Blackbaud vs Tessitura

Hi,

I work for a nonprofit that will soon be opening a 550 seat performing arts center and we need to decide on a comprehensive ticketing, fundraising,constituent management, financial management and direct marketing system.  We have narrowed our choices to Blackbaud and Tessitura and have gotten proposals from both the companies and yet the choice is still not clear.

I am wondering if

1) anyone could share their opinions on either system

2) if anyone knows of or has a comparison chart of the two systems

3) if anyone can share links to other information comparing the systems

4) if anyone working on either of these systems is a Mac user and how your experience has been with the system

Hi, MNShubert,

In the past, one person has commented a bit on Tessitura vs. Blackbaud in this thread

Ticket/Fundraising Software

Also to keep in mind when choosing software, there isn't ONE right answer. In the final analysis, the best software is the one that performs the functions that are most important to you the best for you. For that reason, be sure to spend some hands-on time with both programs, if you haven't already.

There are some god tips on evaluating software in this thread:

Tessitura Experience

Hope that helps,

Sasha

Dear MNShubert,

I don't know of a comparison chart.  Although several of my clients have compared these systems, each has had different criteria for making the decision. 

The bad news is that you really need to do your own detailed investigation.  The good news is you'll find out which system is right for you, rather than for someone else. 

I don't think you can choose such a complicated piece of software based on the standard vendor demos.  You need to develop use cases based on your top priorities and have each vendor demonstrate how their system would handle those cases.  For instance, if you give a higher seating priority to donors, or top donors, or donors based on years of giving, or members based on years of membership, you would ask each vendor to demonstrate that.  If you need to accommodate discount codes or pre-sales, you would ask to see that.  If you sell season packages, you would ask to see that, and so on.  You should grade each vendor on how well they handle each case.  You should also do your own hands-on testing of each system -- including testing them on Macs -- and grade those tests.  Finally, ask vendor for references for clients who chose their system over the other one. 

Robert

Blackbaud has many different packages, Tessitura is one package.

We have 3 different BB apps here, not integrated.  Tessitura lacked a major component we needed - might have been membership?

Robert, BRAVO!  Sure wish folks here would follow such a process.