SUNY Brockport Cuts Reconciliation Time Through an Integrated Blackbaud Platform

Disconnected Systems Slowed a Lean Team

Behind the scenes, SUNY Brockport’s advancement and finance teams support the university’s mission with a small, collaborative staff. As the institution’s systems aged, the teams needed a better way to manage fundraising and financial data—one that reduced manual work, improved accuracy, and allowed staff to move faster.

For many years, the institution relied on Banner Advancement to manage alumni and fundraising data. While it worked well early on, the system became increasingly limiting after enhancements to the alumni module were discontinued. “We’d used Banner since 2001, but once they announced they wouldn’t enhance the alumni module anymore, we were basically stuck for eight or nine years,” said John Sapienza, director of finance and advancement services.

Over time, routine tasks became more cumbersome. Reports had to be requested rather than run independently. Deposits moved slowly between systems, and reconciliations often took days. For a lean team responsible for both advancement and finance operations, those delays compounded quickly. “It wasn’t just inefficient,” Sapienza said. “It limited how quickly we could respond and increased the risk of things falling out of sync.”

Choosing a Better Way Forward

When it became clear the institution had outgrown Banner Advancement, the team began evaluating alternatives. For SUNY Brockport, the decision came down to one non-negotiable requirement: advancement and finance systems needed to work together in real time.

“We were most excited about Raiser’s Edge NXT talking directly to Financial Edge NXT,” Sapienza said. “We wanted something proven in higher education that worked out of the box—not something we’d have to build and maintain ourselves.”

Because the university had been using Financial Edge NXT since 2009, the ability to connect the two systems seamlessly was a major advantage. Just as important, leadership across the institution supported the move and understood the long term‑ value of modernizing.

“We were all on board from the start,” Sapienza said. “We knew we had to do something. If we didn’t believe in the change and the possibilities with Raiser’s Edge NXT, it would’ve been much harder.”

Navigating the Transition with Confidence

The move from Banner Advancement to Raiser’s Edge NXT was a significant undertaking, especially for a small team managing the transition alongside daily responsibilities. Clear timelines, regular communication, and consistent support helped keep the process moving.

“I’d go into meetings thinking, ‘I hope we’re in a good spot,’” Sapienza said. “But every time, they’d say, ‘You’re right on track. Everything’s green.’ That gave us a lot of peace of mind.”

Rather than feeling like they were handed instructions and left to figure things out, the team felt supported throughout the process. “Blackbaud didn’t just say, ‘Here’s what you need to do—go watch some videos,’” Sapienza said. “They were with us through the entire journey. Knowing we didn’t have to do this by ourselves made a huge difference.”

Immediate Results Across Finance and Advancement

Once the systems were live, the impact was immediate—particularly for finance. Previously, deposits entered in Banner Advancement could take several days to a full week to appear in Financial Edge NXT. Now, gift batches entered in Raiser’s Edge NXT flow immediately and directly into Financial Edge NXT.

“Reconciliation used to take us hours every week, but now it takes just half an hour or less,” Sapienza explained. “That time savings alone has made a tremendous difference for our team.”

The integration has reduced reconciliation time by 75% and eliminated up to five days of posting delays. Automation has also minimized discrepancies caused by updates being made in only one system, leading to more accurate reporting and greater confidence in stewardship. When alumni or donors have questions about gifts or fund balances, the team can now quickly trace and verify information—reinforcing trust and transparency in stewardship.

Advancement teams benefited as well. Staff can now run their own reports, build queries, and pull lists for events and outreach—tasks that were previously centralized. Fundraisers can generate alumni lists by city or region for events and travel, document outreach more consistently, and avoid duplicate follow‑ups that can frustrate donors.

“The biggest thing is people can run their own reports now,” Sapienza said. “That literally wasn’t possible before.”

With fewer bottlenecks and less reliance on a single group for data access, advancement teams move faster and spend more time focused on alumni engagement, stewardship, and coordinated outreach.

A Foundation for What Comes Next

SUNY Brockport continues to build on its Blackbaud ecosystem. Plans include moving fully to Blackbaud Donation Forms, implementing email communications with Constant Contact for Raiser’s Edge NXT, and expanding integrations to automate event and outreach data. The institution has also partnered with Blackbaud Advisory+ to explore advanced reporting, automation, and future AI capabilities within the systems.

Looking back, Sapienza emphasizes that trust and partnership were critical to the success of the transition. “Trust your advisors,” he said. “They’ve done this a million times. Having a clear timeline and sticking to it really matters.”

By consolidating systems and streamlining access to accurate, real-time data, SUNY Brockport has strengthened the foundation of its advancement and finance operations—supporting alumni engagement, confident stewardship, and the university’s long-term mission of student success.