What's New (Service Pack 44)

Check out the new features and enhancements for Blackbaud CRM.

Tip: Want to review this offline? Use your internet browser's print function to save this topic as PDF file.

Blackbaud CRM

Inactive Prospects

With this update, "legacy" opportunities which are linked to inactive prospects will be automatically updated to Canceled . Previously, they appeared as Qualified/Pending in prospect research or moves-management reporting. This only affects a small number of older opportunities. Organizations don't need to take any action related to these record updates.

Report Builder with Blackbaud ID

Report authors can now connect Report Builder to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) in environments where Blackbaud ID is enabled for SSRS. From there, create reports, open existing reports, and run reports.

Previously, SSRS rejected sign-in attempts from Report Builder after an organization enabled Blackbaud ID. Report authors needed a separate Active Directory account to create reports. Now one set of credentials covers Blackbaud CRM and Report Builder.

Set Up Report Builder for a Report Author

  1. Add a proxy user in Blackbaud CRM. Give the proxy user a name that's unique across every environment on the same SSRS server. We recommend you add the environment to the name, such as j.smith_test. Don't use @ or \ in the name.

  2. Assign a role that includes Report Builder rights to the proxy user. The SSRS roles in Blackbaud CRM are:

    • ReportAdmins: Browser, Content Manager, My Reports, Publisher, and Report Builder rights.

    • ReportContentManagers: Browser, Content Manager, and Publisher rights.

    • ReportBuilders: Report Builder rights only.

    • Report Publishers: Publisher rights only.

    • ReportBrowsers: Browser rights only.

  3. Add a personal access token (PAT) for the proxy user.

  4. In Report Builder, enter the proxy user's name as the username and the personal access token as the password.

Note: Don't rename a proxy user. SSRS stores permissions by name, so a renamed proxy user leaves the old name's permissions behind.

Proxy users and personal access tokens are managed from the Application Users page. For details, see Add a Proxy User and Add and Manage Personal Access Tokens (PAT) for Proxy Users.

Bug Fixes

This update fixes multiple defects and issues. For details, review the patch notes for service pack 44.

Blackbaud Internet Solutions (BBIS)

New Checkout Experience for Donation forms (classic), Advanced Donation Forms (ADF), and eCards.

Explore the new checkout experience! The latest payment processing experience is now in Donation Forms (Classic), Advanced Donation Forms (ADF), and eCards in Blackbaud Internet Solutions. In future releases, this update will expand to additional forms.

Blackbaud's new checkout uses a combination of the best tools available from our payment vendors and the Blackbaud development ecosystem to provide a secure and flexible payment checkout experience.

Benefits include:

  • A modern user interface (UI) and streamlined workflows.

  • Inline and modal display options for a flexible checkout experience.

  • Enhanced fraud prevention measures such as automated CAPTCHA and improved IP threat detection and blocking.

  • Support for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).

  • API capabilities.

  • Reduced PCI scope and more payment methods "out of the box," including cards, digital wallets, and international direct debits.

  • No transaction downtime when legacy payment systems are offline for core updates.

  • Rapid, optimized updates, thanks to CI/CD pipelines.

For details, including a demo and a comparison of old vs new, see New Checkout from Blackbaud Payment Services (BBPS).

Short, friendly, URLs

With this release, when your organization creates short or "friendly" URLs (such as for donation forms), the query parameters are now preserved when the "friendly" URL redirects to the target URL. This ensures users and constituents are directed to the exact desired URL target.

Previously, query parameters weren't retained when an incoming request matched a configured "friendly" URL.

Tiny MCE upgrade 8.6.0

Blackbaud Internet Solutions has upgraded TinyMCE. This ensures Blackbaud Internet Solutions uses the most advanced and secure version of the WYSIWYG editor.

Bug Fixes

This update fixes multiple defects and issues. For details, review the patch notes for service pack 44.

Donation Forms

If you also use Blackbaud Donation Forms, see What's new in the help center for Online Giving to stay informed about the latest new features and enhancements.

Remember, you need to be on the most recent service pack of Blackbaud CRM in order to receive these features from Blackbaud Donation Forms (Online Giving).

To create a more personal experience and help donors get started with a suggested giving amount, you can now pass gift amounts directly through a donation form or webpage URL. To use a gift amount parameter, configure the applicable gift type on the donation form. Supported gift types include one-time gifts, recurring gifts, and pledge amounts. To make URL creation easier, use the link builder to generate the correct parameters automatically.

Standard Donation Forms now let you set a start date for recurring gifts so they align with a campaign launch. When you set a start date, donors can only schedule their first payment on or after that date without risking charges before your program begins.

To increase completed gifts and improve conversion, activate the Abandoned donation reminder in Website components. The reminder prompts donors to complete their gift when they return to your website. This nudge helps recover incomplete donations and tracks how much you recapture.

New Standard Donation Forms now default to Monthly when you enable recurring gifts, reducing setup time and aligning forms with recurring giving best practices. Monthly is selected automatically in the configuration, and the recurring gift label updates to Monthly. When Monthly is the only enabled frequency, the frequency selector on the form is hidden from donors to streamline the giving experience. Existing forms remain unchanged.

Optimized Donation Forms includes an enhanced branding card selector that helps you search, preview, and create branding cards in one focused experience when you build or edit a form. You can review the options in context and apply the correct branding with fewer steps. Previously, the selector showed only card names, which made it harder to evaluate your selection.

Now, Overview from Online Giving brings key insights together so you can quickly understand donor behavior and donation form performance in one place. Review Payment methods to see which payment options donors use across your donation forms. Focus on the methods that make giving easier and more effective. Next, view the enhanced Top performing forms list to compare results, identify trends, and review your five highest-performing forms at a glance.

To help reduce friction and support faster form completions, now when you include the address field on Standard Donation Forms you can make it optional for donors.

To better understand how donors reach your donation forms, you can now track UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters using Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics. When a donor opens a donation form with UTM values, GTM captures the parameters and sends them with donation form events to Google Analytics, where you can report on which campaigns, sources, and mediums lead to completed donations. This helps you connect giving activity to outreach efforts such as email and social media and evaluate campaign performance with greater confidence.

Note: To avoid duplicate recurring gift payments in Blackbaud CRM, don't generate payments for recurring gifts that originate from Online Giving. In Blackbaud CRM, remember to exclude payments with a revenue ID that starts with "OG-RG" in the selection for your recurring gift generate payments processes.

Remember, you need to be on the most recent service pack of Blackbaud CRM in order to receive these features from Blackbaud Donation Forms (Online Giving).

Tip: Looking for previous service packs? Find them in What's Recent. Looking for a schedule for upcoming service pack releases? We can't promise when a future update will be available, but they typically occur approximately once per quarter.