spent on data correction, reconciliation, and remediation. AI, ML, CDP, MDM, and DQM offer nonprofit organizations unprecedented opportunities to optimize operations, engage supporters more effectively, and drive positive social impact. However, nonprofits need to approach adopting these technologies thoughtfully, ensuring alignment with their organizational goals, values, and ethical principles. With the right tools and strategies in place, nonprofit organizations can harness the power of these technologies to create lasting change and make a meaningful difference in the world. Please contact us if you'd like to learn more about how your organization can benefit from these tools.

Many people do a little spring cleaning this time of year. For your home, it’s dusting, organizing, and rotating your wardrobe. Clients who use our BrightVine Data Link (BVDL) product might want to focus on a different kind of spring cleaning—clearing out old BVDL staging table data. Staging tables are a set of custom tables within the Blackbaud CRM™ database that hold the import data when you are completing an import job. Clearing out these tables regularly is a best practice to ensure your system continues to function reliably and efficiently. Did you know that we include a custom global change for our BrightVine Data Link customers that aids in clearing out old data from the staging tables in Blackbaud CRM™? This global change allows you to specify a date range and/or specific import jobs and delete all records from the BVDL staging tables that fall within the input parameters. To configure and run this global change, complete the following steps: Navigate to Administration > Global Changes. Click the green Add button. Select the Delete BVDL Staging Data global change definition. Click OK. Give your global change a Name, and then determine the parameters you would like to set. For your date parameters, you have two options - relative dates and specific dates. The relative date option allows you to delete staging data based on a number of years, weeks, days, or months. The specific date option allows you to delete staging data based on a specific date range. You also have the option to clean up staging data for all imports, one specific import, or a selection of imports. Once you are satisfied with the parameters you have chosen, click Save. To run the global change process, click Start Process. You can also choose Create job schedule to set up a recurring schedule for the global change. For most organizations, it is best to run this global change either weekly or monthly on an automatic job schedule. However, the ideal scenario will depend heavily on how you use the BVDL. Here are a few things to consider when determining what is best for your organization. If you do especially large imports (record count in the millions) or run many imports (at least several per week), run your cleanup more often. Daily or multiple times per week may even be appropriate. If you only run small imports very infrequently, running the cleanup every other month or on an ad hoc basis might be appropriate. Do you often need to review old staged records and exceptions? Then keep your delete-by-date further back—perhaps only delete records older than six months or a year. Utilizing the relative date feature and a job schedule for the global change will allow you to automate the process, ensuring you stay up to date with your clean-up efforts. We strongly recommend this approach after you agree on a data retention limit with your team. Start clearing out the cobwebs in your Blackbaud CRM™ database today, and connect with BrightVine for any questions on the Data Link or using the custom global change to clean up your staging tables.

By John McManus, Principal Consultant Part 1 of 2 Text messaging is one of the most critical fundraising strategies right now.  Why is it so important? Virtually everyone has a mobile phone. If you want to upgrade how you fundraise, consider going beyond the traditional mail or email appeals. You have another effective way to request donations from your constituents is by texting them. The likelihood of your donors responding is very high. According to Constant Contact, “SMS marketing has a response rate of 209% higher than email, phone, or social media marketing.” Effective marketing begins with understanding your audience. Most of your donors will only read an SMS containing the call to action to donate instead of an entire email that includes the why and the story behind your fundraising campaign. However, your donors may wind up feeling like you're just asking for money instead of feeling like they are part of the journey.  It may lead to lower conversion rates and donors who don't stick around for the long haul.  You want to raise funds sustainably, not based on people's impulsive decisions, but you also want to build a meaningful connection with your donors and have them engage with your campaigns. So, with everything in life, you need balance. Let's discuss the five steps needed to hit your fundraising goals by incorporating text messaging as a key component of your fundraising strategy. Defining your organization's brand messaging will inspire your donors and make your organization's job easier. Your organization needs to start with a brand promise whenever you create a new campaign. So first, what is your organization promising to do for the world? This might be different from your mission statement. Next, you want to discuss your mission, vision, and purpose. Setting up a fundraising goal for each campaign is important. For example, if you have a text campaign, you want to know what content is engaging your donors and then set a goal based on how much you’re looking to raise. The story you convey in your text message needs to be a lot more concise and to the point than what you include in your email or social media campaigns. Therefore, you need to be realistic about the goals you set, especially early on in your efforts. Consider the donor engagement steps and take your donor down this communication path.  You can continue nurturing your donors by sending them regular text updates on your mission or cause.  Regular text messaging fosters communication, and your donors will get used to this form of messaging, ultimately enhancing this conversation and encouraging donations. Setting the right tone is essential to create a tailored message to your donors using things like their first names (or preferred salutations) and facts about their prior giving and engagement. You want to personalize your text message so that it will resonate with your donors. In addition, it's essential to consider the relationship between you and your donors and the campaign you are running. Finally, you also want to ensure that the call to action you use in your message appeals to your targeted market or donors, and you want to compel them to click through the message. Define the right audience to ensure that you are sending your text message to suitable donors. Based on your early results, you should be able to determine which donors respond better to text messaging than more traditional methods. Some donors may prefer one method of communication, while others may be receptive to a blend of communication methods. Most importantly, you want to ensure that you have an active mobile number for your donors when you send text messages. With Raiser’s Edge NXT, you can easily accomplish this by building lists based on demographics, communication preferences, and appeal response history. In the next blog post of this two-part series, we will explore the various Marketplace apps and their features that you can use to drive your fundraising goals with SMS text messaging.

If you're new to non-profit direct marketing, do not fear. We are here to help you through it. We all know that non-profit organizations rely heavily on direct marketing to reach potential donors and supporters. But for beginners, understanding the terminology and concepts can be like navigating a maze. This is your guide through the terms and concepts in non-profit direct marketing. Let's get started! Campaigns are the overall fundraising adventure orchestrated by the non-profit organization. They have a start and end date and involve all sorts of fantastic channels and tactics to connect with potential donors. They can be a series of communications or a single communication. Next, let's talk about appeals. An appeal in nonprofit marketing is like a supercharged message that inspires people to support a nonprofit's mission and goals. The goal is to get folks to take awesome actions, such as donating, volunteering, or even becoming superhero advocates for the cause. Appeals are incredible movements that want to get the word out, get people pumped, and inspire them to make things happen! It's all about making a difference and getting stuff done in the most fantastic way possible! Next on our list is funds (they can all be called designations or accounts). Think of them as special treasure chests filled with money, set aside by non-profits for specific purposes or programs. Donations from supporters can be directed to these funds to make a real impact. It's a bird; it's a plane; no it's a package! In non-profit direct marketing, a package refers to a snazzy direct mail piece or email communication sent to potential donors or advocates. It's like a gift box that includes an appeal, a donation form, and other materials to inspire donors to give. Now, let's talk channels. This is how non-profits reach out to potential donors and supporters. Imagine direct mail, email, social media, phone calls, events, and more, all working together to spread the word and make a difference. The drop date! This is a critical moment in non-profit marketing. It's when the targeted audience receives the message, and it's strategically planned to fit into the overall marketing plan. Think of it as the date when potential donors get their hands on the appeal and go, "Wow, I want to be a part of this!" Now, let's crack the code! Source code (or mail code), to be precise. They're assigned to track and analyze the effectiveness of different marketing appeals. These codes, usually a mix of letters and numbers, are included in direct mail, email, and social media materials. Each organization has its own codebook, with different codes for different types of appeals. Seeking out new allies to join your cause? Finder numbers are your ticket to adding new constituents to your database. They are numbers assigned to potential donors acquired from a purchased list or a list provided by enthusiastic volunteers or board members. They are given to those not currently existing in your database to make adding them easier. Now, brace yourself for the Kill List or Nixie List. These are the "No Entry" signs of marketing campaigns. They're compiled of individuals, addresses, or emails that don't exist in the database and have opted out of receiving communications. Consider them off-limits for your acquisition efforts. Time to embrace the universe! Non-profit jargon refers to the group of potential donors a non-profit organization targets with a specific campaign or appeal. This universe comprises awesome people with diverse demographic or behavioral factors. They're like stars in the night sky, waiting to be discovered. Let's remember excludes. These organizations or people should not receive your marketing effort. We're talking about board members, major donors, or those who recently donated before your marketing drop date. Segments—the marvelous way we group donors or supporters with similar characteristics or behaviors. It's like organizing a fancy party and assigning seating at specific tables based on demographics, giving history, or engagement level. Segments help you tailor your message and make each group feel special. Feeling the RFM vibe? Recency, Frequency, and Monetary are the magic ingredients to create segments. Analyzing your donor database based on how recently they donated, how often they give, and how much they contribute gives you superpowers. You'll know who's engaged, who's loyal, and who enjoys making an impact! Now that you're armed with this knowledge get ready to work your magic in direct marketing for non-profits! Use your creativity to create engaging campaigns, tailor your messages to different segments, and track your success with metrics. You've got this!

By Amanda Cose, Principal Consultant We’ve all been there. Someone asks you to make a bulk record update in Blackbaud CRM, and you say yes, thinking there is an applicable global change, only to realize there is not. An organization using the BrightVine Data Link could use an OData Link as its data source to update the records in question. If you don't use the Data Link and have a dedicated developer on staff, you might pursue a stored procedure, but what if you don’t have a developer? That’s where page designer and record operations may come in handy. Record operations in Blackbaud CRM are a type of action used to change a flag (e.g., inactive/active) or delete records. To search for record operations, navigate to Administration > Application > Features > Record operation search. Use wildcards to search by keywords, if helpful. If you find the record operation needed for your bulk update, you can likely take care of this task from the front end! Once you’ve identified the record operation you need exists, you will need to create a data list of records to be updated. For example, if you are doing a bulk update of designations, you would start with a Designation ad-hoc query and create a corresponding data list from there. Make sure the system record ID for whatever you are updating is in the output, whether visible or hidden. The next steps involve creating a page, surfacing the data list, and adding a task to execute the record operation. Below, I’ve linked a helpful Blackbaud knowledgebase article that will take you through all the details, step by step: https://kb.blackbaud.com/knowledgebase/articles/Article/192071 Once you’ve followed the steps outlined in the article, you can complete your task from the front end. For inspiration, here are some ways to use page designer and record operations to complete specific tasks in bulk from the front end: Mark Designations Active or Inactive Delete unwanted Interactions Add Prospect constituency to constituent records Clear Dates from Revenue Letter Records Have questions? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Welcome to the labyrinthine world of direct marketing, where every turn and corridor presents unique challenges and opportunities. Like a skilled maze navigator, businesses must chart their course through the complex customer engagement pathways. Let's embark on this strategic adventure, unraveling the mysteries of the Build Universe, skirting around the Exclusion Criteria, and finding our way using the RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) compass. 1. Mapping the Build Universe Maze 🌐 Understanding the Layout The Build Universe is like the outer layer of our marketing maze. It's the broad expanse of potential customers, each section characterized by distinct demographic, geographic, and psychographic traits. 📍 Finding the Right Path Just as a maze has many potential routes, so too does the Build Universe, which offers numerous pathways. The challenge is to find the most direct and effective path, ensuring your marketing efforts are focused and efficient. 2. Navigating the Exclusion Criteria Corridors 🚫 Setting Boundaries As we delve deeper into the maze, we encounter corridors that are best avoided. These are the Exclusion Criteria – market segments we intentionally bypass, such as those who have opted out of communication or are already satisfied customers. 🛡️ Safe Navigation By identifying and avoiding these corridors, we protect our journey from unnecessary detours and dead ends, ensuring compliance with the maze rules and saving valuable resources. 3. Using the RFM Compass to Guide the Way 🧭 Understanding the Compass The RFM tool is our compass in this marketing maze, helping us segment the customer base by their shopping history – how recently and frequently they've purchased and how much they've spent. 🎯 Benefits of a Reliable Compass Personalization: Tailor your messaging to resonate with different groups. Predictive Pathfinding: Anticipate future customer behaviors, planning more strategic routes through the maze. Customer Loyalty: Prioritize pathways that lead to high-value customers, enhancing their journey and loyalty. 4. Implementing the Maze Strategy 🔍 Essential Tools To navigate this maze effectively, we equip ourselves with data analysis tools, CRM systems, and marketing automation technologies – each a torchlight illuminating our path. 🔄 Continuous Improvement The maze of direct marketing is ever-changing. Constant evaluation and adaptation of our strategies are essential to stay on course. Conclusion: Mastering the Marketing Maze Incorporating a well-defined Build Universe, strategic Exclusion Criteria, and insightful RFM segmentation transforms the daunting maze of direct marketing into a navigable and rewarding journey. By focusing on these aspects, businesses can find their way to the heart of customer engagement, achieving success and a better return on their marketing investments. As maze navigators, businesses adopting these methods are not just moving through a complex puzzle; they strategically find the most effective paths to their goals, making every turn count towards achieving marketing success. Let's step forward with confidence and strategic insight! 🌟🔍🌐 Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog series.

The BrightVine Datalink is an integration engine built directly into Blackbaud CRM. There may be instances where the BVDL configuration (file mappings, orchestrations, import jobs, etc.) exists in one environment and need to be copied to another environment. Rather than having to rebuild your configurations in another environment, you can migrate the BVDL configuration using the Configuration data tool under the Administration functional area in Blackbaud CRM. With this tool, you will export the configuration data from one environment and import the configuration data into the other. Five export instances should be exported (and later imported) in the required order. BVDL Category Staging Table Headers File Mapping Orchestration Data Translations Import Job Export BVDL Configuration To export the BVDL configuration, begin in the environment that contains the BVDL configuration you want to move and complete the following steps: From Administration > Tools > Configuration data, select Configuration export Click Add to set up the configuration Give the configuration data export a name (e.g., “BVDL_BVDL Category”) and select the appropriate export instance. Click Save. Repeat the steps above for all five export instances. When ready to begin the export, select the appropriate configuration export and click Export data. Download the data files to prepare for the import (the files must be in XML format). Tip - When exporting an Import Job that contains a revenue batch, you will first need to remove any Revenue Batch and/or Revenue Update Batch templates from the Import Job you are exporting. Not removing them before exporting will cause an error when importing into the other environment. Import BVDL Configuration Imported configuration data will not update file mappings, import jobs, and orchestrations with the same names in the environment the configuration data was exported from and the environment where it is to be imported. If the intended result is to overwrite or update existing file mappings, import jobs, etc, and update names accordingly. To import the BVDL configuration, begin in the environment where you would like to migrate the BVDL configuration and complete the following steps: From Administration > Tools > Configuration data, select Configuration import Click Choose file to select the configuration data downloaded from the five configuration exports. You must complete the imports in the following order: BVDL Category Staging Table Headers File Mapping Orchestration Data Translations Import Job Click Save. Repeat the steps above for all five imports. If you have any questions about using the Configuration tool to migrate BVDL configurations, please reach out to our team. By: Heather Todd and Leah Mitchell

Marketing Efforts - you either love them or loathe them. In our case, we love them and love them! While they are an excellent tool for organizing and tracking complex segmentation for direct marketing activities, they take some time to configure. From source codes to exclusions to segments to packages, there are seemingly a million pieces to set up each time you work on a marketing effort. We’re here to help you save time on marketing effort creation - here are five top time savers for Marketing Efforts in Blackbaud CRM™. Copy a previous marketing effort Don’t reinvent the wheel! If you complete the same type of mailings month after month or year after year, save time by simply copying a previous marketing effort with a similar setup. From the main Direct Marketing Effort landing page, click the chevron next to the marketing effort you want to copy. Then click Copy from the drop-down menu that appears. Copy segments from another effort Another great feature is the Copy from another effort button inside of each marketing effort. This feature allows you to copy over segments used in another marketing effort. It’s helpful if you have recurring appeals or appeals that target similar audiences. Simply click Copy from another effort and then search for and select the marketing effort you want to copy from. The segments used in that marketing effort will be duplicated inside the marketing effort you are building. Streamline segment creation with the segment builder tool The Segment Builder is a helpful tool to generate multiple segments from a set of selections quickly. For example, say you would like to create multiple segments based on giving recency, frequency, and monetary values. You can create five selections for each of these categories, and the segment builder will generate segments based on every possible combination of those selections. In total, you will have 125 segments to include in your marketing effort - imagine having to build out all of those segments individually! You can find the segment builder tool in Marketing and Communications>Segments>Create multiple segments. Utilize segment groups I’ve seen marketing efforts with over 100 segments in them - imagine how long it would take to add those one by one! Segment groups save you the hassle of adding segments to a marketing effort individually, instead allowing you to add them all at once. To create a segment group, navigate to Marketing and Communications > Segments, and then select the Groups tab. Click Add to display the “Add segment group” dialogue box, where you can give your segment group a name and begin assigning segments to the group. Build smart communication templates If you have standard settings that you use in your marketing efforts, communication templates can help you cut down on set-up time. In a communication template, you can preselect values for many fields within your marketing efforts, including appeal, export definition, the universe, seeds, and exclusions. You can also lock selected fields to ensure that the values aren’t edited, which ensures that no errors are made during the setup process. Communication templates can be found under Marketing and Communications > Communication Templates. You can learn more about how to set up a template in this blog post. Once you’ve set up your template, you can select that template each time you create a new marketing effort, and all of your standard settings will be automatically applied. I hope that these tips help you streamline your marketing effort creation process! If you'd like to learn more about Marketing Efforts, please get in touch with our team.

Rote learning (the memorizing of facts by repeated exposure to them) has its benefits and downsides. It's said to be highly effective at helping users retain information for a long time, perhaps even our entire lives, because it challenges our brain’s structure, but is intentionally independent of comprehension and therefore does not necessarily help people master complex subject matter. Think back to the first time you used Microsoft Word. I don't know about you, but I was taught to click various buttons to achieve goals, like formatting text. This was all good until changes in the interface relocated buttons to different areas. At this point, I had difficulty finding things and spent lots of time clicking around trying to complete those goals I knew so well in the old interface. Once I stopped to think about the tasks I needed to complete, I found the ribbon navigation more efficient and could produce documents faster than ever. The same is true for our users. Sure, we need to show them how to complete the steps in their business processes, but we also need to teach them to think about the task at hand so they can do their jobs more effectively and become stars in their own right. Intentionally ambiguous exercises during a training session or at the end of a module section in a written training guide are a great way to engage the brain and encourage people to think for themselves. For instance, toward the end of a constituent training session, give them a like this one: We recently sent out an email asking constituents to sign-up for an event, but the email had a bad link. John Smith called to let us know he was interested in the event but couldn’t register. How many people received the communication with the wrong link? Let your users figure out that an email is a communication, that they can find the pertinent communication via the subject line, and that they can drill down into records to uncover more information. By teaching your users to think for themselves, you can reduce the number of help requests you get and may soon find yourself with users proposing solutions for your review rather than presenting problems you need to solve. At BrightVine, we’ve got a team of excellent trainers who can help review your training materials or design training for you; reach out to us if you want to learn more. By: Dan Bourg, Sr. Director

Letter Box is created by Red Arc (a Blackbaud Partner) for Raiser’s Edge NXT. It allows the organization to generate constituent and gift letters in RE NXT with a built-in app editor. Letter Box can be found at the upper-left corner of Marketplace. You can search for Letter Box and connect it to RE NXT. There are two options when signing up for Letter Box, and they are described below. I also wrote another blog about using the standard Microsoft Office mail merge to generate conditional donor acknowledgment letters. The free version allows the organization to create individual letters with a limitation of 500 letters a month with only five template letters. The premium version costs $79 a month and allows the organization to create up to 2000 conditional letters a month with unlimited template letters. The conditional letters will enable the organization to generate bulk letters based on the conditions of the letter codes, similar to how the traditional Raiser’s Edge thank you letters were generated. The organization can also email thank you letters to the donors. Configure Letter Box The Letter Box is found under the Home screen under Tasks or on the constituent’s page. There are three tabs under Letter Box: Bulk Letters - allows the generation of constituent or gift letters in batches. Templates - set up the constituent or gift letters Settings Panel - View account information, set up the Action subtype for recording letters, create the gift and constituent email default templates, and set up your organization email address and name. Creating and Managing the Thank You Letter Templates Set up all the organization’s constituent or gift letter templates under the Templates tab. The application has a built-in editor so that you can create and manage your templates in this location. Select the Gift type if they are all for donor acknowledgment letters and enter the template name. Copy/Paste the letters into the Type something box and use the menu bar to insert mail merge fields. The Page Options allow the formatting for Top/Bottom and Left/Right margins. You can convert your thank you letters with graphics to HTML using an online HTML Code Generator. Select “< >” Code View and paste the codes Creating the Gift Acknowledgment - Conditional Type Most organizations have numerous sets of thank you letter templates that they assign to the gift records. The conditional gift acknowledgment template allows you to set the conditions for the Letter Codes in The Raiser’s Edge to the Gift Letter Template. For each Letter Code, there should be a Gift Letter template. Go to the Letter Box set up and choose New Template Enter the Template Type of Conditional and the Name Conditional Gift Acknowledgement Under Field, select Letter Code and set the condition to equals, and enter the Condition Value of the Letter Code in The Raiser’s Edge Select another letter template and repeat this process Creating A Gift List for Not Acknowledge Donations Then, you want to build the gift list frequency for gifts not acknowledged today or this week. You will use this to run your conditional donor acknowledgment in the next step. Running The Conditional Donor Acknowledgment Letters on a Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Frequencies Go to Letter Box Add Bulk Letters Choose the Gift List as the Source Data Select the delivery of Download or Email Choose Conditional Gift Acknowledgement Mark Gifts as Acknowledged Create the letters View and edit the letters as needed Create the PDF letters Alternative option: Creating the letter from the gift record You can create the thank you letter from the gift record in RE NXT. First, open the record from the gift list view to get the fly-out window. Then locate the Letter Box tile and generate the thank you letter. Another option is to open the constituent record in RE NXT and click on any gift, then locate the Letter Box tile and generate the letter. Viewing the PDF letters in RE NXT Viewing of the Gift Acknowledgement Letters is on the gift record. If the constituent record is selected, you view the letter Giving History and set the gift record. You can also review the information under the Gift List and click on the fly-out window. By Tom Huynh, Principal Consultant

By Heather Todd, Principal Consultant Data Integrity: Duplicate matching via BrightVine Data Link Enhanced Fuzzy Matching Do you have confidence in your data match settings? You’ve configured imports and batches, set your global data entry settings, and specified the thresholds for automatic processing, review, and new record creation, but those pesky duplicate records keep appearing. There’s a problem, but where does it lie? The usual sources of data entry (and the usual culprits for bad data) are manual input and data import; if we put manual data entry aside, to have confidence in our imports, we need to make sure that our data matching capabilities are working the way we need them to. Because it’s this incorrect matching that can lead to duplicate records, either complete (where the record is a copy of another) or partial (where it may start with limited 1:1 copy details and then progress to include other erroneous data), as well as incorrect records where data was added to the wrong record. The existence of duplicate records in the system is one of those “sad but true” scenarios which needs to be managed and kept to a minimum; not only does it lead to bad reporting and skewed metrics, but if you have incorrect contact information in your system it can lead to an array of mistakes when it comes to mailing and solicitation. Embarrassing mistakes with your mailing list reflect badly on your business, can spoil your reputation with donors, and do irreparable harm. Obviously, data deduplication (the process of eliminating copies of repeated data and merging them into one single instance storage) is a necessary and crucial part of database maintenance and should be performed regularly. It minimizes the amount of space required to save data on a given database, and by doing this, you can instantly improve the quality of your data, gaining strategic marketing and business decisions and the value of a single constituent view. But wouldn’t it be nice if we had fewer duplicates in our system already? In Blackbaud CRM™ an exact match is only made on the following fields, which can prove to be limiting: Last Name First Name Email Lookup ID The BrightVine Data Link can enhance your duplicate matching by using our Enhanced Fuzzy Match Dynamic Operation Orchestration. Fuzzy matching uses a distance algorithm mathematically determined to be an effective string-matching algorithm. You pick the fields to include, and an algorithm compares them against the indicated fields to determine the distance between the values. Matching on additional fields such as date of birth, Maiden Name, Nickname, Previous Name, Title will raise your chances of matching data. Here is an example of what results might look like when using this method. Constituent 1 Martin McFly 1955 Twin Pines Lane Hill Valley, CA 92805 714 444 4444 mmcfly@backtothefuture.com Constituent 2 Marty McFly 1955 Twin Pines Lane Hill Valley, CA 92805 714 444 4444 mmcfly@backtothefuture.com Criteria 1: Full Name and Email Address Comparing the two strings: MartyMcFlymmcfly@backtothefuture.com MartinMcFlymmcfly@backtothefuture.com Similarity Score: 94% Criteria 2: Full Name and Address Comparing the two strings: MartyMcFly1955TwinPinesLaneHillValleyCA92805 MartinMcFly1955TwinPinesLaneHillValleyCA92805 Similarity Score: 93% Criteria 3: Full Name, Birthdate, Primary Education College, Gender Code Comparing the two strings: MartyMcFly29091968EngineeringMale MartinMcFly29091968EngineeringMale Similarity Score: 93% Enhanced Fuzzy Match is just one example of BVDL enhanced matching capability. There are also Enhanced Match Score and Enhanced Constituent Match Selection. If you'd like to learn more about Enhanced Matching or the BrightVine Data Link don't hesitate to get in touch with our team.

By Tom Huynh, Principal Consultant In this blog post, I will share tips to make the most of Raiser's Edge NXT with some of the available tools in web view. RE NXT is a Blackbaud-hosted cloud solution. Whether you are a system administrator or a fundraiser, these tips will help you understand some key features. List Views If you are familiar with RE queries, you will find lists are straightforward to set up. You can create lists for actions, constituents, gifts, and opportunities. Users quickly create the list by selecting their data through the columns option and filtering criteria. The data can range from constituent codes, gift information, actions, and fundraisers to gift acknowledgments. The data can be exported for further analysis or fundraising touchpoints. RE NXT web view and database view pass information back and forth to each other, and sometimes there is a lag in data transfers. If you are a more advanced user, you can start with a static query and update the list using filters. In my next blog, I will create a gift list to run conditional donor acknowledgment letters using Letter Box found under the Marketplace. I filtered the list for gifts not acknowledged this week and used that to run my donor acknowledgment letters. With Letter Box, the user can generate, edit, and acknowledge the letters in the RE NXT web view. Reporting There are built-in reporting and dashboards that allow filtering of the information. The user can view records, filter the data, and create the list view at their fingertips. I like the Top Funds Analysis where you can view how much each fund received compared to the goal amount. The user can click on the fund to get the fly-out window, see the Gifts list, and drill into the constituent record. There are other reports on the dashboard. Workflow Designer Workflow designers are great for automating processes to increase fundraising efforts and goals. They can be actions, emails, or conditions for users to complete. Organizations can set conditions to send emails to constituents. Create the email first and mark the email for workflow. Users can combine actions and emails in a workflow to track constituent emails. For example, an organization can design a gift acknowledgment workflow for first-time donors using a Gifts list of the first gift. The first step is an initial thank you email to the donor for their first gift and the importance of their donation to the organization’s missions. The second step of the workflow is to create an action for a user or to the Annual Giving Director to make a follow-up phone call. This process will build stronger relationships and donor retention. There are a plethora of steps that an organization can create to connect with its donors using the workflow designer. If you have any questions about RE NXT or The Raiser's Edge, please get in touch with our team!