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Setting Up the Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT Integration

Connect Raiser's Edge NXT to Tatango: Marketplace connection, the Tatango query, custom fields, the setup wizard, and donation tracking.

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Written by Dakota Fearn

Overview

The Raiser's Edge NXT integration keeps your Tatango list in sync with Raiser's Edge NXT (RE NXT):

  • Real time: when a gift is added in RE NXT, the constituent is checked against your saved RE NXT query and your SMS consent settings. If they qualify, they are added to or updated on your Tatango list and the gift is recorded as a donation in Tatango.

  • Daily: your saved RE NXT query runs once a day and syncs every constituent it returns.

  • Tags: your constituent codes become Tatango tags and stay in sync as codes are added, changed, or ended in RE NXT.

  • Opt-outs: when a subscriber texts STOP, Tatango updates RE NXT so they are not synced again.

This article walks through setup in both systems. For details on who gets synced and how phone numbers and donations are handled, see How the Raiser's Edge NXT Integration Works.

Before you start

You will need:

  • A Raiser's Edge NXT user with Marketplace Admin permission (to connect Tatango) and permission to edit code tables (to add a solicit code).

  • A Tatango list to sync constituents into.

  • About 30 minutes.

Part 1: Raiser's Edge NXT setup

Step 1: Connect Tatango in the Blackbaud Marketplace

  1. Sign in to Blackbaud and open the Marketplace.

  2. Search for Tatango.

  3. Open Tatango Text Messaging and click Get started, then follow the prompts to connect the app to your environment.

Only Marketplace admins can connect an application. If Get started tells you that you do not have permission, ask your Blackbaud Marketplace admin to connect it.

Step 2: Create the "Tatango SMS Opt-Out" solicit code

Tatango uses this solicit code to record SMS opt-outs in RE NXT.

  1. In RE NXT, go to Control Panel → Tables.

  2. Open the Solicit Codes table.

  3. Add a new entry named exactly Tatango SMS Opt-Out.

If your organization uses RE NXT Consent (Communication Preferences) for SMS, Tatango will update the constituent's SMS consent instead. You will choose which behavior you want in Part 2, Step 3.


Step 3: Build your Tatango query

The integration is driven by a saved Constituent query in RE NXT. The query controls two things:

  • Which constituents sync. The daily sync sends everyone the query returns. The real-time gift sync applies the same constituent code and solicit code criteria to each new donor.

  • Which fields sync. Every output column in the query can be mapped to a Tatango field.

Create a New query with Query type: Constituent and Query format: Dynamic, then set it up as follows.


​The query must be Dynamic. A dynamic query re-runs against live data each time the integration calls it. A static query is a frozen snapshot and will not pick up new or changed constituents, so the daily sync would stop finding records.

Name

  • The format must be Dynamic (see above).

  • The name must contain the word Tatango (for example, Tatango SMS Sync). Only queries with "Tatango" in the name appear in the Tatango setup wizard.

Criteria

  • Add Constituent Information → Date Last Changed with operator Greater than or equal to and value Yesterday. This keeps the daily sync to records that changed recently.

  • Add any Constituent Code or Solicit Code criteria you want to use to include or exclude constituents. For example, include only constituents whose primary constituency is Donor, or exclude anyone with the Do Not Text solicit code. The real-time gift sync honors these same criteria.

  • Use the Include checkboxes at the top of the editor to decide whether Inactive and Deceased constituents are eligible. Unchecking them excludes those constituents from both the daily and real-time sync.

Tip on AND / OR: RE NXT evaluates AND before OR. If you mix the two, use parentheses to group your clauses so exclusions apply to every branch of the query. For example: (Constituency = Donor OR Constituency = Volunteer) AND Solicit Code does not equal Do Not Text.

Output

Add the columns you want in Tatango. At minimum:

  • System Record ID (required, used to match records between systems)

  • Constituent ID (recommended)

  • At least one phone field, for example Phones → Phone Number, or the specific phone type you use for mobile numbers. You can add more than one phone column; Tatango picks the best one.

Common optional columns: First Name, Last Name, Email, Preferred Address City / State / ZIP, Birth Date, Last Gift Date, Last Gift Amount, Constituent Codes, and any Constituent Custom Fields you want to use for segmentation.

Click Save and close.

Part 2: Tatango setup

Step 1: Create custom fields for the RE NXT data you want to keep

Tatango has built-in fields for first name, last name, email, ZIP code, and birthdate. Anything else from RE NXT needs a custom field on your list before you can map it.

  1. Open your list and go to Settings → Custom Fields.

  2. Click New Custom Field.

  3. Enter a Label and a Merge Tag, choose the Type, and save.

Create at least these two:

Label

Merge tag

Type

System Record ID

system_record_id

text

Constituent ID

constituent_id

text

Add others to match your query output, for example:

Label

Merge tag

Type

City

city

text

State

custom_state

text

Last Gift Date

last_gift_date

datetime

Last Gift Amount

last_gift_amount

number

Step 2: Configure the integration

  1. Go to My Apps → Integrations and open the All Apps tab.

  2. Find Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT and click Configure.

  3. Give the app a name (or keep the default) and click Continue.

The setup wizard has five steps.

1. Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT Auth Click the dropdown and sign in to your RE NXT account. Once connected, click Next.

2. Tatango Configuration Choose the Tatango list constituents should be added to. Click Next.

3. RE NXT Config - Query Select the query you built in Part 1. Only queries with "Tatango" in the name are listed. Click Next.

4. Data Mapping Click Add field for each column you want to sync, pick the Blackbaud Query Field on the left and the matching Tatango Field on the right. Your custom fields appear in the Tatango list by label.

Required mappings:

  • At least one phone column mapped to Phone Number. If you map several phone columns, Tatango tries them in order of how likely each is to be a mobile number.

  • System Record ID mapped to your System Record ID custom field.

  • Constituent ID mapped to your Constituent ID custom field.

Only the fields you map are sent to Tatango. Click Next.

5. RE NXT Config - Consent Choose how Tatango should read and write SMS consent:

  • Leave unchecked if you do not use RE NXT Consent for SMS. Tatango will treat anyone with the Tatango SMS Opt-Out solicit code as ineligible, and will add that code when a subscriber opts out.

  • Check the box if you use RE NXT Consent (Communication Preferences) for the SMS channel. Tatango will require the constituent's most recent SMS consent to be Opt in, and will record opt-outs as SMS consent.

Click Finish.

What happens after you click Finish

The integration provisions itself. You do not need to create webhooks by hand.

  • In RE NXT, it subscribes to gift added, constituent code added, and constituent code changed events.

  • On your Tatango list, it creates an Unsubscribe webhook that pushes opt-outs back to RE NXT. You can see it under Settings → Webhooks.

  • The daily query sync is scheduled automatically.

You can turn the integration on and off from My Apps at any time.

Part 3: Donation tracking (optional)

Gifts added in RE NXT are recorded as donations in Tatango and attached to the subscriber. To attribute gifts back to the specific text message that drove them, complete the steps below.

Step 1: Turn on donation link tracking

  1. Open your list and go to Settings → General.

  2. Under Donation Link Tracking, select Enable Donation Link Tracking and save.

Step 2: Add the attribution parameter

  1. Go to Settings → Short Links.

  2. Under Donation Attribution Parameters, click Add platform.

  3. For Platform, choose Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT. If it is not in the list, type it exactly as written.

  4. For Parameter, enter appeal_id. Leave Alias blank.

  5. Save changes.

Step 3: Create an appeal per message in RE NXT

  1. In RE NXT, go to Gifts → Appeals and click + New appeal.

  2. Give the appeal a unique ID for the message you are about to send, for example SMS_2026-09-15_FallCampaign. Use one appeal ID per message so gifts tie back to the right send.

Step 4: Send a trackable message

  1. In Tatango, create a new message with a link to your RE NXT online giving form.

  2. When shortening the link, add a parameter with key appeal_id and the appeal ID you created as the value.

  3. Send the message.

When a gift is added in RE NXT with that appeal, the integration attributes the donation to the message in Tatango. Results appear in your list's donation reports.

Attribution requires the appeal to be on the gift. Gifts entered without an appeal, or through processors that do not pass the appeal through, are still recorded as donations but are attributed to the subscriber's most recent message instead.

Need help?

Reach out to your Tatango Customer Success Manager or contact support from the Help menu in Tatango.

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