The Raiser's Edge Enterprise User Guides

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Conversion & Installation  Getting Started  Records  Gift Entry  Query & Export  Reports  Mail  Batch  Administration  Configuration

Membership Scanning  NetSolutions  Dashboard  Data Health Center  Web Services  Tutorials  Integration  Canadian Guides  Asia-Pacific Guides

• Conversion Planning Guide (PDF 726K) February 18, 2008
  This guide helps you plan your conversion to The Raiser's Edge Enterprise and introduces you to critical components of the conversion process.

• Conversion Guide (PDF 1.58M) March 5, 2008
  This guide provides step-by-step instructions for upgrading from previous versions of The Raiser's Edge. It details steps you can take before you convert to help the conversion go smoothly and recommendations for cleaning up your database and spot checking records afterwards.

• The Raiser's Edge 7 Software Request Form (PDF 258K) August 15, 2005
  Print and review this form to help you assess your organization's readiness to convert to The Raiser's Edge Enterprise. When you are ready, complete and fax the form to your account manager.

• Installation Guide (PDF 1.37M) November 12, 2009
  This guide details how to install The Raiser's Edge Enterprise on your workstation or network. It includes pre-installation considerations, installation instructions, and troubleshooting information.

• The Raiser's Edge 7.91 Installation Quick Tips (PDF 90K) May 26, 2009
  The Quick Tips sheet gives you a brief overview of what you need and what to expect while installing The Raiser's Edge. This tip sheet is not meant to replace the detailed information in the Installation Guide.

• Oracle Installation and Administrator's Guide (PDF 1.12M) February 23, 2009
  This guide includes step-by-step instructions for installing the Oracle version of The Raiser's Edge Enterprise. It also includes information about the Blackbaud Management Console and maintaining your database.

• Creating Your First Raiser's Edge 7.81 Instance in Oracle (PDF 236K) December 12, 2006
  These instructions cover the process of creating an instance of The Raiser's Edge 7.81 within your Oracle database. This is helpful if you are using The Raiser's Edge Oracle for the first time.

• 7.91.50 Update Guide (PDF 2.83M) November 12, 2009
  This guide includes detailed information about updating network systems and standalone workstations to The Raiser's Edge Enterprise 7.91.50. It also includes information about new features.

• 7.85 Update Guide (PDF 3M) June 30, 2008
  This guide includes detailed information about updating network systems and standalone workstations to The Raiser's Edge Enterprise 7.85. It also includes information about new features.

• RE:Anywhere for Remote Access Installation Guide (PDF 860K) March 5, 2008
  This guide includes step-by-step instructions for installing the web-based version of The Raiser's Edge Enterprise.

• Payment Application Data Security Standards Implementation Guide (PDF 164K) May 18, 2009
  This guide includes information about how to use The Raiser's Edge to help secure your constituents' credit card information in compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). It also provides information about steps your organization can take, in addition to using The Raiser's Edge, to comply with PCI DSS.

• The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners (PDF 6.35M) October 3, 2008
  This guide provides a lighthearted, informal introduction to The Raiser’s Edge. It provides the basic information you need to learn how to navigate and use the program. Use this book to become familiar with The Raiser’s Edge before moving on to more specific tasks.

• Which Guides Should I Read (PDF 274K) May 11, 2009
  This document lists keyboard shortcuts you can use to accomplish common tasks and navigate within the software. Many user guides accompany The Raiser’s Edge. This guide helps you decide which user guides to read, based on your job requirements, necessary tasks, and areas of The Raiser’s Edge used most often.

• Program Basics Guide (PDF 2.81M) February 19, 2008
  This guide includes information on basic navigation and procedures and how to set individual user options. It also provides information to assist you in setting up a policies and procedures manual for your organization.

• The Raiser's Edge 7 Getting Started Checklist (PDF 198K) July 15, 2010
  Use this checklist to get started on The Raiser's Edge 7 after you convert from version 6 or another software, or if you are a brand new user.

• Database Administration Guide (PDF 2.64M) January 30, 2008
  This guide provides information about managing your database through the Blackbaud Management Console (BMC).

• Keyboard Shortcuts (PDF 24K) July 25, 2007
  This document lists keyboard shortcuts you can use to accomplish common tasks and navigate within the software.

• Getting Started With Query PDF 565K June 1, 2011
  Check out this quick tutorial to get started with Query in The Raiser's Edge!

• Regular Supporters Implementation Guide (PDF 1.2M) October 9, 2008
  This guide shows you how to manage aspects of your regular supporter programs. It directs you to the tools you need to maintain recurring gifts, accept donations electronically, keep donors committed, attract new donors, increase numbers and donation amounts, and communicate effectively to donors about where their money is going. You also learn about reports that analyze how your programs are doing, how many donors you have lost, how many have upgraded their donations, and who you should target next.

• The Raiser's Edge and Microsoft Office Integration Guide (PDF 3.69M) April 11, 2011
  This guide contains information about integrating The Raiser's Edge with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and PivotTables. With these features, you can simplify mail merges using Word and create versatile pivot reports. You can also synchronize Raiser's Edge records with Outlook contacts, appointments, and tasks.

• Mapping Guide (PDF 524K) May 29, 2009
  This guide provides instructions for Mapping, which integrates with Microsoft MapPoint and enables you to find your constituents' geographic locations.

• MatchFinder Guide (PDF 1.48M) February 20, 2008
  This guide provides instructions for MatchFinder, a database that includes information about matching gift companies, including how to download the database and use the cross-reference tool to link its matching gift companies to organizations in The Raiser's Edge Enterprise.

• Point of Sale Guide (PDF 472K) February 20, 2008
  This guide provides detailed instructions about using Blackbaud's Point of Sale, which enables you to exchange information between Microsoft's Store Operations (part of Microsoft Retail Management System) and The Raiser's Edge 7.

• VBA Essentials Guide (PDF 1.36M) February 27, 2008
  This guide provides detailed instructions on how to use VBA to customize The Raiser's Edge Enterprise for your organization's policies and procedures. Using VBA, a programmer can develop custom business rules, design custom screens, create Web site interfaces, and much more.

• API Essentials Guide (PDF 1.27M) February 27, 2008
  This guide provides detailed instructions on how to use API to customize programs that integrate with The Raiser's Edge Enterprise.

• RE:Anywhere Tips and Helpful Information (PDF 376K) September 19, 2004
  This guide contains tips intended to help you use RE:Anywhere for Remote Access more effectively.

• Alumni Data Entry Guide (PDF 522K) May 12, 2009
  This guide provides step-by-step instructions for accessing, adding, and working with alumni and their relationships.

• Campaigns, Funds, and Appeals Data Entry Guide (PDF 1.75M) June 4, 2009
  This guide shows how to set up these records and how they interact with each other. You can create campaigns to establish your overall objectives for raising money, funds to show the specific purposes for the money you raise, and appeals as the promotions and solicitations that bring in gifts. Also, learn how to use Campaign Giving Hierarchy to track and report on all aspects of your fund activity under the larger umbrella of campaigns.

• Constituent Data Entry Guide (PDF 5.79M) May 6, 2009
  This guide teaches you how to properly set up constituent records in your database. You learn how to manage biographical information, addresses, addressees and salutations, relationships, attributes, notes, media items, and appeals. You learn how to create a letter, set up a relationship tree, add a constituent annotation, merge constituent records, and convert an individual record to an organization and vice versa. You also learn how to set up action records, assign solicitors, and set up solicitor teams.

• Event Management Data Entry Guide (PDF 4.83M) May 6, 2009
  This guide helps you manage all aspects of your organization's events. You learn how to set up an event record, which encompasses the General, Prices, Expenses, Jobs, Actions, Attributes, Media, and Notes tabs of the event record. You also learn how to add participants to an event by using the Participants tab.

• Membership Data Entry Guide (PDF 1.72M) March 6, 2008
  This guide includes detailed procedures on how to add, edit, and delete membership records. For example, you can learn how to add a gift of membership and rejoin a membership.

• Prospect Data Entry Guide (PDF 1.04M) April 6, 2010
  This guide includes detailed instructions for managing all types of prospect information — tracking gifts made by prospective donors to other organizations; financial information, such as sources of wealth, annual income, and real estate holdings of prospective donors; and how your organization can create proposals, documenting amounts solicited, amounts funded, and ratings data.

• Tribute Data Entry Guide (PDF 368K) May 12, 2009
  This guide helps you use Honor/Memorial Tracking to effectively manage your honor/memorial records. It provides instructions to add and edit tributes and view gifts given to a tribute.

• Volunteers and Jobs Data Entry Guide (PDF 1.52M) February 19, 2008
  This guide teaches you how to track all aspects of your volunteers. You learn how to track volunteer information on the Volunteer tab of a constituent record. Information includes volunteer types and statuses, emergency contact information, volunteer qualifications, medical information, special needs and availability, checklists of tasks a volunteer must complete before starting a job, award information, and how to assign volunteers to job records in your database. You also learn how to set up job records.

• Workplace Giving Guide (PDF 1.58M) August 24, 2009
  This guide includes detailed information about entering United Way agencies, accounts, pledge envelopes, pledge cards, and payouts in The Raiser's Edge Enterprise. It also includes information about running Workplace Giving reports and batches. Sample reports are included.

• Gift Records Guide (PDF 4.46M) March 31, 2011
  This guide contains information and explanations for all procedures related to adding, editing, and deleting gift records. For example, you can learn how to reschedule a pledge and add a matching gift. In addition, you can learn about posting to General Ledger and globally writing off pledges.

• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Guide (PDF 1.4M) March 4, 2011
  This guide provides instructions for automatically generating and processing direct debit and credit card transactions using an electronic funds transfer. Electronic funds transfer is a general banking system by which transactions, such as deposits or bill payments, are made electronically from a donor's bank account or credit card to your bank account.

• Event Gifts Guide (PDF 691K) October 9, 2009
  This guide contains information for and explanations of all procedures related to adding and editing event gift records. For example, you can learn how to link a gift record to an event as an other donation and learn how to pay an existing sponsoring pledge from a gift batch.

• Membership Gifts Guide (PDF 1.0M) February 18, 2008
  This guide contains information for and explanations of all procedures related to adding and editing membership gift records. For example, you can learn how to apply a pledge payment toward an existing membership and learn how to apply a recurring gift transaction to an existing membership.

• Planned Gift Tracking Guide (PDF 1.21M) June 23, 2010
  This guide contains information on using PlannedGiftTracker to track planned gifts.

• Proposal Gifts Guide (PDF 304K) March 11, 2008
  This guide contains information for and explanations of all procedures related to adding and editing proposal gift records. For example, you can learn how to link a gift to a proposal record for another constituent, and you can learn how to break the link between a gift record and a proposal.

• Tribute Gifts Guide (PDF 316K) March 11, 2008
  This guide contains information for and explanations of all procedures related to adding and editing tribute gift records. For example, you can learn how to add a tribute gift in a gift batch and edit tribute information entered on a gift record.

• Query and Export Guide (PDF 3.62M) April 27, 2009
  This guide contains information on extracting information from The Raiser's Edge Enterprise and exporting data to other software programs.

• Getting Started With Query PDF 565K June 1, 2011
  Check out this quick tutorial to get started with Query in The Raiser's Edge!

• Reports Guide (PDF 4.76M) November 10, 2009
  This guide includes detailed descriptions of each report, procedures for running reports, detailed explanations of the parameter tabs and each item on them, and tutorials.

• Sample Reports Guide (PDF 2.25M) March 28, 2008
  This guide includes descriptions of each report along with a sample and the parameter tab settings used to generate it.

• Summaries Guide (PDF 2.44M) February 20, 2008
  This guide provides instructions for creating summaries to track the performance of your organization's solicitors, campaigns, funds, and appeals, and to view a constituent's giving history.

• Mail Guide (PDF 4.66M) January 27, 2011
  This guide explains how to use each tab on all mail tasks in Mail to produce effective mailings, such as receipts, reminders, appeals cards, acknowledgement letters, labels, envelopes, and even Rolodex cards and name tags. You can learn how to create and send mailings, filter records to include, select addresses, and use address attributes. It also explains how to use the optional module PostalSaver to reduce costs by appropriately sorting your mailings.

• Batch Guide (PDF 4.06M) March 30, 2011
  This guide contains information about adding and committing constituents, gifts, and volunteer time sheets to your database. With Batch, you can enter and update information on constituent and gift records quickly because you do not need to open each individual gift or constituent record to add or update information.

• Batch Quick Reference (PDF 36K) June 25, 2007
  This guide contains information about adding and committing constituents, gifts, and volunteer time sheets to your database. With Batch, you can enter and update information on constituent and gift records quickly because you do not need to open each individual gift or constituent record to add or update information.

• Configuration and Security Guide (PDF 3.88M) April 13, 2011
  The Configuration chapter of this guide contains complete information on setting up tables, addressee/salutations, business rules, and the other features in Configuration. The Security chapter includes information and best practices for using the new Personal Information Security options. Additionally the chapter includes information about the new Windows Authentication group options.

• Import Guide (PDF 3.22M) September 25, 2009
  This guide provides how-to instructions for importing data into The Raiser's Edge Enterprise from various sources including other fundraising software. It can be helpful to anyone who uses the program, but it is ideally suited for the user who is familiar with The Raiser's Edge.

• Global Add, Delete, and Change Guide (PDF 2.63M) November 10, 2009
  This guide contains detailed information about performing global functions in The Raiser's Edge Enterprise.

• Queue for Task Scheduling Guide (PDF 3.63M) March 27, 2008
  This guide includes in-depth instructions about how to set up a series of tasks to run automatically and unattended. It explains each module you can use in a queue — Admin, Batch, Mail, Export, Query, and Reports — and the different procedures you can run.

• Target Analytics Guide (PDF 708K) September 22, 2008
  This guide includes detailed instructions about working in the Target Analytics service. The service identifies your best charitable giving prospects. The guide includes instructions on creating and sending an export file and importing the updated prospect information back into The Raiser's Edge.

• Configuration and Security Guide (PDF 3.87M) April 13, 2011
  The Configuration chapter of this guide contains complete information on setting up tables, addressee/salutations, business rules, and the other features in Configuration. The Security chapter includes information and best practices for using the new Personal Information Security options. Additionally the chapter includes information about the new Windows Authentication group options.

• Custom View Guide (PDF 1.74M) February 19, 2008
  This guide provides steps for creating a customized view of individual and organization constituent records.

• Membership Scanning Guide (PDF 1.71M) February 18, 2008
  This guide provides detailed instructions about scanning barcodes to retrieve membership information from your database. You can also change membership status, such as upgrading or renewing memberships.

• NetSolutions Guide (PDF 6.8M) May 10, 2011
  This guide provides detailed instructions on how to set up and use this powerful tool to capture donations and manage events and appeals via the Internet.

• Dashboard Guide (PDF 2.56M) November 29, 2010
  This guide includes in-depth instructions on how to take a snapshot of your fundraising success at any given time. Dashboard is ideal for development directors, executives, or any user who needs to quickly access data. Because Dashboard does not require a complete working knowledge of The Raiser's Edge, it is convenient for infrequent users.

• The Data Health Center Guide (PDF 1.07M) May 18, 2011
  This guide includes detailed instructions about working with AddressFinder, PhoneFinder, and AddressAccelerator. The guide also shows you how to submit your data to Blackbaud for a free checkup.

• Web Services Installation and Set Up Guide (PDF 212K) May 14, 2009
  This guide includes detailed instructions on how to install and set up WealthPoint for The Raiser's Edge. It also includes data source and match code explanations.

• Creating Custom Crystal XI Reports Tutorial (PDF 2.82M) February 18, 2008
  This tutorial takes you step-by-step through the basics of planning and creating a custom Crystal report in Crystal XI. It also walks you through the steps of creating two of the most common custom reports: a phone list and a gift detail report.

• Creating Custom Crystal 8.5 Reports Tutorial (PDF 986KB) September 6, 2005
  This tutorial takes you step-by-step through the basics of planning and creating a custom Crystal report in Crystal 8.5 using The Raiser's Edge 7.80 or 7.81.

• Import Tutorial (PDF 1.58M) March 27, 2008
  This tutorial shows you how to create a gift and constituent import file, change files in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and import the updated information back into The Raiser's Edge 7. You also learn how to create an import file in Excel and then import it into The Raiser's Edge.

• The Raiser's Edge and The Financial Edge: An Integrated Solution for Nonprofits (PDF 1.60M) October 4, 2011
  This guide provides information about integrating The Financial Edge with The Raiser's Edge Enterprise. It includes procedures for configuring the systems for posting and running the Accountability Summary.

• The Raiser's Edge and The Education Edge Integration Planning Guide (PDF 1.01M) January 30, 2008
  This guide includes a checklist to walk you through the integration between The Raiser's Edge and The Education Edge.

• The Raiser's Edge and The Education Edge Integration Guide (PDF 1.91M) January 30, 2008
  Refer to this guide for detailed information about establishing security, setting matching criteria, linking records, synchronizing data, and printing reports.

• The Raiser's Edge and Blackbaud NetCommunity Integration Guide (PDF 439K) November 10, 2009
  This guide provides information about integrating Blackbaud NetCommunity with The Raiser's Edge Enterprise. It includes detailed information about the data downloaded from Blackbaud NetCommunity and where this data appears in The Raiser's Edge.

• The Raiser's Edge and Microsoft Office Integration Guide (PDF 3.69M) April 11, 2011
  This guide contains information about integrating The Raiser's Edge with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and PivotTables. With these features, you can simplify mail merges using Word and create versatile pivot reports. You can also synchronize Raiser's Edge records with Outlook contacts, appointments, and tasks.

• AuctionMaestro Pro Integration Guide (PDF 1.19M) February 19, 2008
  This guide helps you integrate your databases in The Raiser’s Edge with your AuctionMaestro Pro 4.5 databases. It provides instructions on how you can link your constituent and gift records with your AuctionMaestro Pro people and auction transaction records to manage all aspects of your auction events.

• CounterPoint SQL Integration Guide (PDF 1.0M) March 11, 2008
  This guide contains information about integrating The Raiser's Edge with CounterPoint SQL. CounterPoint SQL is an inventory management and graphical product sales system. Integration enables you to download donations, download membership transactions, access ticket entry, and access reports from CounterPoint SQL in The Raiser's Edge.

• Receipting Guidelines for Canada (PDF 852K) February 26, 2008
  This guide shows various areas of the program and explains how to eliminate duplicate receipts. It also contains guidelines for ensuring proper receipting.

• Data Enrichment Services Guide for Canada (PDF 2.02M) March 31, 2008
  This guide includes information about updating and certifying addresses in your database using Address Validation.

• PostalSaver Guide for Canada (PDF 1.72M) March 31, 2009
  This guide provides information about qualifying for presortation discounts on mailings.

• EFT Overview Guide for Canada (PDF 402K) November 11, 2009
  This guide provides information about each part involved in the EFT process for Canada, including how to integrate IATS Ticketmaster with The Raiser's Edge.

• Address Validation Guide for Australia (PDF 1.69M) March 31, 2008
  This guide details how to use Blackbaud's address correction service. You can update missing address information or misspellings, add and correct post codes, and standardize addresses.

• EFT Overview Guide for Austrailia (PDF 512K) November 11, 2009
  This guide provides information about each part involved in the EFT process for Australia and New Zealand.

• Receipting Guidelines for Australia and New Zealand (PDF 784K) February 26, 2008
  This guide outlines the necessary processes you must perform to avoid duplicate receipting and efficiently track historic receipt printing information for your organization. It also contains information about using multiple receipt stacks.

• PostalSaver Guide for Australia (PDF 784K) February 26, 2008
  This guide walks you through sorting your mailings according to Australia Post standards and printing the required reports, so you qualify for the greatest possible postal discounts.