Blackbaud University Offers Customers a Fully Digital Purchasing Experience for Training Subscriptions

With increased demand for professional training during the COVID-19 crisis, Blackbaud makes it easier than ever to access learning resources 

Charleston, S.C. (February 5, 2021) — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, now provides customers the option to purchase Blackbaud Learn^® subscriptions online via e-commerce for two of its flagship products, Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT^® and Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT^®. 

Blackbaud University, the company’s customer education services and product training group, saw record levels of engagement in courses during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 crisis. To make learning resources more easily accessible in a remote environment, Blackbaud developed an e-commerce option for customers to sign up for subscriptions. Blackbaud customers can now purchase a subscription with a simple, three-click ordering process that provides instant access to course material, anytime and anywhere.

“We want to provide more control to customers by making training materials quickly and easily available, even outside of business hours,” said Michael Savitz, vice president and general manager, Educational Services, Blackbaud. “Customers who invest time in Blackbaud University training see a material return in terms of skills and efficiency. Our goal is to make that return as achievable as possible.”

A survey of over 500 customers who attended Blackbaud University instructor-led classes during 2020 reported that the courses saved them six work hours a week on average because the skills they learned allowed them to navigate the tools more easily and realize more value from the product. Those customers also reported an average 15% increase in funds raised for their organizations and 7% more donors retained. 

Natalie Fortunato, executive director for South Jersey Dream Center, said the Blackbaud University offerings she took at the outset of the pandemic helped enhance her whole organization. She was especially pleased with an Organizational Best Practices workshop that inspired her to reimagine the nonprofit’s case statement to address problems of poverty. “Our new case statement is a living, breathing document that helps us communicate the heart of our mission, backs it up with data and shares our future,” Fortunato said.

Snapshot of Blackbaud University Training Engagement During COVID-19

• Customers completed a record number of nearly 200,000 courses and pursued a record number of Blackbaud certifications in 2020.
• The already industry-leading customer satisfaction ratings for Blackbaud University instructors increased again in 2020.
• Blackbaud University added 100+ net-new courses to its comprehensive portfolio of role-based training and education, which already included 40+ Organizational Best Practices classes, to help customers further their missions and realize the full value of Blackbaud solutions.    

Learn more about Blackbaud University’s flexible learning opportunities and subscription options here. 

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit  www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

 

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Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.