Case Study: Guildhall School of Music & Drama achieves streamlined fundraising and faster reporting with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT

Guildhall School of Music & Drama - Customer Case Study

Guildhall School of Music & Drama, one of the world’s leading performing arts institutions, faced workflow and reporting challenges after years of ad-hoc database growth in Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. When a new database manager took over, she found hundreds of confusing gift codes, redundant processes, and slow reporting that made it difficult for the development team to prepare for future campaigns and manage Gift Aid effectively.

Working closely with a Blackbaud Customer Success manager, she redesigned the database, consolidated gift codes (appeals cut from 327 to 12 — a 96% reduction), streamlined workflows and reporting, and delivered staff training and solution overviews. The changes empowered fundraisers to work independently, improved Gift Aid handling, and cut quarterly report generation time by 50–75%, earning positive feedback from the team and leadership.

Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Lyubka Kabakova-Ryahova

Database Manager