Trail Blazer Campaign Manager Reviews

Pros
Fantastic customer support. Pretty intuitive to navigate. The right level of features for my fundraising program--all the functionality I need, but not too much to clutter my dashboard or brain. Easy to train colleagues.

Cons
Quite challenging to use on a Mac platform, which seems to be the predominant OS in educational/university settings and also among many non-profits. You have to use helper "remote connection" software even to reach the Trailblazer server, and then it looks and works like you're on a PC. Which leads to my other con: The interface is unimaginably ugly. Looks count, and most other CRMs are now clean and beautiful. Definitely affects the user experience to use attractive sites and software all day, but then to have to switch to early-'90s Windows land for database work. Also, Trailblazer doesn't work directly with the payment gateway required by the university where we're based. (Cybersource/Secure Acceptance) That means donations aren't entered automatically, but rather we have to import them manually. I see this as more of a limitation by our university than by Trailblazer, but it's still a hassle.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
The software has many features that have worked well for our group which is a membership based nonprofit. Over the few years that we have had it, the company has made substantial improvements on a continuing basis. However, the assumptions underlying the software's design and features must be a close match to your real world operations or you will likely need to adjust how you do some things to make the software work for you. However, the software is very adaptive, it has many features we need and quite a few we have not implemented. Also, and this is critical for us, the software support, training and consulting is worth every penny you pay for the annual license and more!

Cons
There are some issues but these are the nature of the beast with a product with so many features. One is the learning curve (although you can restrict access to certain features on a user by use basis to let them "grow" into the system). Another is that for a membership based system there are design assumptions that we have had to "work around" - but the programmers and tech support have been wonderful to make changes, tweaks and suggest alternative ways to get things done.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
The best thing about Trailblazer is the customer service. The guys are extremely accessible and helpful. They are willing to walk me through a process, or just do it for me - whichever I request. After trying two other donor management softwares that offered little or no help, Trailblazer's amazing service is a welcomed benefit.

Cons
The learning curve for Trailblazer is long. Therefore, whenever I wanted to do something new, I'd run into a wall. It seems like the first six months - at least - were pretty frustrating because there was always a glitch and I could never just get something done quickly. The glitch was in the training, not the software. I'd like to see a series of training videos that we could have our staff watch, in order, so that a general level of proficiency could be attained up front.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
It does SO much! It is light-years beyond Excel and serves us better than any other online system that we've looked into! Everything we do can be exported to an Excel form, it tracks people, finances, events, emails, relationships and so much more. It is easy to use and navigate and keeps us organized. I can run thousands of reports and customize all of it to meet my needs. Training is easy to understand and straightforward.

Cons
The email creation tool could be easier to use for those not skilled in HTML. It can do a lot but it isn't drag-and-drop easy like other systesm.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Customer support, particularly during the training and start-up phase, has been excellent. They are quick and responsive. And their solutions have nearly always been positive -- almost never a "Sorry we can't do that" or "It doesn't work that way" or "We don't have that feature."

Cons
It was not clear to me before I signed on -- and I can't say whether it should have been clear -- that as a Mac user, Trail Blazer is "non-native" in the sense that I have to use Microsoft Remote Connection to access the Trailblazer server and then use a Windows interface. It's reasonably fast. There's almost no lag time with this setup, and it's not as clunky as it could be. But it makes the experience of using Trailblazer a lot less pleasant. I frankly hate the way Windows looks, acts, and feels, and the remote connection is a couple extra steps each time I use the database. The whole reason I use a Mac is so as not to use Windows!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
All the Attribute options to pull reports & labels and group for mass emails. Search options. Addition of gifts function in records and more.

Cons
Still waiting for spell check icon/option to function in letter templates and mass emails. In letter templates can't wrap text around pictures; so there's wasted space around pictures.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
Trailblazer is used for our non-profit. It is easy peasy to export the data you need. You don't need complicated codes or reports, you can access what you need quickly including event information & ticket sales. It does all we need and then some.

Cons
That it won't allow you to sell tables or golf foursomes and include the names of the guests. This needs to be revised and I submitted this request in October of 2018. You need to be willing to learn some coding to make the features work really well. The mobile piece needs to allow you to open a record and read notes etc. It isn't just for canvassing any more.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
the program is very easy to use for donation tracking and works well with Vanco for online donations and events

Cons
Needs some software improvements. Templates don't save the margins for envelopes and do not allow you to have a left sided letterhead. Extracting information for year end letters can be cumbersome but customer service is very good at helping out to get what you need.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
Amazing tech support from incredibly patient people - can't say enough how important this is. Seamless integration with FEC for super easy electronic filing.

Cons
I can't compare it to other software that does the same thing, but increased user-friendliness would be greatly appreciated by all. YouTube videos are helpful, but they, along with the knowledge base, don't make it easy to find what you need. Fortunately, tech support goes above and beyond. They could definitely use more developers to work on improvements or known issues.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
As a nonprofits that tracks donations, volunteer hours, programs, events, and outcomes, Trail Blazer is easy to use for all individuals in our organization, and if affordable compared to most CRMs. We no longer use numerous excel spreadsheets to track information - rather we can look at the comprehensive pictures of people who are involved with our organizations. (IE Do they attend events, volunteer, and donate?) We also use Trail Blazer to house detailed and complex data to pull for reports. The support team is also very responsive, nice to speak with, and always willing to help immediately.

Cons
Because Trail Blazer was originally created for elections, you have to be creative on how you categorize and define certain data points. IE All individuals are called donors even if they don't donate. But if you can be flexible in how you define certain elements, it works great!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We are a small staff, and I am the only one with any experience (limited) with software like Trail Blazer. Trail Blazer is intuitive to use, and if I get stuck, I have software support at my fingertips through the support team at Trail Blazer, but also through step-by-step instructions on the site. The staff has been very helpful, and they get back to me right away, so I'm never stuck for long.

Cons
The software is a perfect fit for us, so I have not had a negative feeling toward anything specific. We have not yet rolled out all the functionality (web and event modules), but that is primarily because we are taking our time in learning one part of the software before moving to the next.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The customer support! That may sound silly, but having attempted support with other databases, this is the best. The people on the phone are VERY helpful. With the software itself, my favorite feature is how easy it is to have multiple log-ins all of staff can use and update the contacts with no access to financial and other confidential information.

Cons
While improved and improving, I still find some of the backend items a challenge-- some HTML and SQL knowledge remains helpful.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
While this database doesn't come with lots of pretty buttons to click, the staff at Trail Blazer walks you through every step of set up and is there for you - ongoing - within 2 rings of the phone and email response within the hour - every time. The system is robust.

Cons
There is nothing we dislike about this software.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Their customer support definitely. It is always easy to get in touch with them, and they've developed an extremely helpful online bank with screenshot photos to easily walk you through the process.

Cons
The email system isn't set up the best. In order to get a professional-looking email, which we've gotten from other sources, we have to know how to code in the technical aspects. This isn't our strong suit and makes mass emailing difficult. It would also be much simpler if it could interface with our accounting software (Peachtree). We wouldn't have to do a lot of the duplicate work recording donations and such. Additionally, it would be very helpful if the notification feature could send an email to the responsible party and not just notify their Trail Blazer account.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 6/10

Pros
- The Customer Service is #1! They really do answer within three rings and they will walk you through any issues, big or small. - The interface is simple, clean, and pretty easy to use after a few tutorials/instructions.

Cons
- It's not cloud based, but do your really need it? Only consider a cloud system if you REALLY need it. Otherwise you paying for something you barely use.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
The mobile app and the support from the staff.

Cons
It feels "clunky" and probably was not the best software choice for our industry application since it was created for political campaigns. I'd also like to be able to categorize people into "donors", "adopters", "media", etc.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Rating breakdown

Pros
We had been using an expensive product that was unreliable and very touchy, and charged a fortune for tech support. Unfortunately, we were so invested data-wise that change was fearful - until that last problem pushed us over the edge. Trail Blazer meets our needs with none of the issues the other product gave us. We have been impressed with the customer support in both the sales and the tech support arenas. We are happy with Trail Blazer. It is affordable donor management.

Cons
We are pretty heavily customized. There were some challenges getting set up and it took longer than we anticipated. But this had more to do with our data and needs than it did with Trail Blazer.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
TrailBlazer is a small company that treats its customers like family. Their customer support picks up every time I call and they are incredible helpful no matter what question I ask.

Cons
The platform is not cloud-based, but this is fine for small organizations. We loved the customization that is available, though some of the features are not very intuitive and taking longer than anticipated to setup.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
The customer service is outstanding, always available and quick to respond. We're finding the features easy to learn and navigate, and our first try at a donor renewal mailing went off without a hitch.

Cons
Would like to have the ability to record a person's name along with the company they represent in a donor record more easily. They have patched together a solution for us that remains a little awkward in searching records and mail merging.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
the customer support and ease of using the software. It's easy to find all the data

Cons
that it doesn't have a connection to a general ledger

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The price, it's a fraction of other CRMs. The support generally is very good as well

Cons
It's not very intuitive to use, time-consuming, and does not sync with Constant Contact or other major e-mail service.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 5/10

Rating breakdown