Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM Reviews & Product Details

I did not like any part of my experience with Blackbaud eTapestry. From start to finish, the software was clunky, outdated, and frustrating to use, making even simple tasks unnecessarily difficult. The cost is outrageously high for what you get, and the customer service was consistently unhelpful and dismissive. After years of dealing with constant issues, inefficiencies, and a complete lack of value, I can honestly say this has been one of the worst software experiences I’ve ever had. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

fter more than 12 years of dealing with Blackbaud eTapestry, I can say without hesitation that it has been one of the most frustrating, overpriced, and disappointing business relationships I’ve ever experienced. The cost is absolutely outrageous for what you get—especially considering how outdated and clunky the system feels compared to modern alternatives. For the price they charge, you would expect a product that is intuitive, efficient, and backed by a team that cares. Unfortunately, eTapestry is none of these things.

The platform itself is cumbersome, slow, and riddled with inefficiencies that make even the simplest tasks unnecessarily time-consuming. Instead of helping streamline our operations, it has often felt like eTapestry adds extra work at every step. Features that should be basic or included require costly add-ons or complicated workarounds.

Customer service is where the experience really goes from bad to appalling. Reaching support feels like an ordeal, and when you finally get someone, the answers are often dismissive, unhelpful, or leave you with even more questions. There is little sense of urgency, and it’s clear the focus is on upselling rather than solving problems for their long-term customers.

Staying with eTapestry for over a decade wasn’t out of loyalty—it was because switching systems is a major undertaking for a nonprofit. But in hindsight, the years of frustration, wasted time, and excessive costs were simply not worth it. I would urge any organization considering eTapestry to look elsewhere. There are far better, more affordable, and more user-friendly CRM solutions on the market that will value your business and actually deliver what they promise.

If I could give them zero stars, I would. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think BBCRM has a lot of great tools to use and a lot more capabilities if you use more than one of their products together as in integration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The tools aren't as helpful if you don't use all of the products and transition is messy unless you had a large buget/team to handle it. The implementation was difficult and still happening years after the transition. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Blackbaud CRM is extremely robust for large nonprofits. Our staff of 90 is in the system daily. With the SDK and integrations, the sky is really the limit as far as customization and making the product work for our system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Coming from Raiser's Edge, there are a few shocking limitations especially in query. Be sure to ask to demo query and export to ensure you can get the data you're used to. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The best part was the ability to create recurring entries. That is, until it was taken away with the switch to web only use. With over 200 recurring entries every month, it's a drain on my time and energy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Customer support is the WORST. They must hire random people off the street. In three years, I think I talked to one person who knew anything about accounting. And don't get me started on pricing - a 25% increase after the initial contract, which was supposed to convert to an annual fee, but they are claiming it's a 3-year. Nobody in my organization signed a three-year contract. Not when their software is NOT the best for small organizations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The thing I like best about using BBCRM is that we are able to provide our users with access to a Business Glossary and Documentation Library. The access to these custom listbuilders allows our users groups to self-serve and train themselves on the different functional areas of CRM. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Inconsistency with customer service. There can be a miscommunication in troubleshooting tickets that can cause delays and additional recurring credit card charges for our donors (as an example.) Our CFO has been awaiting a meeting with Blackbaud to discuss these occurances and has not had a response weeks after the event. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the ease of customer support access very helpful when using Blackbaud. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the reporting features to be somewhat cumbersome when pulling fundraising reports for our organization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

How easily it can integrate with other products.

The CRM Cloud Portal has been very useful for our developers, making creating Blackbaud customizations much easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The conversion process was incredibly hard.

Customer Support can be hit or miss, where you can get a great customer service representative, but if you get a bad one it can be days of being ignored.

User training can be difficult as technologically challenged users have a harder tiime learning the system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Blackbaud has a good sales pitch until you start using the software and everything beyond that is terrible. Support and customer service is awful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

A CRM is only as good as the data it holds and to delete outdated and irrelevant records is archaic and very time-consuming, designed to require the user to page overage rates with penalties. Terrible option for a non-profit. Training is also awful for an organization that relies on volunteers for support. Customer service and 99% of all communications with Blackbaud have been very negative. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The Data that is stored in the system and the ability to obtain the informaiton is fairly easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is so much to learn! I've only been in the position for 5 months. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the fact that the API makes the data very accessible. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It can be costly to smaller schools as the pricing is a bit steep. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.