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  • 1.  Higher Ed institutions with a museum, Lecture Series and Continuing Studies

    Posted 05-05-2025 01:10 PM

    I am starting to do some research on higher ed institutions that have a museum or a community arts program to see what software you are using.  The goal would be to get everyone on one program but I don't know if that is an option.  We currently use RE/NXT for the college's advancement database. Our affiliate programs all have a separate database.  Currently all donations live in RE regardless of where it originated from and RE is the database of record with our Finance department.  Anyone in the same boat?

     

    Thank you.

     

     

    Dina Sorrentino, bCRE-Pro , bcRE-NXT
    Sr. Director for Advancement Services and Research
    Office: 941-359-7593 | Cell: 941-266-1227
    dsorrent@ringling.edu | www.ringling.edu


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  • 2.  RE: Higher Ed institutions with a museum, Lecture Series and Continuing Studies

    Posted 05-06-2025 08:47 AM
    Edited by Bethany Wisinski 05-06-2025 08:47 AM

    We're in a similar situation. We end up doing quite a bit of "duplicate" data entry because of the different software systems we use. Unfortunately, NXT doesn't meet all the needs of our various programs, so there's only so much we can do for now. I suspect we will move away from RE. 



    ------------------------------
    Bethany W

    Advancement Operations Manager

    Cleveland Institute of Art
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Higher Ed institutions with a museum, Lecture Series and Continuing Studies

    Posted 05-06-2025 09:12 AM
    THE FOLLOWING IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT

    I have consulted for many cultural and arts organizations fighting this issue. A challenge is that the vendors offering solutions on both sides of the house have not been (seemingly) interested in helping my clients build a bridge between the two. Often, they "make do" with many duplicate data entries.

    You often have a similar problem with athletic CRMs and central advancement CRMs.

    With the right investment in technology, you can import/export data between applications to consolidate information. However, that often requires a cultural shift from my data to our data. The ticketing side of most houses tends to look at their constituents differently than the fundraising side. The ticketing side often doesn't distinguish between "legal" and "soft" donors, and frequently looks at "units" rather than individuals. Advancement offices track constituents differently - usually as unique individuals and lots of relationships (not to mention prospect development needs). Neither is right nor wrong.

    But even if you select a platform that meets the needs of both sides of the house, you will still need to develop new data standards that meet everyone's needs.

    I've observed the evolution of a CRM, Tessitura, which tries to bridge the data gap. A decade ago, they did not have a viable solution (IMHO). My cultural and arts clients tended to have their platform on the ticketing side and something like NXT on the Advancement side. The vendor's lack of interest in building bridges often frustrated those clients.

    Over the years, I have heard that the vendor has attempted to build a solution to bridge the gap by enhancing the non-ticket components of fundraising. I've yet to see the newer platform in action. However, I thought I would mention it:


    Again, this is NOT an endorsement.

    John


    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Higher Ed institutions with a museum, Lecture Series and Continuing Studies

    Posted 05-06-2025 11:34 AM
    John's points are square-on. We had a client who really struggled on these issues - if a membership is tax-deductible, does that make a member a donor? A prospect? Who should be in charge of membership fulfillment - Advancement Services or Member Relations? The challenges are not only data management issues, they go into organizational development and process engineering, etc.

    In terms of products, aside from Tessitura, there's Veevart (SF-based), Altru (Blackbaud), Versai, and Hidonix MIT , who all claim to be all-inclusive. A careful assessment is your best bet to find what works for you, but in general, don't expect the software to really solve the problem - it's an organizational design and culture challenge, alongside a not-easy technical challenge. 


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:





    Original Message


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