• Hosting Integration Update Resources

Resources for Microsoft Office Integration Updates in Blackbaud Hosting Services

This page is for customers who received an email that announced necessary changes to how users access Microsoft Office application integrations within Blackbaud solutions. This page includes frequently asked questions and links to Knowledgebase articles to guide your users through any workflow changes. We will update this page regularly to address common questions and share additional resources as they become available. This page was last updated on: March 2, 2022.

General Overview Questions

WHY IS BLACKBAUD MAKING THESE CHANGES?

The protection of your organization’s information is critically important, and as your partner, we take that responsibility seriously. To uphold that responsibility to you—and to those you serve—we are making necessary changes to how users access Microsoft Office application integrations from within Blackbaud solutions. We know this is a busy time of year, and we regret having to make product changes that cause disruption to our users. However, we want to ensure you are made aware of these changes and available resources as soon as possible to help you best prepare over the coming months.

HOW DO I KNOW IF THIS MESSAGE APPLIES TO ME?

This change applies to users who access these applications in Blackbaud Hosting Services (Azure and private cloud environments) while using Raiser’s Edge®, Financial Edge®, Education Edge™, and Blackbaud FIMS HostNet™. This also applies to those who use database view in Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®, and Blackbaud Church Management™. This change will not prevent users from using the applications directly in your local environment and will not affect any functionality within web view of NXT or Church Management.

WHAT NEW PRODUCT UPDATES ARE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST MY TRANSITION TO REMOVING MICROSOFT OFFICE APPLICATIONS?

Blackbaud has implemented the following product changes to assist your transition:

  • Mail Merge Template Export – In Raiser’s Edge, you may now export all your mail merge templates in bulk, instead of one by one. For more information and a video, review this Knowledgebase article.
  • Produce eReceipts – In Raiser’s Edge you can create formatted receipts with merge fields and images using the new Rich Text Designer. You can also bulk email PDF receipts to constituents. For more information and a video, review this Knowledgebase article.
  • Manage Media Items – In both Raiser’s Edge, Financial Edge, and Education Edge, you can now add or export media files. For more information and a video, review these Knowledgebase articles for Raiser’s Edge and Financial Edge and Education Edge.
  • Adjust Check Logos and Signatures – In Financial Edge, you can now add and change images on check. For more information and a video, review these Knowledgebase articles regarding electronic signatures and check logos.

WHAT OTHER RESOURCE ARE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST ME IN MAKING THESE CHANGES?

  • Customer Success adoption webinars on these changes have been very popular and will continue to be added to the calendar on the Adoption Resources page. You can view previous sessions and additional resources on the Raiser’s Edge NXT On-Demand Resource Library page.
  • Blackbaud University has updated curriculum on the new workflows. The free eLearning session Basics of Mail is available from the Raiser’s Edge learning path. Additionally, instructor led courses on Raiser’s Edge: Essential Mail is available for both Raiser’s Edge NXT and Raiser’s Edge 7.
  • Several Blackbaud partners offer services and integrated applications for acknowledgements and supporter communications. Find upcoming webinars and recordings of previous sessions on the Raiser’s Edge NXT Connected Office resource page.
  • If you’re ready to adopt more advanced capabilities, consider Microsoft Power Automate for modernizing your acknowledgement workflows. See the Acknowledgement Tutorial landing page to access available templates, webinar recordings, office hours, and Skills Labs.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER FEBRUARY 28, 2022?

The icons and options for Microsoft Office integrations may still be visible in your solution. However, users may receive an error message when attempting to access them. We will be evaluating the icons and buttons for removal over the coming months.

SHOULD WE EXPECT OTHER CHANGES TO OUR WORKFLOWS/OTHER THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS?

Our products are always evolving with the intention of bringing the most reliable, secure, and valuable solutions to our customers. We will continue to review third-party applications and will communicate directly with your organization should we need to make changes to functionality/workflows within our applications.

I RECEIVED THE EMAIL REGARDING CRYSTAL REPORTS CHANGES LAST MONTH. IS THE REASON FOR BOTH CHANGES THE SAME? MAY I HAVE ACCESS TO CRYSTAL REPORTS DESIGNER THROUGH FEBRUARY 28, 2022?

Yes, the reason for both changes is the same: the protection of your organization’s information. As such, we had to make these changes. The date for changes to Crystal Reports designer access is not changing and is December 15, 2021.

I HAVE QUESTIONS THAT AREN’T ANSWERED ON THIS PAGE. WHERE CAN I GET HELP?

If you have a question about your Blackbaud solution and some of the options you can use, please contact Blackbaud Customer Support. If you have additional questions not already covered within this FAQ, please contact your Customer Success Manager or email CustomerSuccess@blackbaud.com with your organization name and Site ID. Customer Success will be leading upcoming webinars and open office hours on the new workflows. Please visit this website to register for those webinars and office hours.

In addition, please thoroughly review these FAQs to ensure your question is not already answered and check back periodically as we will continue to add new FAQs as more become available.

WHY DID YOU ANNOUNCE THESE CHANGES SO CLOSE TO THE END OF THE YEAR?

We understand and apologize that the timing of this message is not ideal. For context – one of our main responsibilities is to protect your organization’s information as best we can. We take that responsibility quite seriously. As such, we may have to make changes that come at an inopportune time. We certainly weighed the pros and cons of the timing of this communication, but decided it was best to communicate this change now to give your organization time to update any necessary workflows. By making these changes, we are enhancing the security of your organization’s information and the information of your supporters/constituents. We are standing by to support you if you have any additional questions.

Questions Specific to Microsoft Word

WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT WORD INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Word integrations, along with details on the new processes. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Mail Merge
  • eReceipts
  • Mail merges from the Export module
  • Letters in Configuration
  • Media
  • Queue Mail Merges
  • “Write a letter” button/menu item from a record
  • “Save this document as an action” while Writing a Letter from a Record
  • Spell check in record Notes

I STILL NEED TO USE MICROSOFT WORD WITH MY BLACKBAUD SOLUTION. WHAT CAN I USE?

You can still use Microsoft Word by exporting or saving the Word files from Blackbaud Hosting Services by following the instructions in this Knowledgebase article. Blackbaud recommends that you store the file to a secure storage location in alignment with your organizations’ policies. As an example, you may save a file from your application to a secure OneDrive folder.

HOW CAN I EXPORT ALL MY MAIL MERGE TEMPLATES FOR USE WITH MICROSOFT WORD MERGES?

In Raiser’s Edge, you may export all your mail merge templates in bulk, instead of one by one. For more information and a video, review this Knowledgebase article.

MY ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE A LICENSE TO USE MICROSOFT WORD. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Since Microsoft Word will no longer be available directly within Blackbaud Hosting Services, you will need to have a local copy to complete word merge activities. Microsoft has a program to allow for free or discounted purchases of Microsoft Office for nonprofits, charities, and many other organizations. For more information, please review this Knowledgebase article.

MY ORGANIZATION PREFERS TO USE GOOGLE APPS (GMAIL, GOOGLE SHEETS, GOOGLE DRIVE) OR OTHER PROVIDERS FOR WORD PROCESSING, SPREADSHEETS, AND FILE SHARING. HOW CAN I IMPLEMENT WORKFLOW CHANGES USING THESE OTHER PRODUCTS?

Customers can use any apps based on the needs of their organization but be aware of the possible impacts. Microsoft Word has unique features and functions that are not available in other products, which may be most evident when performing Mail Merge activities. You will need to either simplify your business processes to accommodate what is available in other products or acquire a Microsoft Office license to perform some tasks that are only able to be done in Microsoft Office. Microsoft has a program to allow for free or discounted purchases of Microsoft Office for nonprofits, charities, and many other organizations. For more information, please review this Knowledgebase article.

DOES THIS IMPACT MAILINGS THAT USE BLACKBAUD FORMS OR CRYSTAL REPORTS VIEWER (SUCH AS LABELS, ENVELOPES, PREPRINTED PLEDGE REMINDERS, PREPRINTED MEMBERSHIP CARDS)?

The preprinted mailings, envelopes, and labels use Crystal Reports Viewer and are not impacted. The only impact for those type of mailings will be the option to “Create a custom data file”.

WHAT ASSISTANCE WILL BLACKBAUD PROVIDE FOR MY MAIL MERGE NEEDS?

Depending on the level of assistance needed, we have a variety of ways to assist you.

  • For educational videos and documentation, please review this Knowledgebase article that specifically discusses mail merge workflow changes.
  • Customer Support will assist with steps to export data from the Raiser’s Edge. For assistance on export, please contact Raiser’s Edge Customer Support.
  • Billable services are available for customers who need hands-on assistance in creating or editing mail merges within Microsoft applications. If interested in billable services for assistance in altering or creating existing Word merge templates, please contact your account executive. If you are in an active services engagement, please contact your project manager or business consultant.

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION FOR MAIL MERGE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PROCESSING OTHER THAN EXPORTING FILES TO MY LOCAL DESKTOP?

Yes, for Raiser’s Edge NXT or Blackbaud Church Management customers, there are several options to evaluate as the long-term approach to handling acknowledgement and letter processing.

This recent Community Post recaps the guides, kits, tutorials, upcoming webinars, documentation, and resources that will be useful to you if you decide to evaluate alternatives.

(FIMS HOSTNET CUSTOMERS) WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT WORD INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Word integrations for HostNet customer specifically, along with details on the new processes to use. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Launch Word
  • Mail Merge
  • Create Individual Documents from a Mail Merge
  • Auto-launch Word documents
  • Open FIMS Data in Word
  • Copy and Paste FIMS Data into Word
  • Copy and Paste Text into FIMS Notes
  • Open and View FIMS IGAM HTML File
  • Spell Checker
  • Reports > General Ledger > Word Merge – Right Flush Detail Amounts
  • Tools > System Utilities > Donor Central > Setup Documents for Advisor Fund Statements

HOW WILL THESE WORKFLOW CHANGES IMPACT RAISER’S EDGE QUEUE?

What is changing:

  • Scheduled or on-demand Queues that perform a Word merge (such as Donor Acknowledgement Letters, Honor/Memorial Letters, Quick Letters, or any other mailing where the option to “Create a custom data file” is selected on the General tab). These documents will need to be set to perform an export of the data, and then the merge completed outside of Blackbaud Hosting Services.
  • On-demand queues that send an email, whether it’s a queue notification or an emailed report/document, will no longer send an email. These will need to be exported/saved outside of Blackbaud Hosting Services and then attached to an email for manual sending.
  • When setting a queue to email a notification, users will no longer be able to search by Outlook users. Email addresses will instead need to be typed into the notification field manually.

What is NOT changing:

  • Scheduled or on-demand Queues that produce .pdf documents through Mail or Reports will continue to work (such as Envelopes, pre-printed Receipts or Membership Cards, Labels, or any report). This is because these documents are produced using the Crystal Reports viewer, which is not changing.
  • Any scheduled queue that sends an email will still work, whether it’s a notification or an actual report. This is because scheduled queues don’t require Outlook to send, and use Blackbaud’s email servers internally.

Questions Specific to Microsoft Excel

WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Excel integrations, along with details on the new processes. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Exporting Grids to Excel by right-clicking
  • Export to Excel to directly open files in the Excel application
  • Pivot Reports
  • Media

MY ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE A LICENSE TO USE MICROSOFT EXCEL. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Since Microsoft Excel will no longer be available directly within Blackbaud Hosting Services, you will need to have a local copy to complete certain activities. Microsoft has a program to allow for free or discounted purchases of Microsoft Office for nonprofits, charities, and many other organizations. For more information, please review this Knowledgebase article.

(FIMS HOSTNET CUSTOMERS) WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Excel integrations for HostNet customers specifically, along with details on the new processes to use. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Launch Excel
  • Save Reports from the FIMS Viewer
  • Export FIMS Data to Excel
  • Paste or Import FIMS Data into Excel
  • Import Excel data into FIMS

Questions Specific to Microsoft Outlook

WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Outlook integrations, along with details on the new processes. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Creating actions from Microsoft Outlook emails (Note: The Blackbaud for Outlook add-in is not changing)
  • Send as Mail
  • Opening an email directly from a constituent record
  • Sending emails via Globally Add action
  • Action Notifications
  • Queue notification recipient search by Outlook user
  • “Send as Mail” function in on-demand Queues
  • Outlook Anywhere features such as synching Outlook contacts, appointments, and tasks with Raiser’s Edge Records

DO THESE CHANGES AFFECT THE BLACKBAUD FOR OUTLOOK ADD-IN?

No. The Blackbaud for Outlook add-in is not changing and provides Raiser’s Edge NXT or Blackbaud Church Management users a way to add actions and access their Blackbaud solution and data from within Outlook. For more information, please review our help documentation here.

MY ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE A LICENSE TO USE MICROSOFT OUTLOOK. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Since Microsoft Outlook will no longer be available directly within Blackbaud Hosting Services, you will need to have a local copy to complete various activities. Microsoft has a program to allow for free or discounted purchases of Microsoft Office for nonprofits, charities, and many other organizations. For more information, please review this Knowledgebase article.

(FIMS HOSTNET CUSTOMERS) Q. WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Outlook integrations for HostNet customer specifically, along with details on the new processes to use. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Email a File Stored in MyFiles
  • Send Email to a FIMS Profile Contact
  • Send Group Emails to FIMS Profile Contacts
  • Email a Check Recipient

Questions Specific to Microsoft Paint

WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH MICROSOFT PAINT INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Microsoft Paint integrations, along with details on the new processes to use. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Media

Questions Specific to Windows Notepad

WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH WINDOWS NOTEPAD INTEGRATIONS?

Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific changes to Windows Notepad integrations, along with details on the new processes to use. At a glance, the following workflows will change:

  • Attempting to open exported .txt files from within the application
  • Using the spell check within Notepad
  • Plugins that automatically open a log file with Notepad

(FIMS HOSTNET CUSTOMERS) WHICH WORKFLOWS WILL CHANGE WITH WINDOWS NOTEPAD INTEGRATIONS?

After February 28, 2022, you will no longer be able to open text files in Notepad on HostNet, you will need to copy these files to your local computer and open them there. Please view this Knowledgebase article that outlines the specific steps you should take to complete this task.

Questions Specific to GrantedGE

HOW DO THESE CHANGES IMPACT MY USE OF GRANTEDGE?

We will be ending support of GrantedGE on September 30, 2022. For specific impacts to GrantedGE functionality after we make changes to Microsoft integrations on February 28, 2022, please reach out to Npact. More details are outlined in this Knowledgebase article.