Exporting Reports into Excel

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Michaela Walker 2
Michaela Walker 2
Eighth Anniversary Photogenic First Comment
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussion
In March, we upgraded to RE 7.96 and with that discovered that Reports export into Excel differently than they used to. 

The formatting is totally different. 


Has anyone discovered the best way to export reports into Excel without having to spend much time on reformatting it so you can sort/manipulate the data how you would like?


For example, I exported the Cash Flow report - and it just doesn't export cleanly. I have to add columns and move data so that each donation appears on one line (there may be multiple rows associated with a donor; which is fine). 

My Finance Office prefers to work in Excel instead of PDF. 


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 


Thanks,

Michaela
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  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
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    Have found same thing. Sort of annoying when mid-campaign right after update couldn't pull needed reports. Also very limited in options to export Reports for some reason.


    Don't have a 'best way'. I exported the report I needed in every available format to see what was closest to what I needed. Support had no solution to offer when I contacted them.
  • Marie Stark
    Marie Stark Community All-Star
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    I used to export to Microsoft Access, but that is no longer an option.  I think the best way I have found is to export to csv format and remove all the extraneous information.  It's not pretty, but at least everything appears on one line.
  • Cathleen Mai
    Cathleen Mai
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Likes 100 Comments Name Dropper

    Michaela,

    I feel your pain. Why is there no option to just get the data without formatting and spaces?

    I'm not sure if this works for that specific report - export to crystal report and delete the unnecessary sections in Design mode or move the whole field that bothers you to the correct line.

    This has worked for me for some reports, but still means manual labor. Only difference is you can change the position for all fields at the same time - for instance move all names one line down.     The other option is to write your own crystal report and connect it to RE, also some have suggested in a similar thread to export to CSV and delete all unnecessary columns.


     
  • Barbara Schlichter
    Barbara Schlichter
    Tenth Anniversary 10 Comments 25 Likes Photogenic

    Michaela Walker:

    In March, we upgraded to RE 7.96 and with that discovered that Reports export into Excel differently than they used to. 

    The formatting is totally different. 


    Has anyone discovered the best way to export reports into Excel without having to spend much time on reformatting it so you can sort/manipulate the data how you would like?


    For example, I exported the Cash Flow report - and it just doesn't export cleanly. I have to add columns and move data so that each donation appears on one line (there may be multiple rows associated with a donor; which is fine). 

    My Finance Office prefers to work in Excel instead of PDF. 


    Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 


    Thanks,

    Michaela

    I have found that exporting it to "Microsoft Excel Workbook Only" and keeping all the check boxes as they, are works great.


     

  • Cathleen Mai
    Cathleen Mai
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    Barbara, Does this actually work for this specific report for you? I just tested and on my side it does not solve the issue.
  • Barbara Schlichter
    Barbara Schlichter
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    Cathleen Mai:

    Barbara, Does this actually work for this specific report for you? I just tested and on my side it does not solve the issue.

    Sorry for the delay.  Yes, Cathleen it does.  We are not hosted.

  • Cathleen Mai
    Cathleen Mai
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    Interesting, thanks for your reply. I'm wondering if it also depends on which version of Excel you are on.
  • Barbara Schlichter
    Barbara Schlichter
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    Barbara Schlichter:

    Cathleen Mai:

    Barbara, Does this actually work for this specific report for you? I just tested and on my side it does not solve the issue.

    Sorry for the delay.  Yes, Cathleen it does.  We are not hosted.

     

    Here are 2 samples

  • Cathleen Mai
    Cathleen Mai
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Likes 100 Comments Name Dropper
    Oh I see. I probably misunderstood. I thought that Michaela wanted the Org/ Last name and dates on the same line as the donation amounts, I have the same result as you do then.smiley

     

  • Jane Lagger
    Jane Lagger
    Ninth Anniversary First Comment

    Barbara Schlichter:

    Barbara Schlichter:

    Cathleen Mai:

    Barbara, Does this actually work for this specific report for you? I just tested and on my side it does not solve the issue.

    Sorry for the delay.  Yes, Cathleen it does.  We are not hosted.

     

     

    Here are 2 samples

     

    This is the exact problem that I am trying to solve.  However, I cannot get my worksheet to format like yours.  When I export to excel workbook, I still get the donor name on a seperate line from the gift information.  See the attached file. Do you have any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?  

  • Cathleen Mai
    Cathleen Mai
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Likes 100 Comments Name Dropper
    The only way it works for me:

    Run the Report in RE and export to Crystal report.

    In Design View pull down the Name and Date to the same line, see attachment. Then in Crystal Reports export to Excel (data only).

     

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