Higher Education Advancement

Built for advancement teams at institutions like yours.

Modern fundraising infrastructure that strengthens the donor experience, reduces operational friction, and improves compliance readiness — while fitting alongside your existing CRM.

Request a Demo → See the comparison
GIVING DAY · LIVE $0 $148,320 raised $200K goal 847 donors $175 avg gift 74% of daily goal CLASS YEAR LEADERBOARD Class of 1995 $28,400 Class of 2008 $21,150 Class of 2019 $14,820 New gift · $250 · Annual Fund Match confirmed · $500 · IBM GIFTSENTRY GIVING DAY DASHBOARD · LIVE
For Your Entire Team

Every advancement role. Purpose-built workflows.

Advancement Services
  • Receipt issuance with approval workflows
  • Non-cash contributions: draft → Form 8283
  • ACH audit trail for every transaction
  • Recurring gift schedule management
Major Gifts Officers
  • 7-stage pipeline with probability weights
  • AI research: evidence → facts → insights
  • Engagement alerts when prospects interact
  • Full constituent profiles before meetings
Annual Giving & Marketing
  • LYBUNT/SYBUNT segments, one-click activation
  • Meta + Google audience sync, governed
  • Email campaigns with AI-assisted templates
  • Journey engine with conditional logic
Events & Alumni Engagement
  • Homecoming, galas, reunions — integrated ticketing
  • QR code check-in, real-time attendance
  • Multiple ticket tiers with pricing
  • Post-event stewardship sequences
Leadership & Finance
  • Executive dashboards: gifts, retention, pipeline
  • GAAP statements for the controller's office
  • Board reports in under an hour
  • Deployment monitoring for IT governance
IT & Data Governance
  • Self-hosted Docker Compose — your infrastructure
  • RBAC-first access control, 5 portal types
  • Encrypted credentials, webhook signing
  • Multi-environment (prod/staging/playground)
Implementation Model

No big-bang migration. Overlay first.

Keep Raiser's Edge NXT as your system of record. Add GiftSentry as an operational layer. Prove value in 30 days. Expand where you see ROI.

1–2
Months 1–2
Foundation
Deploy infrastructure, configure Stripe, import alumni CSV, design branded giving pages, train advancement services on receipts.
3–4
Months 3–4
Intelligence & CRM
Configure donor segments, set up opportunity pipeline, enable AI research, build initial prospect lists for major gifts.
5–6
Months 5–6
Communications
Connect Resend, build email template library, create thank-you sequences, configure campaign tracking, launch first segmented campaign.
7–9
Months 7–9
Full Platform
Enable recurring giving programs, employer match workflow, Google/Meta advertising integration, Homecoming event ticketing, board reporting dashboards.
∞
Ongoing
Optimization
Analyze campaign performance, expand research coverage, build custom leadership reports, train new staff, integrate additional university systems.
Cost Model

Transparent, predictable costs. No per-gift fees.

Self-hosting means you pay for infrastructure you control — not a SaaS markup on every dollar raised. At $2M in annual gift volume, the difference is significant.

Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30) apply regardless of platform. The difference is in base subscription, module fees, and per-transaction SaaS charges that traditional platforms layer on top.

Full pricing breakdown →
Traditional SaaS Platform
$57K
per year · $2M gift volume
Base subscription: $12,000/yr
Transaction fees (2%): $40,000
Premium features: $5,000/yr
GiftSentry Self-Hosted
$7.4K
platform cost · $2M gift volume
Server hosting: $2,400/yr
No per-transaction SaaS fee
Support / maintenance: $5,000/yr
+ Stripe fees same as any platform
Platform Comparison

How GiftSentry compares.

Capability GiftSentry Blackbaud NXT EverTrue
Online gift processing✓ Stripe + webhooksAdd-on requiredNot primary use
Receipt compliance workflow✓ Policy-gated, automatedManual process—
Form 8283 generation✓ Automated prefillManual—
Workflow automation✓ Visual studio + eventsLimited—
AI donor research✓ Evidence → insights—Partial
Meta / Google audience sync✓ Governed + attested—Add-on
Self-hosted option✓ Docker ComposeCloud onlyCloud only
GAAP financial statements✓ Trial Balance, SoA, SFPReports only—
Deployment monitoring✓ Ops portal + alerting——
Blackbaud data import/export✓ CSV bi-directionalNativePartial
Common Questions

Answers to what you're actually wondering.

Can we keep using Raiser's Edge alongside GiftSentry? +
Yes — this is the recommended path. Many institutions use a hybrid approach: process online gifts and compliance workflows in GiftSentry, sync to RE NXT for comprehensive reporting. Export/import via our standardized CSV templates that match Blackbaud's import specifications.
What technical resources do we need to self-host? +
Minimum: an Ubuntu server (4GB RAM, 2 CPU cores), a PostgreSQL database, and a domain name for SSL. Your IT team can deploy via Docker Compose in approximately 2 hours. We provide full deployment documentation, environment variable guides, and a deployment playbook.
How long does data migration take? +
For 50,000 constituents with 10 years of gift history: 2–3 weeks including data cleanup, mapping, and validation. We provide CSV templates and migration scripts. The 30-day POC uses a sample dataset so your team can explore without waiting for full migration.
Is credit card data stored in GiftSentry? +
No. Card data never touches your servers. Stripe handles all payment tokenization and PCI-DSS compliance. GiftSentry only stores Stripe tokens for recurring gift schedules — never raw card numbers or bank account details.
What happens to our data if we stop using GiftSentry? +
You own all data. Since you're self-hosting, your PostgreSQL database is yours. Export everything via CSV or direct database access at any time. There is no vendor lock-in and no data held by us.
How does FERPA compliance work? +
Self-hosting means donor data never leaves your institution's controlled infrastructure. Role-based access control ensures only authorized staff access constituent records. All third-party integrations (Google, Meta) use encrypted credential storage with explicit attestation gates — no data is sent without staff authorization.
Founding Partner Opportunity

Be the institution that sets the standard.

We're looking for founding partner institutions that want early influence over the roadmap, priority support, and proof-of-concept terms that reflect the relationship we're building. In return, we ask for honest feedback and a willingness to co-develop the use cases that matter most to your team.

Request a Demo → Talk to the team