SDSUAF Builds on Raiser’s Edge NXT to Unlock Deeper Fundraising Insights

As South Dakota State University Alumni & Foundation launched its Bold & Blue fundraising campaign with a public goal of raising $500 million, it saw an opportunity to make data a stronger driver of strategy. With Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT serving as the trusted source of constituent and fundraising data, SDSUAF wanted to ensure fundraisers had the insights needed to guide decisions throughout one of the most ambitious fundraising efforts in the university’s history. The campaign ultimately exceeded its goal, raising a record $604.3 million.

Before the Bold & Blue campaign, SDSUAF’s team was still developing a culture of using data to guide decisions. “With our new campaign, we wanted to be more intentional about using data,” said David Hecht, senior director of data and information systems. “We’d outgrown our old system and needed something much better at helping us make data-driven decisions. We chose Raiser’s Edge NXT for this reason.”

Following its move to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, the SDSUAF expanded its analytics ecosystem, leveraging Blackbaud SKY API, Power BI, Power Automate, and Microsoft Fabric to streamline reporting, connect data across systems, and deliver deeper fundraising insights.

Why Extending Raiser’s Edge NXT with Microsoft Fabric Made Sense

SDSUAF was already using Power BI, so expanding into Microsoft Fabric was a natural next step. The move allowed the team to modernize its data architecture while continuing to use preferred dashboards and get more value from existing investments. Fabric also gave SDSUAF a scalable way to build, test, and refine a sophisticated data warehouse without requiring deep software development expertise or significant technical overhead.

“By pairing Raiser’s Edge NXT with Microsoft Fabric, we created a layered solution,” said Hecht. “Raiser’s Edge NXT remains the trusted source of truth and shared repository for institutional knowledge, while Fabric provides a flexible analytics environment that helps turn that data into on-demand insight.”

On the Blackbaud side, Power Automate connectors and SKY API capabilities made it easier to move and manage data between solutions. “Power Automate is our primary method of getting data out of Raiser’s Edge NXT and into Fabric,” said Michael Livingston, business intelligence analyst. “The number of connectors, actions, and activities available made it much easier to build and automate our processes.”

SDSUAF partnered with BWF Zuri, a fundraising consulting and technology advisory firm, to help guide the implementation and develop the internal skills needed to manage and evolve the solution independently long after launch. “The entire project took less than a year. I don’t think we would have achieved that kind of rapid development with a different solution,” Livingston said. That hands-on approach gave SDSUAF the confidence to continue expanding the warehouse, adding new data sources, and refining analytics long after the initial launch.

Turning Trusted Data into Faster Insights

Processes that once required extensive manual effort, such as compiling annual giving summaries, now run in minutes, while data-driven dashboards help development directors begin each day with a clear view of priorities and opportunities. Together, Raiser’s Edge NXT and Fabric provide SDSUAF with both a reliable advancement data foundation and the flexibility to uncover deeper insights that support fundraising success.

The impact of SDSUAF’s analytics strategy quickly became visible across the advancement team. “Development directors come in in the morning, open up the dashboard, look at their portfolios, and use that information to decide who they’re going to talk to and what approach they’re going to take. We are using data in ways we never thought possible before we started on this project,” Hecht said.

The annual giving summary was one of the first processes to demonstrate that impact. “With Fabric, because all the data is there, we can request the full annual giving summary report all at once. What once required roughly four hours of manual exports and data consolidation can now be completed in about ten minutes,” Livingston said.

Pledge management saw a similar transformation. The team can now see the status and remaining balance of every open pledge, giving fundraisers a complete view of their portfolio and helping them identify whether donors are paying ahead of schedule, falling behind, or nearing fulfillment. “We have so much more flexibility to be proactive rather than reactive,” Livingston said.

SDSUAF can also quickly identify constituents who newly qualify for loyalty giving programs and generate targeted outreach lists that were previously difficult to produce. The team has operational dashboards that provide greater visibility into internal performance and fundraising activity.

By extending Raiser’s Edge NXT with Fabric, SDSUAF has created a more flexible analytics environment that helps its team move faster, act with confidence, and continue scaling data-driven fundraising.