In my humble opinion, one of the coolest tools in the Raiser’s Edge (more…)
“Yes, you can. You can also eat spaghetti with a spoon, but I submit there’s a better way :)”
Blackbaud Certified Raiser’s Edge Professional
One-eyed jacks and deuces are wild! I’m all in!!!
No, not those kinds of wild cards, silly! Wild cards in the Raiser’s Edge (more…)
I just LOVED this clever idea shared by the folks at The Annual Giving Network from Humboldt State University! I will definitely be sharing it with my private school and higher ed little lambs! Check out the clever name they’ve given to their group of student callers 🙂
Would you know the best way to track these hand written Donor Acknowledgement Letters in the Raiser’s Edge?
Keeping you on the Leading Edge,
I’m a big fan of using what you know to figure out what you don’t know. Likewise, I’m big on things that work the same way or mean the same thing everywhere you see them, especially in the Raiser’s Edge. (There’s that consistency thing againJ). So, you can only imagine my utter delight with and total affection for the Sigma button in the Raiser’s Edge.
If you remember waaayyyyyy back to your Accounting 101 days, you’ll recall that the Greek letter Sigma is universally recognized as a Sum function. Even if you never took accounting, you’re probably familiar with it in Excel, where it also means AutoSum. It should come as no surprise then, that in the Raiser’s Edge, when you see the Sigma on the toolbar, it represents the opportunity to produce some kind of Summary for the record you are currently viewing. How cool is that?
It’s available on all top level records in the standard version of the Raiser’s Edge. Time out, Miss Sandy, you promised when we started this way back on A that you wouldn’t do Geek speak, so please explain what a top level record is. It’s simply a record that can survive on its own without being attached to or supported by another record. Top level records in the Raiser’s Edge are:
The Giving Summaries have all the usual suspects available for filtering like dates, gift types, and Campaign, Fund, or Appeal (on the Constituent Summary). Additional Participant filters are also available on the Event Summary, if you have the optional Event Management module.
All of the Summaries display metrics that development professionals love, like:
In addition, the Appeal Summary can display a Cost Analysis view that displays:
Development types love this stuff!!! Of course, it can only produce these metrics if you’ve entered data on the Attributes/Expenses tab of the Appeal. Even the Raiser’s Edge can’t divide by zero, little lamb 😉
The Giving Summary can break down Total Given by:
Additional Summaries available include:
The Campaign, Fund, and Appeal Summaries even include a thermometer!!! Who doesn’t LOVE a thermometer???
AND all of these fields are queryable!!!
See why I get so excited about the Sigma button??
Keeping you on the Leading Edge,
Blackbaud Certified Raiser’s Edge Professional
PS All of these are also available under View on the Menu bar if you’re not a Toolbar kind of person 😉
