Triple vs Blackbaud ResearchPoint: modern donor research compared

TL;DR

ResearchPoint is Blackbaud's prospect research product, tightly integrated with Raiser's Edge NXT. It is a defensible choice for teams deep in the Blackbaud ecosystem. Triple is an AI-native alternative that works with Raiser's Edge and five other CRMs, offers faster brief generation, continuous enrichment, and natural-language search — without single-vendor lock-in.

Pick ResearchPoint when you want one Blackbaud contract covering CRM and research. Pick Triple when you want best-of-breed donor intelligence regardless of CRM.

What is Blackbaud ResearchPoint?

ResearchPoint is a prospect research tool sold by Blackbaud to customers of its broader fundraising stack. It offers wealth indicators, philanthropic giving data, and integration with Target Analytics' predictive models. Its key selling point is native data flow into Raiser's Edge NXT — a research record created in ResearchPoint appears immediately inside the CRM.

Strengths: seamless Raiser's Edge integration, bundled pricing with the rest of Blackbaud, familiar to existing Blackbaud customers. Weaknesses: Blackbaud-only by design, limited AI capabilities, workflow still oriented around batch screening, UI that has not kept pace with modern SaaS.

What is Triple?

Triple is a donor intelligence platform that works across CRMs — Raiser's Edge, Salesforce, HubSpot, Virtuous, Bloomerang, and others. It produces research briefs on demand, keeps records fresh continuously, and supports natural-language search of your pipeline. Triple does not require you to be in the Blackbaud ecosystem — or to leave it.

Feature comparison

When ResearchPoint is the right call

• You are deeply committed to the Blackbaud stack and use Raiser's Edge NXT as your single system of record.
• You prefer one vendor relationship covering CRM, research, and reporting.
• Budget constraints make a bundled Blackbaud contract more attractive than best-of-breed.
• Your researchers are trained on Target Analytics and the existing workflow is working.

When Triple is the right call

• You want best-of-breed donor intelligence regardless of CRM vendor.
• AI-generated briefs and natural-language search are important to your team.
• You want to avoid lock-in to a single-vendor stack.
• You are on a non-Blackbaud CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Virtuous, Bloomerang, etc.) and want modern research capabilities.
• You are in the middle of, or considering, a CRM migration.

Pricing

ResearchPoint is typically bundled into a broader Blackbaud contract and prices vary with the overall stack. Triple is priced as a standalone annual platform subscription scaled to team size.

Frequently asked questions

Does Triple integrate with Raiser's Edge?

Yes, natively. You do not have to switch CRMs to use Triple — it pushes enriched data and briefs into Raiser's Edge records bidirectionally.

Is ResearchPoint being phased out?

Blackbaud has not announced an end-of-life for ResearchPoint and continues to sell and support it. Nothing in this comparison assumes otherwise.

What happens if we leave the Blackbaud ecosystem?

If you migrate off Raiser's Edge, ResearchPoint typically goes with it. Triple is CRM-agnostic and follows you to whichever CRM you pick, which is one reason teams considering a CRM change often evaluate Triple at the same time.

The bottom line

ResearchPoint is the integrated-into-Blackbaud option. Triple is the CRM-agnostic, AI-native option. If you want convenience and you are staying in the Blackbaud stack forever, ResearchPoint is defensible. If you want modern research capability without lock-in, Triple is the better pick.