Blackbaud product update season is here, and honestly? This, combined with the hockey playoffs, is giving me the same energy as Christmas morning. A lot of things to unwrap; for some of you, it is exactly what you wanted, and for others, you’ll have to wait a little longer. I'm going to focus on the products that directly affect Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® users — Raiser's Edge NXT itself, Online Giving, and Payment Services (formerly Blackbaud Merchant Services). If you want to watch any of the product briefing recordings yourself, I've included links in each section.

Let's get into it.

First, some context that I think gets lost in all the "why isn't this in NXT yet" conversations. Blackbaud has had a deliberate roadmap for which functionalities they migrate to the Unified View, and in what order:

Notice what's at the bottom of that list? Everything the DBM(Database Manager) touches. I know that's been frustrating for a lot of you. But here's my take: it was actually smart to start with the fundraisers and the executive directors. It was smart to get organizational buy-in before you tackle the most complex stuff. Batch entry, reporting, query, and import aren't simple to migrate. And Blackbaud has been thoughtful about improving those functions rather than just dragging them over as is. 

So, to those who complain about the lack of functionality from a DBM perspective, there was a thoughtful reason behind the release order. 

The sunset date. We've been hearing "mid-2027" for a while. Blackbaud confirmed it's late summer (late winter for Australia) 2027 — and they're consciously scheduling it after June 30 to avoid blowing up fiscal year-end for most customers. That's... actually considerate. Thanks, friends at Blackbaud!

ONLINE DATA REVIEW FOR EVENTS

If you have ever spent hours cleaning up duplicate records created by event registrations, you understand why I'm so relieved this exists. This has been a time sink for way too long. 

RECOGNITION PROGRAMS- LEGACY GIVING

 Instead of jamming planned-giving donors into attributes, special codes, or a workaround membership category, you can now identify them properly with a dedicated recognition program. This makes segmentation, stewardship lists, and invitation pulls faster and cleaner. More recognition program types are coming — Legacy programs are just the start. 

CONSTITUENT FORMS (EMAIL SIGNUP)

Blackbaud has had the Portal option for a while, but requiring donors to create a Blackbaud ID can be a friction point for some audiences. It’s one extra step and one more password to remember. Some donors just don't want to bother with that. The new constituent form is an alternative. It can live directly on your website with no Blackbaud ID required. Donors can update their contact info or sign up for emails in a few clicks. This is a simple, donor-centric tool. I like it. 

BATCH GRID WITH ACTUAL FUNCTIONALITY

Rejoice! A batch grid in the Unified View that actually compares to Database View batch entry functionality. This has been a long time coming. While grid view gift batch and batch templates are available now, keep an eye out for the following advanced functions:

PLEDGE ACCEPTANCE ON STANDARD DONATION FORMS*

Donors will be able to make a pledge with the “Bill Me Later” option, which doesn’t require a credit card. I can see this being useful for collecting mid-sized gift and board member pledges. I don’t see this being used for major gift pledges because of the legalese your CFO probably requires for very large gifts.

*This is already available for some customers

TABBED VIEW FOR CONSTITUENT RECORDS

YES. Currently, every single piece of information about a constituent loads on one looong page. It's slow, clunky, and navigating it requires more scrolling than anyone should have to. Blackbaud is restructuring constituent records to have tabs — similar to Database View. Faster load times, fewer clicks, and some sensible cleanup (Bio1 and Bio2 will be in one Biographical tab, Appeals and Emails tiles located in one Communications tab, and an Overview tab with customizable tiles of summary information for quick reference. They're also factoring in click counts, which, combined with less scrolling, should help everyone's carpal tunnel situation. (If you want suggestions for desk setups and fancy mice, I have recommendations that have changed my life.)

SINGLE, SCALABLE IMPORT EXPERIENCE

I don’t know about you, but I almost jumped for joy when this was announced. (I didn’t, because I am a mature adult.) With this feature, you can upload a single file containing both the information you want created AND the data to be updated. Eventually, you will be able to import all record types (Constituents, Gifts, Opportunities, etc.) with the same Import user interface in the Unified View. Imports will run asynchronously in the Unified View, so if you’re working with large datasets, you don’t have to plan ahead when to run the import so you’re not stuck staring at a progress bar.

BULK EDIT (FORMERLY KNOWN AS GLOBAL CHANGE)

Updating constituent codes, adding appeals to records, and general cleanup will all be available as a bulk operation in NXT. Bulk Edit is also just a better name than Global Change. Rebranding approved.

ANNUAL RECOGNITION PROGRAMS

An expansion of the Legacy recognition program feature to cover annual giving programs. You know, the ones with multiple giving levels that need to be updated at least annually, and are tied to constituent giving. The dream here is automations based on giving level, so you're not manually moving donors between categories. I'm hoping Blackbaud delivers on that.

Watch the entire Raiser’s Edge NXT Product Update Briefing.

Less to cover here, but a couple of things worth flagging.

INCREASED PORTAL FUNCTIONALITY

If your donors are already using the Portal (or if the Blackbaud ID requirement isn't a dealbreaker for your audience), there are some solid improvements coming. Donors will be able to make pledge payments — either a single installment or the full balance.

NEW FUNDRAISING PAGES

Blackbaud showed a prototype—and I want to emphasize the wordprototype—of a campaign fundraising page that looks like a simplified version of what you'd get from third-party vendors like GiveCampus, Raisley, Funraise, or FundraiseUp. We're talking hero images, goal meters, embedded giving forms, a live feed of donor names and messages, and social sharing options. This is great news for orgs that don't have the budget for additional vendor contracts. I want to see the final product before I get too excited, but the direction is right.

Watch the entire Online Giving Product Update Briefing.

MORE CONTROL OVER DONOR COVER

Right now, Donor Cover is a global on/off setting. Soon, you'll be able to configure it at the individual form level. So if you only want to offer it for certain appeals or giving levels, you can do that. More flexibility, less blunt-instrument configuration.

DISBURSEMENT REPORT WITH NXT GIFT DETAILS

This one is big for reconciliation. A single report that includes transaction-level disbursement data for finance and Raiser's Edge NXT gift details for development. No more bouncing between two separate reports and manually cross-referencing. This should make monthly reconciliation faster. And if you're not already reconciling development and finance monthly, we need to talk.

If you haven't been hearing about Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) lately, I would ask: “Have you,  perhaps, been living under a rock?” Adding DAF Pay to your giving forms is the same logic as offering PayPal or Venmo. Yes, there's a processing fee. This is a cost of doing business, not a reason to avoid it. Some platforms (GiveCampus and Funraise, to name two) already offer the DAF Pay option. If you're currently routing DAF donors through a separate campaign just to process the gift, you know how many extra clicks that costs everyone. This eliminates that.

*This will be available for US customers only.

Honorable mention of the upcoming capability to receive payments via Amazon Pay. I figured this doesn’t really need much of an explanation.

 Watch the entire Payment Services Product Update Briefing. [insert link when available] 

Blackbaud is launching a Feature Map inside NXT. Think of it as a living version of those summary PDFs that come with product updates, but with more detail and automatic updates. Features will be labeled: Available, Partially Available, Planned 2026, Planned Post-2026, Deferred, Undecided, Not Available in Database View, and Never Moving to Web View.

This is seriously useful for directors of development operations and database managers. We will finally have a single, live, and up-to-date reference for what's coming and when, which makes planning and setting expectations a lot easier. No more digging through months-old webinar recordings or getting surprised by the What's New updates on your homepage.

This is a lot of information to digest. But it’s exciting stuff!

-MALLORY

Because somebody has to care about the data.

The ideas, expertise, and opinions here are mine. Claude helped me write them down.