The Researcher's Edge

Duplicate prospect records in TRE

Tom Sheehan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:38:14 GMT

I'm looking at our TRE database and noticing that there are some duplicate prospect records in there. I'm looking under the group "All Prospects" so I imagine that these duplicates were created when they were included in two or more subgroups. I'm wondering if I should just look at the properties of each duplicate record and decide if I can delete whichever is the older one. Some of them don't even have any wealthpoint data. If anyone has any insights or suggestions, that would be most helpful.

Researcher's Edge on Windows Server 2008

William George — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:06:29 GMT

I know that the product is not officially supported, but has anyone been succesful in installing/running the Researcher's Edge product on a windows server 2008 box?

I currenlty have the product installed on a windows 2000 server box, which will be decommisioned soon. I have a new server, but it doesn't have an OS installed on it yet.

Any responses/assistance are appreciated.

Thank you

Al George
Local Technical Support Provider I
Advancement Services
University of Memphis

Getting started in Researchers Edge

Amy Barker — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:21:48 GMT

Hi there-

We have had Researchers Edge for some time, but to my knowledge, none of our major gifts officers has used it for at least 1- 1 1/2 years. We have new officers now, and I would like to get them started using it, but having never used it myself am not sure where or how to start. I'm reading the manual as we speak, but was wondering if anyone knows if Blackbaud offers any trainings in it?

Thank you,

Amy Barker

Database Administrator/Gift Processor

The Greater Boston Food Bank

compatibility with MapPoint 2009?

Jim Trapp — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:20:32 GMT

Is Researcher's Edge compatible with current Microsoft MapPoint software, version 2009? We are new to Researcher's Edge and are looking to buy MapPoint licenses for all users, but hate to invest in outdated software (that won't be directly supported by Microsoft.)

Why can't I find any information on The Researcher's Edge.

Teresa Belden — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:03:22 GMT

Since Blackbaud sells The Researcher's Edge you would think they would have more information on their web page about it. This is very upsetting. I am having to go through loop holes just to find informaiton on it. Can anyone just tell me what its meant to be used for?

Gift Pyramid

Sofia Durkee — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:33:15 GMT

Hello!

Where can I find a calculator in the internet for a gift pyramid with the 70%, 20%, 10%.

Thanks

policies and procedures?

Julie Hiland — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:19:03 GMT

Has anyone written or does anyone have any documented policies for their organization's usage of The Researcher's Edge? We just got it and now I'm tasked with learning the ropes and figuring out what policies and procedures we should set in place for security and consistency. Is anyone willing to share?

Researcher's Edge vs. Prospect Module in Raiser's Edge

Keith Tramantano — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:38:36 GMT

Can someone explain to me the difference between The Researcher's Edge and the prospect module in the Raiser's Edge? Is there a reason to have both? Wouldn't you want to keep all of your prospect info in Raiser's Edge if you could? I don't really see the point of having a separate database for prospects. In fact, I feel like it would become really confusing to have to look at two different databases for one constituent.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Keith Tramantano

Assistant Manager of Development Operations, The Jewish Museum

Researcher's Edge and RE

Nedra Newton-Rosario — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:48:23 GMT

Hello all,

I am trying to find out if there were any issues with Raiser's Edge and Researcher's Edge being loaded on the same server. Did anyone buy a separate server to house Researcher's Edge? Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Nedra Newton-Rosario

Georgia State University

nnewtonrosario@gsu.edu

Deleting existing custom fields

Kate Lynch — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:47:42 GMT

We began using TRE in 2004 and at that time the spouse name was not a field on the main page. So we decided to add spouse FirstNm and LastNm as custom fields. Now that spouse name is on the main page we no longer need that information in the custom fields and don't want to maintain the same data in two places. I don't see a global delete function in TRE like RE has. How would I remove the data from those custom fields -- export out the existing data and import back in blanks? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Kate

Errors in RE

Laura Elion — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:26:35 GMT

Has anyone else encounted a large amount of errors in a screening? We got both Wealth Point & Prospect Point and screened over 100K donors from an initial 1.3M database.

We are still working with the results three years later, but now that we are getting down to doing in-depth research of prospects, I've find a lot of errors in real estate vaulations. This is BIG because Blackbaud bases the model scoring heavily on real estate. (We first reported these errors in 2006 and BB told us they couldn't do anything about them). The issue has been re-opened because we want to do another screening, but Blackbaud will not be a candidate unless they can explain why the errors occurred and what they would do to prevent them in the future.

All I get is noise about the errors being passed along by another vendor to BB, but I say if they want to instill confidence, they would correct them. Originally they tried to blame the errors on individual county assessors, but then when I pointed out (with the help of my IT background) that different assessors all over the country couldn't have made the same mistake at the same time, then they blamed Lexis/Nexis. It doesn't stop, and I don't care. BB sold me the data screening, not L/N, they should make it right.

Has anyone else spotted the same sort of errors, or (horrors!) othe sorts of data errors?

The Prospector

Douglas Clinton — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:24:26 GMT

Are you looking for one source to find the latest news and software tips for your Blackbaud Analytics products?

If so, check out The Prospector – your quarterly newsletter about the Researcher’s Edge and Wealthpoint.This is the best way to stay informed about what’s new and what’s next for your products, and it’s free to subscribe! To do so, log in to the Blackbaud website, click My Profile, Change My Subscriptions, and then mark The Prospector to start receiving issues. You can also view old issues of The Prospector at www.blackbaud.com/newsletters.aspx Sign up today!

Prospect Management Module

Michal Mugrage — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:50:06 GMT

We are considering purchaing the Prospect Management Module and have some questions for those of you who use the Prospect Management Module. We currently have Researcher's Edge/WealthPoint, but I'm finding it very cumbersome to work between the two databases because there are many fields that don't export from RE7 to Researcher, and I'm having to work back and forth between the two and do rather more manual entry than anticipated. So my question to those of you out there who have just the Prospect Management Module is: What have you liked best about using it for holding prospect research information, and for prospect management. What have you liked least, i.e. what are the things you wish you'd asked about before purchasing the module. How do you find the reports/reporting aspect? For those of you out there with both the Prospect Management Module AND Researcher's Edge, how good is the interface between the two? Again, I'd like to hear about what has worked for you and what doesn't, what questions I should be asking, etc. Thank you for your help! Please feel free to contact me offline if you prefer, and if there is interest, I'd be happy to share the responses I get. Michal Mugrage Humboldt State University [Email Removed] Michal Mugrage Development Coordinator Humboldt State University

Researcher's Edge Custom Ratings

Sharla Donohue — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:42:24 GMT

Just wondering if anyone is willing to share how they set up customized Estimated Wealth Ratings? The default does not really give me a good estimate of net worth. I currently use a spreadsheet that looks up formulas based on IRS stats and the Mendehlson Affluent survey, but I'm not sure how to plug those calculations into Researcher's Edge. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Sharla Donohue Minnesota Historical Society [Email Removed] [i]--- Edited at 8/22/2007 11:02:34 AM by Sharla Donohue[/i]

Alternative to Researcher's Edge (TRE)

Dan Larson — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:08:52 GMT

Does anyone know of any alternatives to Researcher's Edge? We've been having some issues and all we hear back from BB is that the "programmers are looking into it...". yeah yeah ... I'm sure they are. I'm just curious if there's anything else out there that can do some prospect-point-like and wealth-point-like analysis? Thanks! Dan Larson Programmer/Analyst St. Cloud Hospital St. Cloud, Minnesota

researcher beginner training

Ginelle Hewitt — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:21:07 GMT

Hello, I am a database person who is moving into prospect research, well more donor research than prospect. We have the Blackbaud Researcher's Edge and have had our database analyzed but now we are working towards using the information, along with other information we know, to pull a good group of prospects and analyze them. For some we are creating profiles that are easy to read for major gift officers and board members. As I mentioned originally, I am not an original prospect researcher but I am working toward it. I was hoping that someone out there could help me with some suggestions of training for the newly created researchers. Training to help with the best way to organize all of this information that we collect, creating profiles that are easy to read and are customized to a major gift officer way of thinking, how to read the information and pull together the most important and how to know how far to dig into a particular area for the donor. I welcome your suggestions and expertise!

The Researcher's Edge

Sandi Salinas — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:47:35 GMT

Is anyone having trouble connecting to Wealthpoint through the Online Updates feature of Researcher's Edge while using a Proxy Server??? How have you dealt with this issue or what work-around do you have?? Thanks, Sandi Salinas [Email Removed]

Researcher's Edge

Crystal Orlea — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:33:28 GMT

I've been asked by someone in my office to look into Researcher's Edge for our organization. It seems cumbersome to say the least. Is anyone using it and how is it working? Are there several modules within that must be purchased in order to work the best? I'm trying to decipher everything they've sent me and feel like once we commit to purchase one module, then we will have to purchase another and the list goes on. Is that correct? Any input would be great! Thanks. Crystal Orlea Research Analyst Provena United Samaritans Medical Center Danville, Illinois