Migrate from Blackbaud to Zoho CRM

Blackbaud Constituent is a single object for all person records. FlitStack routes constituents with a giving history (one or more gifts) to Zoho Contact + Account; those with no gifts route to Zoho Lead. The split is determined by a gift lookup against the Constituent ID — if any Gift records exist referencing that constituent, it becomes a Contact. The primary address, email, and phone from Blackbaud move to the corresponding Zoho fields.

Blackbaud Gift records carry amount, date, payment method, fund, appeal, campaign, and soft-credit references. We create a custom Gifts module in Zoho CRM (or map to Deals with a Gift_Type pick-list) so each gift links to the constituent's Contact record via a lookup. Appeal and Campaign IDs from Blackbaud are stored as text fields referencing the Zoho Campaign lookup so attribution survives the transfer.

Blackbaud Campaign maps 1:1 to Zoho Campaign. The Campaign name, start and end dates, goal amount, and description carry over. Active/archived status translates to Zoho's Campaign Status pick-list values. Note that Zoho Campaigns are marketing-focused and do not carry fund accounting data — that context moves to custom fields on the Gifts module.

Blackbaud Appeal is a child of Campaign and represents a specific fundraising ask within a campaign. Zoho has no native Appeal equivalent — we map Appeals to Zoho Campaigns and add a custom field Appeal_Code__c to preserve the original appeal identifier. Appeal dates and goal amounts map to custom fields on the linked Campaign record.

Blackbaud Fund tracks restricted and unrestricted money pools with fund accounting rules. Zoho CRM has no native fund object. We create a custom Funds module in Zoho to hold Fund name, Fund type (restricted/unrestricted), and the GL account code. Gift records link to this Funds lookup so reporting on fund utilization is preserved in Zoho Reports.

Blackbaud Pledge records carry pledge amount, frequency, start date, and installment schedule. We map pledges to Zoho Deals with a custom Is_Pledge__c flag set to true. Installment schedules map to Zoho Tasks or a custom Installments subform on the Deal so payment tracking remains visible in Zoho without a separate billing module.

Blackbaud Actions (callbacks, meetings, follow-up tasks attached to constituents) map to Zoho Tasks with the constituent's email or name in the Related To field. Original due dates, priority, and assigned user (resolved by email match) carry over. Completed status and completion date map to Zoho Task status and Modified Time respectively.

Blackbaud notes and file attachments on constituent records migrate to Zoho Notes and Attachments. Notes map to Zoho Notes with the original body text and author. Attachments are downloaded and re-uploaded to Zoho's Attachments section on the corresponding Contact or Lead record. Inline images in rich-text notes are extracted and rehosted as Zoho file attachments.

Blackbaud custom fields per constituent (dietary preferences, program involvement, etc.) use categories with types Boolean, CodeTableEntry, Date, Number, Text. We map each category to a Zoho custom field on the Contact or Lead module using the matching data type. CodeTableEntry pick-list values require value-by-value mapping in Zoho's field editor before migration runs.

Blackbaud Grant records carry grantor name, amount, award date, reporting requirements, and status. We map Grants to Zoho Deals with a custom Deal_Type__c field set to 'Grant'. Reporting deadlines map to Zoho Tasks linked to the Grant Deal so follow-up reminders are managed inside Zoho without a separate grant-management module.

Blackbaud Soft Credit links a secondary constituent to a gift — the credit amount and constituent ID are attributes of the gift. We store soft credit constituents as a multi-line custom text field Soft_Credits__c on the Gift record in Zoho, listing each soft-credit constituent and amount, since Zoho's native data model does not have a soft-credit object.

Blackbaud Relationships capture household and organizational links (spouse, employer, board member). Zoho Accounts serve as organization records; personal contacts under an organization link via the Account lookup. Household relationships that are not organizational map to custom fields on the Contact record, since Zoho does not have a native household object.