October 2026 Newsletter

I can’t wait for it! My frustration is not that it’s happening next year, it’s that it didn’t happen years and years ago already. The database view, formerly the entirety of The Raiser’s Edge version 7, has defined my career for nearly 30 years. I started working with it when it was still nothing more than design specifications on paper when I joined Blackbaud as an RE consultant in 1998. I’ve written a book about it. I’ve literally made a career on this product.

But it should have gone away years and years ago. There were about 5 years between RE 6 and RE 7, and RE 7 came out in 2000. That’s not a typo, we’ve been using RE 7/the database view for 26, soon to be 27 years! It’s ridiculous (what is even the right word?) that Blackbaud has taken nonprofit and educational institutions’ money for two-and-a-half decades before delivering the next generation of the product. Technology has changed, fundraising has changed, we have long, long needed an updated version of Raiser’s Edge.

When September 15, 2027, arrives, I plan to treat it like I think a parent thinks of a child’s high school graduation: it’s a time to celebrate the completion of one chapter of a life and the promise of the next chapter. But I’ll also be a bit wistful thinking about all the remarkable years and experiences of the chapter that’s ending. I expect to have very conflicting emotions that day, but bring it on!

Of course I can’t guarantee it, but Yes, I do think that Blackbaud will be ready with the web view by 9/15/27 and be able to turn off the database view. Maybe they have to extend it a month or two, or maybe not every little last feature is built out and they have to continue development of some of the least used database view functionality in the web view after the database view has gone away.  But Yes, I do believe I finally see the will, resources, and ability at Blackbaud to bring the web view far enough along so that they can turn off the database view and we can still do our work.

(By the way, Blackbaud is no longer using the term “unified view.” The proper way to refer to the transition is something like, “Blackbaud is building out the web view to duplicate the functionality of the database view in the web view so that they can turn off the database view. We will work exclusively in the web view, and when that finally happens in September of 2027, we will no longer have or refer to a ‘web view,’ we’ll be back to more normal language and it will just be ‘Raiser’s Edge.'” See page 9 of my bbcon presentation.)

The current pace of development of the web view has been what we’ve been asking for for years and years and not getting while the company used your annual subscription fees for other things. But now they’re investing in RE and we can see it. Web view gift entry, including Batch entry, is do-able, increasing, and taking hold among users, despite more Gift work to be done. The new tabbed constituent layout for records in the web view is now rolling out in waves. The Early Adopter Program is over for the development of the database view Export as expanded capabilities in Query in the web view and should be releasing soon. At bbcon we saw significant work being done for Import in the web view and how that will lay the groundwork for Global Changes to be added to the web view. Etc.

A close look at the RE roadmaps for the coming year shows that web view development falls into two categories: (1) new capabilities exclusive to web view, and (2) replicating database view functionality in web view. Most of the replication work is scheduled to be finished by the end of this calendar year. That leaves plenty of time for that schedule to go over a little, for us all to provide feedback on what bits and parts aren’t working right or are still missing, and for us to get ready (more on that in a question below).

Blackbaud is finally spending a lot more money on RE, as is obvious by the recent expansion of the number of product managers working on RE. Right or wrong, Blackbaud has moved a lot of their programming pool from the U.S. to India which allows them to get more programmers working on RE for the same money. Blackbaud says they are using AI-assisted programming, and their programmers/engineers use their time to review AI-written code instead of having to write it from scratch. Perhaps there are other reasons as well, but clearly the pace of software release has increased over the past year.

Finally, I like and am impressed with the Blackbaud product and marketing managers who are working on RE. I know many of them through my work, I like them, and I honestly believe they are working hard, listening to us, and adapting to the feedback we give them — perhaps more so, finally, than ever before. That’s not to say that previous product managers were bad because the real problems that most of us users have with Blackbaud and Raiser’s Edge stem from executive decisions, not frontline product managers’ decisions. But now executives are finally spending the money that we have long deserved on our product, and we are fortunate to have a great team of product managers to make it happen.

I do not like that Blackbaud made the announcement about the end of the database view with so much work remaining in the web view — the announcement seemed premature and the community response to it confirmed that. However, I’m told that Blackbaud has a contractual obligation to let clients know of such a change one year in advance, thus the timing of the announcement, and it’s clear the announcement has lit a fire under users to take this seriously.

As long as some executive doesn’t yank the money or the product management and engineering teams away, I think it is likely that Blackbaud will have the web view ready for the database view to be turned off by September 2027 or shortly thereafter — so I recommend we plan and work accordingly, too.

Yes, I do. I do believe there is a year of hard work and likely some serious frustration ahead, but I do think it’s possible for organizations to be ready to leave the database view and be ready for a full web experience by September 2027 — IF — and that’s all caps on purpose — IF Blackbaud does what they say they’re going to do as addressed in Question 2 above.

The key principles for that belief are…

Yes, Blackbaud has released a torrent of documents, webinars, website pages, etc. of information along with lots and lots of changes, out and coming, to the web view. But if an organization is too busy to implement everything, they don’t need to. Tools like Blackbaud AI, Consent, Prospect Insights, Recognition, etc. can be put off until later if you need to focus on database view tasks. So first, focus on the functionality that replaces database view functionality and that will lower the work and stress levels.

Second, Blackbaud is replicating functionality in the web view in such a way that the transition in knowledge is relatively easy. Yes, we need a few pointers about where things are and a little orientation, but if you know the terminology, the concepts, the functions, the fields, the records, etc., of the database view, you can figure out the related functionality in the web view in minutes and get comfortable with it in days. If you can write a query in database view, you can in the web view. If you can set up a batch template in the database view, you can in the web view. If you can add or edit an appeal in the database view, you can in the web view. If you can run a standard report in the database view, you can in the web view. From what I know of the planned transition of Export and Mail to the web view, if you can do those tasks in the database view, you’ll be able to learn and use them quickly in the web view. The big, big, big problems to date have not been that the web view is hard to learn for someone who knows the database view, it’s been all the missing functionality. If Blackbaud finally gets that done, I think it will be possible for knowledgeable database users to make the transition to the web view without a lot of training, learning, practice, or redevelopment of policies and procedures.

Keep in mind that if you don’t know how to use database view tools properly and the attention they’re getting in the transition to the web view is prompting your interest, well good, learn them, but that’s not Blackbaud’s or the transition’s fault, that’s you needing to learn functionality that’s been in the database view for decades that you should have been exposed to and learned already. For example, I still work with clients that don’t use Export at all and don’t know about Quick Letters in Mail. You should take Blackbaud University classes on these tools and start using them now, but that time to learn and change processes isn’t the fault of the transition to the web view.

So Yes, based on the timing of Blackbaud’s planned releases of database functionality in the web view, focusing on that over other possible RE projects, and the ease with which users who know the database view have transitioned to the web view on comparable completed functions, I do think we users can be ready to be fully using the web view by next September. I’m not saying there isn’t work, time, learning, or frustration ahead, there most certainly is all of that, but database managers who spend a reasonable amount of time on this over the next year should have themselves and their organizations ready for the transition.

I get it, I really do. I don’t work with any organizations or people who seem to have time to spare, we’re all racing from project to project, task to task. However, Blackbaud’s glacial pace of development of Raiser’s Edge has allowed a lot of us to get lackadaisical about a key part of being a database manager and using technology: change.

As I’ve addressed repeatedly, it is not the database manager’s primary job to sit at their desk and write queries, run reports, set up mailings, and do exports — or data entry. I understand what users on social media mean when they say, “I don’t have time to do all the work of this transition and my job.” But I would respectfully suggest that if you’re a DBM, this is your job, we’ve all just gotten away with not having to do this part of the job due to Blackbaud’s failure to keep updating Raiser’s Edge.

The database manager’s job is to manage the database and users, and tech means change. The iPhone came out in 2007, seven years after Raiser’s Edge. There have been twenty iOS versions since then. But we’re still using a database view that came out in 2000! And even the most important changes made to RE 7 after its initial release, the integrations with Microsoft Word and Excel, have been taken away from us, taking us backwards.

The lack of RE development has let a lot of database managers get comfortable in just doing the same things the same way day after day, year after year, and that has trickled up to management expectations of the role as well. But fundamentally one of the most important parts of being a database manager (the most important part is data security) is managing change for the organization — learning the changes in the software, figuring out which benefit the organization and how, re-working policies and procedures accordingly, and then leading that change management among the users.

That Blackbaud has gone from a slow trickle — I stepped away for a sabbatical from 2017 to 2019, two entire years away, and missed nothing! — to drinking from a fire hose is on Blackbaud. But fundamentally Blackbaud should be continually improving RE, and database managers should be taking the time to oversee those changes.

The changes are coming whether you want them or not, like them or not. If you don’t “have the time,” there is little choice to avoid a fiasco at your organization next September: make the time or talk with your supervisor to figure out a way to make the time. There is no choice. (And please don’t shoot the messenger! I am not a fan of how this process has gone, and I think there are better ways this all could have been rolled out to us, but that’s not something I can control. I’m just sharing the reality of the situation before us and encouraging you and your management to make the time that’s needed to get through this process.)

Two hopefully practical additions:

First, I would estimate an average of 5-7 hours a week for the database manager for this transition work until your organization is entirely off the database view. There’s at least one hour a week the database manager needs just to attend the product managers’ webinars. There’s no need for this to even be a half-time job, but significant time will be needed to do this well.

Second, don’t expect for things to go “back to normal” once you’re fully in the web view. First, that “normal” as noted above shouldn’t have been the normal — DBMs should always be doing this kind of change work because needs, technology, fundraising, etc., are always changing. But second, Blackbaud is making changes to the web view now that have nothing to do with the elimination of the database view, good things like improved major gifts functionality and Recognition; times and laws are changing, so you’re likely to need to implement Consent; and Blackbaud has been clear that they will continue to develop Raiser’s Edge once we’re fully in the web and browser. There are changes we want around Soft Credits, Matching Gifts, and other functionality that in fact can’t be made until we lose the ball-and-chain that the database view architecture is to the web view and Raiser’s Edge. (Another example: Email types aren’t leaving Phone Types in Tables or Query, I believe, until the web view no longer needs to be backwards compatible with the database view. We wanted backwards compatibility from the web view to the database view, and got it, but that’s limited some of the work we want Blackbaud to do to RE. Blackbaud will be free to make more of these kinds of changes and has said they will when database view goes away.) As is said, “change is the only constant,” and expect more even after September 2027. I don’t think the pace will be what it is now, but change will continue.

Oh, trust me, I’m angry and frustrated as well! Or don’t trust me, ask my partner about all my ranting, railing, and gnashing of teeth at home!

I’ve seen the chats on Blackbaud webinars, I’ve read the posts and comments one after another on online platforms like Facebook, and I’ve read all the comments from my recent survey asking for responders’ thoughts about Blackbaud and Raiser’s Edge. And little of that sentiment was new to me, I’ve been expressing it privately for quite some time.

Yes, I’m angry and frustrated that the RE 8 we deserved over 16 years ago — and were promised, not once, but twice, before RE NXT! — is only now finally happening (RE NXT is “NXT” and not “RE 8” because, I think, Blackbaud had promised us RE 8 twice and not delivered so they thought they better try something else). I’m angry that Blackbaud has spent hundreds of millions of dollars, probably over a billion dollars, on acquisitions and stock buybacks instead of building Raiser’s Edge NXT. I’m frustrated that we have been subject to a glacial pace of development of RE and now it feels like we’re drinking from a fire hose instead of a well-planned and paced transition. I’m frustrated that Blackbaud is finally working to make RE the leading fundraising product it’s supposed to be, with terrific features like Prospect Insights, other improved tools for major gifts fundraising, Recognition (we’ve only been asking for that for 25 years), and even AI (yes, I’m a fan of AI though I acknowledge that there are real and important factors like job loss, the environment, and even threats to humanity that we need to take seriously) — on top of all the work we also have to do to get off database view and on to web view and when they should have been using those programming resources to build the web view to replace the database view. It appears Blackbaud prioritizes decisions that are best for Blackbaud first and not clients. I’m irritated that we’re expected to spend so much effort and time voting to simply indicate we want to keep functionality in the database we use, it’s annoying and a waste of our time. Blackbaud should have said, “we’re planning to move to web view everything but the following, let us know if there are problems if we don’t move these things,” instead of the waste of time the Idea Bank has been to have to communicate the need to keep what we’ve been using for decades.

So Yes!, I’m frustrated, irritated, and even angry at “Blackbaud.” But “Blackbaud” is a lot of people, and when you get to the root of most decisions from the company that frustrate and anger us users, they’re executive decisions to raise prices, not invest in the development of our product, and do this transition when and how it suits them best, not their clients.

I may not agree with everything that our frontline RE product managers decide and do, but smart, well-meaning people can and do disagree — that’s a different situation.

I didn’t express all this so directly in my bbcon presentation, at the conference or in recording, though I mentioned it, because my parents taught me manners. I did not think it was appropriate to say all this at Blackbaud hosted events in which I was invited to share. I felt I could do more good to the user community by speaking to the path through this than declining the opportunity because I also have these thoughts. This is why I said at the beginning of the presentation that it’s a “this is true and this is true” presentation even if I mostly focused on one side of that “and.”

I’m not a cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face kind of guy. I wrote about this in 2022 (Q5) when Blackbaud took away our Microsoft integrations. If you don’t like the way Blackbaud is treating you, you can either leave, which is absolutely a reasonable approach to this treatment, or figure out a way to make the situation work for you. The latter is what I’ve tried to do with my anger and frustration, that’s what I would try to encourage you to do as well, and it’s what I’ve tried to do in my answers to these questions. Do I love Blackbaud right now? Am I happy with all that’s been done and is being done? Absolutely not. But this is the situation we find ourselves in, and if you’re not going to leave Raiser’s Edge for another fundraising database/CRM — which again, is a legitimate option but you’d better get on that fast if you want to be done before the database view goes away — we need to make this work and I think we can.

While I haven’t set up this page to allow for comments, you’re welcome to share yours with me directly if you’d like on the Contact page of this website if you disagree or have further thoughts on this.  Thanks.