I was hired at Neighborhood Healthcare 3 weeks before its largest fundraiser of the year. I needed to learn eTapestry quickly to accurately update the database with event purchases and I needed my data entry to be fast. Customer support was my go-to, they answered questions over their chat module, emailed me white papers on best practices, and shared detailed instructions on how to be most efficient with our database.

Customer service was fast, knowledgeable, and respectful. I never felt like I was asking a dumb question and they always had an answer.

Overall, it's a good program for the price we pay, but if it was any more we would change to a more user friendly system. The most important thing with eTap is to make sure that you have an employee who is familiar with database administration otherwise it is very easy within eTap for data to be misrepresented. In summary, if you don't have a big budget, it's a good way to get your feet off the ground, but I wouldn't look at it expecting a 5+ year/long term solution.

First of all the price for our organization is fantastic, after shopping around for a new database management system, we have found nothing close to what we are currently paying. eTap has decent functionality after you learn how to use it; once you master the basics, it has the flexibility to store just about any data that you need as long as you are willing to get a little creative in how you organize the data. The ability for the data base to be directly integrated into our website and Quickbooks is also a great feature that minimizes potential lost memberships and corrupted data.

The hands down most frustrating part of the program is that you can't have multiple tabs open within the same browser with eTap. In order to have eTap open on two different tabs, you must use a different web browser and a different login ID, which becomes a complete and total pain. It is also not the easiest program to learn and train new people on. Often we want volunteers to work on data management for us but that is really only possible if the volunteer or intern is with us for at least three months so we an spend the time training them on the program.

I have been working in communications and development for non-profit organizations for more than 15 years. I have been using eTapestry for 2 years. I have experience with a variety of other donor management tools including Blackbaud's The Raiser's Edge. eTapestry is strong in regard to contact management, processing online gifts, and the reporting/query tools. The expense as well as the email communications and analytics are where it falls short.

Entire system is very easy to learn no matter the experience level Managing donor records and online gifts is very easy Reporting and query tools are easy to use even for those without a lot of experience building queries clean, user-friendly interface excellent customer support simple data entry & gift processing online giving pages import gifts directly to database, helping teams avoid manual entry & the pages can be reskinned to match your website design easy to mass import records

expensive, especially having to pay for Advanced emails & paying an hourly fee for minor changes eTapestry support must be requested for an array of minor tweaks to giving pages for example and it usually takes several days to up to 2 weeks to get changes finished communications templates are inflexible and look extremely dated, often the preview of a communication you see on your screen is not how it looks at delivery, very limited analytics tools and delivery/testing options as far as I know there is no ability to export from eTapestry to QuickBooks which means gift processing team must reenter gifts manually into QuickBooks while it has the ability to provide personal fundraising pages, they are highly inflexible and the layouts look so dated they are almost not worth using

I have been impressed with the solid support team eTapestry has. The online chat has been very helpful to me, and the specialists I have chatted with have always been knowledgeable.

eTapestry has lots of power to get things done. It is cloud-based, so there is no need for the user to worry about upgrading the software or backing up the data. Queries are very easy to produce, and exporting the results in reports, PDFs or excel is a snap. You can design your own forms so that your website can talk to eTapestry easily. eTapestry works equally well on desktop computers, tablets and cellphones. This is very helpful for fundraisers who are on the road.

If you are downsizing from a more robust package such as Raiser's Edge, be prepared for a loss of flexibility - for example, queries in eTapestry lack some of the power that Raiser's Edge has. When comparing what you get "out of the box" with some other solutions, you will find that in order to keep costs down for the average user, eTapestry is very basic. To add in eCommerce, donor logins, advanced email, etc these are available, but as an add-on pricing. This can make it more expensive than other products that have all these features to start with, so you should be aware of what your real needs are before committing to eTapestry.

The eTapestry system is by far the best we've ever used. There are many things to like including: the dashboard with its sophisticated look that integrates all of the important information in on place, which makes it simple to focus on important things like delivering programs. Our old system didn't work well, especially when we needed to pull information from it. Reporting in eTapestry is quick and it looks really professional. So far, everyone we've had to provide information to, such as accountants, counselors, and so forth, are really impressed with how the information is presented to them. Last but not least, the diy forms are a godsend. They've raised us to a whole new level in regards to our tax receipting, registration forms, and mail outs! Perhaps the greatest thing we've enjoyed using eTapestry is the caliber of service we've received from every member of the team.

So far there's nothing we don't like, but I do have some suggestions. First of all, for the diy forms, we are using one for program registrations that have a fee - the donation form seemed to be the best fit. It would be ideal for us if we could either change the wording from "donation amount" and "donation frequency" to "payment amount" and "payment frequency", or provide us with the options for wording because we don't want those who are registering to be confused about the fee because it's not a donation. Secondly, in the diy forms, where we have multiple options for users to check off, it would be ideal if we could create columns so that the form isn't too long. Finally, because we are using some of the diy forms for program registrations and we deliver programs to families, it would be ideal for us if we could have a form where participants could put in the names of their family members and those names would generate separate constituents in the database. For instance, a mother signs up for a program with her two kids. All have the same contact information, but the health information is different for all three. Currently, people have to do the form several times - once for each family member.

Data conversion from ResultsPlus was excellent. The specialist worked with us to make sure all the data was correct and matched or improved upon how it was organized. The process also helps you become familiar with the software. So, once completed, we were able to start using without much disruption. We've been successfully using it for over a year. Overall, it is user-friendly, with great support. Our account manager is wonderful and helps with issues/questions; checks up from time to time. Online resources/tutorial great and help navigate some of the learning curves with reports, mailings, etc.

We got an odd impersonal e-mail with a link to view our invoice.It would be nice to be able to pull it up online via our Blackbaud Account Site. Support was slow when we had a question with invoice and not easy to manage/review. Not the best for e-newsletters - it's a little clunky to design with limited templates. We stayed with Constant Contact, but there are good integration features with eTapestry.

Etapestry is holding me hostage with a product I no longer use. Its outdated system has been causing me so many issues that it's eating in to my funraising time for my nonprofit. They won't let me cancel my contract even though I don't want to use their product any more.

It worked for when I needed it to work. But my organization has now outgrown the system.

Cusomer support and outdated database. Not user friendly.

While eTapestry has helped us make sense of a lot of data and history, it is very difficult to learn how to use and train new employees on.

I like the data it stores about our donors and the various ways we are able to report on the information,

I find the donor facing event platforms very dated and confusing.

eTapestry has a lot of great cloud based functionality for keeping track of your donor database, sending communications, running reports on interactions with donors, etc.

It's pretty pricey for smaller not for profits.

The software delivered what we needed it to and was sufficient for our requirements.

The ability to have recurring donors processed automatically and securly is very important and Etapestry delivered this. The program is able to track donations to specific projects and fundraising programs. Handles EOFY receipts well.

It was difficult sometimes to get the information you required out of the program without specific training.

Very recently, I had my first positive experience with phone support. Hopefully, that is an indicator that eTapestry is beefing up their customer service. We will know more as the holiday rush happens.

Since the beginning, customer support has been abysmal. Just recently, it has improved, but it took three years. Last year, during the holidays, I waited no less than an hour on hold each time and ended up hanging up because I did not have that kind of time to wait on the phone. One time, I waited an hour and a half, and when the closing time came, instead of taking my call, eTapestry simply disconnected me, and I pay extra for phone support! I gave up and was never able to reach support last year during the holiday season. This year's holiday season is just starting, so I have to see if anything has improved. Also, when we set up our account there was zero project management. They did not establish our needs, and as a result, set up the database as they saw fit. We had problems with defined fields (ones they established and ones they did not), and any changes would have cost a fortune. So we were stuck with what they did, which requires a lot of additional data input after the fact. There was also zero personal training. They provided videos to watch. That was not an effective way to train because they use their own terminology, and when you had questions to ask, you couldn't ask because you were watching a video. Hands-on training is a must! We started with a customer support person who was not in tune with our needs and was later switched to a group and lost one-on-one support.

It's too complicated for small organizations and not robust enough for large organizations. Since bought by Blackbaud, it seems to have been de-prioritized in terms of features, upgrades and design. Customer support is very good - but you'll need them on speed dial. Great people, great company - but this produce needs a little more TLC. Email marketing function is almost un-usable in today's mobile environment. No moves-management function, etc. 'Entirely customizable' means you have to build your own systems within. Great for basic donor info and gift tracking. Took us a couple years to 'right-size' it for us - and even then, when you have more 'work-arounds' than original offerings, you wonder if there's something better.

Customer service

Old design, clunky, not intuitive.

I would not wish this donor management system on my worst enemy.

It already has all of my data in it. That is literally the only good thing I can say about it. I would never ever purchase this software

Its impossible to run reliable reports, even their own support people can't tell me how to get the data I need out of their system. There is no easy way to expunge old records. They make it exceedingly difficult to get away from this company when your contract with them does expire. I have to clean up reports by hand every time I run them.

Etapestry has helped our small development department in big ways! It's ease of use was critical for staff who had not used professional fundraising systems before. They were able to get on and get started right away.

Dramatically cuts down administrative time with auto functions, which was essential for our small development team so that they can spend time on cultivation vs. wasting time updating spreadsheets and processing donations. Easy reporting and querying has enabled us to better assess our efforts and returns. Great donor tracking functions ensure things are slipping through the cracks. The auto reminders and calendaring are super helpful. The seamless integration with online giving was also a blessing.

The only con is that the online fundraising interface is a bit limited design-wise, without additional cost.

I have used so many different donor management software packages throughout my career and I have never been so pleased as I am with eTapestry.

Everything is a pro when it comes to eTapestry. The layout is very user intuitive and easy to understand. You can truly dive in and really get a huge bang for you budget almost immediately.

The only con I can think of for eTapestry is that there isn't a mobile app for the software. I would love to be able to check information when not at my desk.

It can be customized though it is a little bit of a learning curve since it is set up more for businesses and harder to get things figured out for non profit.

The complexity of trying to make quieries to then have to create reports and the amount of time that is lost trying to figure out what one of the many steps made it not yield desired results.

eTapestry has become a tool that can rival any of the more expensive CRMs in the market. The only big step back is that it now belongs to Blackbaud, which has decreased the quality of its customer service.

It is user friendly for the nontechnical staff when looking for and updating information.

Not that friendly for extracting information (querying and reporting features). And since Blackbaud bought it, its customer service has become bad and unreliable.

Etapestry is very user friendly, I was able to pick it up quickly without utilizing any of the training videos.

I wish there was a way around only being able to open one record at a time. Other web based data bases I've used have had the same issue of only being able to open one window at a time. Are there any web-based data bases that allow you to open more than one window at a time?

Very nice product!!! It is easy to use and great for tracking museum data: memberships, visitors, artists, etc.

I love the journal entry ability. It is easy to use and a nice way to keep track of promotional emails sent.

There are many functionalities that require additional programming or knowledge. It would be nice to know how they work. A nice summary of the functions would be nice to have, so that we are aware of what we are working with. There may be functionality that would benefit us, but we are unaware of it.

Not happy with this product.

Pretty quick customer support, automatic gift processing, ability to track donations well, very large knowledge base.

Price, not that easy to use if doing more than data entry. Reports, queries, etc. more difficult. Need to pay extra money on top of the large cost to get pre-made reports.

I think it is a great product and easy to make it fit your organization. I also love the online help. Whenever I have a problem I just get on the online chat and we work it out. The online community is great as well.

I like the ability to create User Defined fields so that we can track precisely what we need to. It is very user friendly and easy to use.

The title field is not as completely built out as it should be and there is no easy way to delete duplicate journal entries.

Generally E-Tapestry is a good database for a smaller non-profit. It is flexible enough for some customization and their customer service is absolutely the bomb.

I like that you can create UDF (User Defined Fields) to customize the data you are using It is fairly easy to understand and user friendly The customer service is GREAT! I also like the DIY (Do it yourself) forms I like being able to suggest updates, I just wish they came faster

The journal entry types is not customize-able. So I have emails with the same entry type as an actual meeting with the constituent. The DIY forms are not as flexible as they really need to be The event module is separate and costs more.

eTapestry is a very dynamic and functional database for tracking donors. It has a lot of potential to make this daunting task easier.

eTapestry needs to make this more user friendly. It is very difficult to learn, and customer support is hit and miss.

The software at its basic form works well with little maintenance.

The customer service is extremely unprofessional and you have to make sure you push to speak to someone who knows what they are doing.