What's Recent in 2026

To help you cultivate relationships and improve fundraising efforts, Raiser's Edge NXT introduces new and enhanced features on a frequent basis. In case you need to catch up on what you missed or just want a refresher, here's a recap of what was recently released in:

AI | Data Health | Email | General Features | Gifts | Integration | Membership | Premium Features | Prospect Insights | Query | Security | Settings | Standard Reports

AI

January 7, 2026

Organisation admins can now enable all current and future generative AI features powered by Blackbaud AI with one global setting — giving your organisation centralized control, clear compliance, and future-ready access to AI-powered tools that boost productivity and personalization.

If you don’t opt in, your organization remains opted out by default.

Learn more, including how to enable Generative AI features.

January 27, 2026

We’re excited to introduce Chat for Blackbaud AI, powered by generative AI. This feature is designed to save you time, improve donor engagement, and make smarter, data-driven decisions — all within Raiser's Edge NXT. With AI-powered assistance, you can focus on what matters most: building stronger relationships and driving your mission forward. Instead of manually searching for answers, simply ask the AI to draft content, suggest creative ideas, or provide actionable insights based on your data and best practices.

Think of it as having a helpful assistant:

  • You provide a prompt or question.

  • The system uses AI to generate a draft, suggestion, or summary.

You don’t need any AI technical knowledge to use this tool. Just type what you need, and the system will do the heavy lifting — saving you time and helping you focus on what matters most.

Tip: Do you have more questions about Blackbaud AI? Visit the Blackbaud Trust Center to view FAQs about Blackbaud AI.

How Can This Help You?

Here are some examples of what you can do with these new features:

  • Draft an email or message: 

    Example “Write a thank-you email to donors.”

    Bonus! Give the chat some feedback about a detail you want added.

  • Generate ideas:

    Example "Suggest three creative ideas for a year-end fundraising campaign."

  • Get quick answers about your constituents:

    Example “Summarize key details about [constituent name] for my next meeting.”

  • Ask questions about fundraising best practices:

    Examples “What are some best practices for re-engaging lapsed donors?” or “What follow-up actions are recommended after a donor meeting?”

  • Assist with fundraiser goals:

    Examples “Show me my top prospects for major gifts this quarter.” or “Show me a list of constituents to contact this week.”

  • Ask about fundraising goals:

    Example “Show me a total of all gifts received for the [campaign name] campaign.”

    Tip: Some answers may include a link so you can see how Chat for Blackbaud AI answered the question. For this one, you can select View list to confirm the information.

  • Ask product help questions:

    Example “How do I customise the Home page?”

And this is only the beginning — AI can assist with many more tasks as you explore.

Tip: Keep the chat open as you navigate Raiser's Edge NXT. When new information is available, the chat will update automatically with summaries. For quick inspiration, try the suggested prompts to see what AI can do for you.

Tips for Better Results

  • Be clear and specific in your prompts.

  • Include context like donor name or campaign.

  • Review and customize the AI-generated content before sending or publishing.

  • Refine responses by asking follow-up questions.

  • Use it as a starting point — your expertise makes it great!

Why It Matters

Chat for Blackbaud AI helps you:

  • Save time by reducing manual research and drafting.

  • Stay focused on strategy instead of repetitive tasks.

  • Improve donor engagement with personalised content. Work confidently knowing you can edit and refine AI-generated content to match your tone and goals.

How to get started

  1. Enable generative AI features – Before you can use Chat for Blackbaud AI, your organization admin must opt in to generative AI features in your Blackbaud environment. Once enabled, the authorization applies to all current and future generative AI features across your Blackbaud products. For details, see Opt In to Generative AI Features Globally help. If you don’t opt in, your organization remains opted out by default.

  2. Set permissions – Solution admins must assign the Artificial intelligence role to users who need access to chat.

  3. Open the chat – In Raiser's Edge NXT, select the Chat for Blackbaud AI sparkle icon from the top navigation.

  4. Review the Quick Start guide – Learn how to write effective prompts, refine responses, and get better results with our step-by-step tutorial.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my data secure? 

Yes! Your data remains secure. We follow industry-standard security measures to protect your information. Access to unapproved tools is restricted, and approved tools are vetted for privacy and compliance. AI responses are customized based on your organization’s data and respect your configured security permissions. For more details, see our Blackbaud AI Terms of Use.

Do I need technical skills? 

No. Just type your prompt and let the system handle the rest!

What if AI can't answer my question?

We’re always working to make Chat for Blackbaud AI more useful based on your needs. Your feedback helps us improve the experience and build tools that support your work. You can provide feedback in two ways:

Data Health

Email

February 17, 2026

When creating an email to send to constituents, you can now use two new merge fields — Primary addressee and Primary salutation — to personalise how recipients are addressed. These options help ensure greetings reflect a constituent’s preferred name or salutation rather than relying solely on a full name. To insert them, select Merge, then Donor, and choose the appropriate field. If a primary addressee or salutation isn’t defined, the email automatically falls back to the constituent’s full name, so your message is always complete and ready to send.

Fundraisers

February 24, 2026

You can now filter Opportunity lists by Gift type, making it easier to see whether an opportunity is expected to result in pledges, gifts in kind, or other gift types. From Portfolio, Opportunity lists, open a list and select Filters. Under Opportunity details, choose Gift type and apply the filter.

You can also add Gift type as a column to quickly scan and compare opportunities at a glance. This helps you prioritise follow‑up without opening individual records. Select Columns, Opportunity details, choose Gift type, and apply the change.

Tip: Gift type information is sourced from the opportunity record and reflects the value shown on the Details tile.

General Features

February 10, 2026

You can now add, edit, and remove Campaigns and Funds directly on an Action Record. This allows you to keep the action tied to the appropriate fundraising effort without leaving web view. For additional information, see Action Records.

Gifts

March 10, 2026

From the grid view, select Apply template to apply an existing batch template to quickly set up your batch, maintain consistency, and reduce data entry errors. Batch templates define which fields appear in the grid and can include default values for those fields. When you apply a template to a new or existing batch, the selected fields and default values are added automatically.

March 10, 2026

Now when you add a gift from Home or a constituent's record, back‑office gift entry uses the same checkout experience as online forms. The new checkout experience provides a modern, secure way to process payments.

Note: To meet evolving card‑network and issuer security expectations, new checkout requires the card security code (CSC) for new credit card payments. This added verification results in higher approval rates and fewer unnecessary declines. Existing recurring gifts continue to process as they do today. For more information, see New Checkout FAQ.

March 3, 2026

You can now configure general ledger distributions directly on Funds records in web view for both Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT integrated and non-integrated environments.

March 3, 2026

You can now apply manual payments to automated pledges. This enhancement lets your organization accept manual payments for open installments and update pledge schedules with more control.

March 3, 2026

To more easily manage payment information, now you can update credit card details for automated pledges.

March 3, 2026

As promised, we’ve made the following updates to the grid batch:

  • You can now create a constituent directly from the grid with the new Add Constituent button.

  • For more accurate gift review, split gifts display the selected campaign, fund, and appeal names instead of Split in the Campaign, Funds, and Appeals columns.

  • For faster data entry, the Campaign, Funds, and Appeals columns now begin searching for results after you enter two characters instead of three.

March 3, 2026

The new grid batch offers an improved workflow for adding multiple gifts to a batch, while maintaining all the functionality of the previous batch UI. From Gifts, Overview, select Add, New grid batch, or on an existing unapproved batch's record, select Edit, Edit in grid view. Now you can see and review all batch gifts in a single grid, tab through fields for faster entry, and configure the columns to add, remove, or rearrange fields on the batch. The status column is locked to allow you to easily identify and review errors that occurred when saving gifts. For more information, see Add Gifts in Grid Batch.

Updated batch fields include the constituent field, which now has an advanced search that provides additional constituent details to ensure that you're selecting the correct constituent. After you enter a constituent, select the constituent icon that to open and edit the constituent record from the flyout without having to leave the grid batch.

Under Related Links, you can access the new template functionality, which allows you to set the columns and default values for the fields on your batches. You can reuse the templates for each batch you create, allowing for a quicker workflow. For more information, see Create a Gift Batch Template.

Note: The approval process for batches is not changing. Any existing unapproved batches in your system are unaffected by the update.

January 27, 2026

The Gift list now includes a new Next installment date filter and column that enables more precise segmentation of pledges based on the due date of the next installment with an outstanding balance. This enhancement helps you quickly identify donors with upcoming or overdue payments, improving follow‑up and stewardship workflows. Because this date reflects the next unpaid installment, it may appear in the past when a pledge is overdue. In addition, Blackbaud AI Chat now supports questions related to the next installment date for pledges, making it easier to surface this information without navigating the interface.

Ask Blackbaud AI: Who has pledges due this month from my portfolio?

Integration

February 10, 2026

You can now configure general ledger distributions directly on Funds records in web view for both Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT integrated and non-integrated environments.

January 7, 2026

You can now manage several aspects of your Raiser's Edge and Luminate Online integration directly within Raiser's Edge NXT. While work continues on expanding web view integration, this update introduces a connection between Raiser's Edge NXT and Luminate Online, along with options for working with constituent and gift data.

Supervisor users with access to the database plugin will see the new top-level menu item labeled Luminate Online in web view. The database view plugin remains unchanged, but the web view version offers a convenient experience for completing integration tasks.

For more information, see Raiser's Edge NXT and Luminate Online.

Membership

February 10, 2026

To help you manage memberships and gifts together, you can now link memberships directly to gifts from the gift record in web view. Use the new Memberships tile to view linked memberships, add new ones, or edit existing links without leaving the gift record.

For more information, see Gift Records.

February 10, 2026

You can now view all your membership information in one place. We've added six new tiles to Membership details — Credited to, Members and card details, Gift of membership, Benefits, Custom fields, and Linked gifts.

The Custom fields tile supports view, add, edit, and delete, while the other tiles are currently view‑only. If your organization uses Memberships, these tiles appear automatically with no setup required. Additional add, edit, and delete functionality for tiles will be released in future updates. For additional information, see Membership Records.

Premium Features

February 17, 2026

Tip: This capability is a Premium feature. What's a Premium feature?

You can now turn common giving analysis questions into clear visuals — right in Chat for Blackbaud AI. Switch between Bar chart, Pie chart, or List view using the new Display as field, then print or download the chart image from the menu to share or save.

Why it matters

  • See cash flow at a glance. Visualize projected revenue from future pledge and recurring gift payments to better understand upcoming cash flow.

  • Spot what’s driving results. View giving by revenue or gift counts across top campaigns, funds, or appeals to quickly identify what’s performing.

  • Move faster from insight to action. Toggle views without re-running queries and share visuals instantly.

Ask Blackbaud AI: "Show me all actions assigned to me grouped by type."

Ask Blackbaud AI: "What are the top 10 funds for this fiscal year?"

Ask Blackbaud AI: "Show me projected revenue for next fiscal year." (bar chart only)

Prospect Insights

Query

March 10, 2026

You can now resize the Query editor panes to create a workspace that supports your workflow. A new grab handle appears between the panes so you can adjust the width to focus on the criteria, output, or sort information you need. You can also resize the panes with the keyboard, which supports users who prefer or require keyboard navigation.

When you adjust the pane widths, SKY UX sticky settings store your preferences for each product and each editor view. For example, Criteria, Output, and Sort store their pane widths independently. Your preferred layout appears each time you open an editor so you can stay focused on your task without reorganizing your workspace.

Arrows point to resizable Query editor pane divider

March 10, 2026

We updated how queries format Name to align it more closely with natural language and to distinguish it from Sort Name. Sort Name uses the Last, First Middle format; Name and Sort Name had displayed the same information. To support multiple formats in web view Query, Name now displays First MI Last. Sort Name continues to display Last, First Middle.

How this update affects workflows

  • Use Sort Name when you need Last, First Middle for sorting or grouping.

  • Use Name when you need First MI Last for display or export.

  • Include both fields in a query when you need both formats available for review.

This update ensures that both formats are available in web view Query. Teams that prefer First MI Last can use Name, and teams that rely on Last, First Middle can use Sort Name.

Note: Queries that currently include Name may need to switch to Sort Name if the user wants to use Last, First Middle.

March 3, 2026

To make it easy to see which fields aren’t available in database view, web view queries now display a cloud icon for fields that are exclusive to web view. This visibility helps you confidently build queries that use web view–only data and benefit from additional insights you couldn’t access before.

We've added new fields from database view Export to web view Query:

  • Constituent, Sort name with import ID

  • Gift, Fund list

  • Preferred Address, Preferred Address

  • Address processing, Address

These address fields include all address lines in the same cell.

To support consistent terminology in Query, we’ve renamed the Sort key fields where needed:

  • Sort name lists Last name, First nameMiddle name

  • Sort name with import ID lists Last name, First name, Middle name, Import ID

Settings

March 10, 2026

We’ve simplified the Settings experience so you can spend less time navigating and more time getting things done. Instead of opening a dropdown and knowing which page to choose, selecting Settings in the left navigation now takes you straight to the main Settings page. Once you’re there, a new built‑in search helps you find the setting you want to update.

This update is designed to make Settings more intuitive, more flexible, and more future‑ready. Previously, Settings were spread across multiple sub‑menus, which meant you had to understand the structure before you could make a change. This release begins a broader consolidation of Settings into a single, easier‑to‑scan destination that’s built to grow. You’ll see more settings move here over time, and new settings will land on this page in future releases, making it the central place to find, manage, and update everything you need.

March 10, 2026

Intelligent tags — previously known as Tags in Raiser’s Edge NXT — are now managed directly in Settings, giving organisations more control over which donor insights appear throughout their fundraising workflows. These insights highlight key donor behaviors such as recent giving, lapsing activity, event participation, wealth changes, and personal milestones. They appear across the product, including constituent records, lists, Work Center, and prospect outreach recommendations in Chat for Blackbaud AI.

With this update, admins control which insights appear, so teams are guided by consistent, strategy‑aligned signals that support confident, results‑driven fundraising. By managing intelligent tags and displaying only the ones that matter to your organisation, fundraisers see the most relevant donor insights when they work in Raiser’s Edge NXT.

Admins can turn individual intelligent tags on or off in Settings, Intelligent tags. A new Manage intelligent tags permission in Security, Role management, Settings determines who can adjust which insights appear.

This enhancement strengthens organisational governance, improves the relevance of insights fundraisers rely on, and creates a foundation for a more unified settings experience.

Standard Reports

March 10, 2026

In response to your feedback, Comparison and Summaries reports in Standard reports now support the Class of field, allowing you to run reports broken down by class years. You can apply this field from the Fields tab when building or editing a report. Previously, class year data was only available in database view.

January 7, 2026

In response to your feedback, we’ve added a new way to customize how constituent names appear in Standard reports. Previously, you could only choose Individual’s name or Individual’s record as the name source. Now, you can select From configuration for even greater flexibility. This enhancement allows you to apply any name format defined in Configuration, Addressees/Salutations in database view. For example, you can include a constituent’s ID in the name format — helping you tailor reports to your organization’s needs. When you add or edit a Standard report, on the Formats tab, under Constituent, select From configuration and choose a name format from your configuration settings. This update gives you more control over how names display in reports, ensuring consistency and alignment with your organization’s standards.