Constituents

This feature is expected for release in version 4.0.

What’s the problem we are trying to solve?

When you access a constituent record, you need to quickly find the information that matters to you. Your role in your organization is different from the roles of other Blackbaud CRM users in the same organization, so what you need to view is different from what they need to view. You need something that each user can easily customize.

Currently in Blackbaud CRM, the constituent summary isn’t as informative or interactive as you want. Also, it isn’t easily customized to fit the needs of individual users.

Plus, you know that constituent records have a lot of information, but you can’t find what you’re looking for very quickly. For example, you’re pretty sure that there is a way to view Robert Hernandez as an event registrant, but you just can’t remember where that link is. When you remember to look in the explorer bar (on the left side), you’re frustrated because the View as event registrant page is too different from the constituent record. You’d prefer for everything to just be on the constituent record, but you also want the constituent record to be more organized. 

What are the solutions?

We’re reforming the constituent record and related pages so that they are more streamlined, user friendly, and easier to navigate. You’ll be able to find more information on the record itself. 

Bryna Gleich:

This feature is expected for release in version 4.0.

 

 

Solution: Summary tiles

 

We replaced the previous constituent summary with interactive summary tiles. 

 

 

 

For now, we’ve focused on the tiles that were requested most, but we anticipate that there will be more summary tiles available in the future.

This feature is expected for release in version 4.0.

Solution: Improve tabs and shrink the explorer bar

You’ll still use the tabs at the bottom of each constituent record to view additional information. As such, we’ve started to improve the tab experience.

Previously there was only one row of tabs and you sometimes had to scroll to the right to find the tabs that you wanted. Our Product Discovery process taught us that the links in the explorer bar were easy to overlook. Plus those links took you away from the constituent record and to other pages instead. 

So, we’re moving the tabs into two tiers of tabs. Tabs that are closely related will be grouped together. View as and More information links that had been in the explorer bar will have new homes in the tiered tabs. Therefore, you’ll be able to stay on the constituent record when you want to access that information. And within each tier, you can reorder the tabs to fit your needs. With these enhancements, you will no longer need to scroll to find your favorite tab. 

First, we created a new tier one tab called Documentation and Interactions. We “demoted” the previous Documentation tab down to tier two and renamed it Constituent documentation. We then moved some of the links that previously appeared under More Information and converted them into tier two tabs too. Additionally, this group of tabs is linked to the new summary tile for Documentation and Interactions. When you click a link on the summary tile, the related tab opens. 

Next, we tackled three more groups of tiered tabs.

1. Previously, Constituencies and Education were tier one tabs. Now, they’re part of the Personal Info group of tiered tabs.
2. We’ve converted Relationships into a group of tiered tabs and moved View as group member to this area.
3. We’ve also converted Communications, which you previously accessed from More information, into a group of tiered tabs on the constituent record. 

What’s next?

We’re going to continue to improve the tab experience with tiered tabs.  Many links under View as and More information will have new homes on the constituent record, as part of tiered tabs.

What if I have customizations?

We’ve added page redirects. If you have a customization that links to a tab or page that we’ve moved, the redirects should keep those links from breaking.

We’re also creating a utility that you can run after you upgrade. It should detect other customizations that could be affected by these changes. When possible, the utility will move the customizations to the new tiered tabs. If the utility can’t move a specific customization, it’ll let you know so that customization can be taken care of manually.