Celebrating the 2024 Blackbaud Impact Award Winners
We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s Blackbaud Impact Awards, honoring the remarkable achievements of purpose-led organizations across the globe that are using Blackbaud software to fuel impact. These commendable winners have shared stories of innovation, collaboration and unmovable dedication to their missions. Their work sets a powerful example that will inspire others to seek new solutions and pathways that make a difference in their communities.
Learn more about the winners.
The Silo Buster Award | The Changemaker Award | The Fueling Greatness Award
The Data Strategist | The Futurist Award | The Outstanding Leadership Award
The Silo Buster Award
Silos never stood a chance at your org.
Recognizing organizations using Blackbaud technology to create fully connected teams that are more aligned than ever!
Adventist Health
Challenge
Adventist Health, a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 100 communities on the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii with more than 440 sites of care, faced the challenge of systematizing the operations of 25 individual markets which each operated in a silo with its own philanthropy team, donor database, and various policies, processes, systems, and tools. Without a standardized framework, it was impossible to track system-wide productivity and outcomes. Adventist Health needed to systematize the operation to enable accurate and consistent data gathering, management, analysis, and reporting, and to facilitate standardized onboarding of new markets as the health system continued to grow.
Solution
Adventist Health leveraged multiple Blackbaud products to transition to systematized, collaborative processes. The first step was moving the 25 siloed markets into a single donor database, Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, advanced with a three-pronged approach focusing on policies and procedures, strategic partnerships, and team expansion. System philanthropy leaders standardized policies and procedures, formed internal partnerships with various departments, and expanded the system philanthropy operations team. Education and communication with market philanthropy teams were also prioritized to promote engagement and collaboration. Enhanced support services were rolled out to the markets, and the final step was enabling single-donor records system-wide. Other Blackbaud products supporting Adventist Health’s efforts include ResearchPoint (prospect research), Blackbaud Luminate Online (email marketing), Blackbaud Online Express (online donation forms and email marketing), and Blackbaud Website Solution. They also used Blackbaud partner Omatic for integrating patient data and expanding their donor base.
Outcome
By utilizing Blackbaud technology, Adventist Health successfully de-siloed 25 markets, creating a standardized, system-wide approach to managing donor data, prospect research, and philanthropy communication. The organization exceeded its 2023 philanthropy revenue goal by $11 million, increased the average gift size by 96%, and significantly decreased past-due pledges and lapsed donors (98 % and 99%, respectively). They also increased retained donors by 195% and increased acquired donors by 250%.
Additional benefits included minimized administrative and operational burdens for frontline fundraisers, improved team culture and collaboration across markets, and a better experience for employees making donations through payroll deductions.
The Changemaker Award
You don’t just respond to change; you use tech to embrace it.
Recognizing organizations that have embraced new tech capabilities to overcome challenges and deliver transformative results.
Turtle Creek Association
Challenge
The Turtle Creek Association (TCA) faced significant challenges in cleaning up Turtle Creek, a vital natural resource in Dallas, TX. The creek, which serves as the main conduit for the city’s stormwater, suffered from severe pollution and erosion, threatening local wildlife and historic trees. Additionally, public awareness and engagement were low, and educating citizens about the jeopardized ecosystem of the creek was a major hurdle for the organization.
Solution
To overcome their struggles and drive growth, TCA embraced Blackbaud eTapestry to revolutionize their operations and engagement strategies. By using eTapestry, TCA was able to effectively organize and analyze its constituent data, gain a richer understanding of its members, and strategically tailor outreach efforts—all the while tracking the impact of these initiatives. This data-driven approach allowed the organization to make informed decisions, resulting in substantial growth and increased financial stability.
Outcome
The implementation of these solutions yielded significant positive outcomes for TCA and the community. Insights provided by eTapestry helped TCA successfully secure $1 million in dedicated funds for bank stabilization and the dredging of Turtle Creek. The organization has also seen a 277% increase in membership as a result of personalized engagement strategies and experienced a 129% rise in annual income. Running targeted campaigns also helped lead to a 297% increase in funds raised. These efforts not only enhanced member engagement and satisfaction but have also ensured a cleaner, healthier ecosystem for future generations in the Turtle Creek area.
The Fueling Greatness Award
You’ve turned audacious goals into inspiring results.
Celebrating organizations that have leveraged Blackbaud technology to reach and surpass ambitious goals to truly amplify their impact.
Jackson
Challenge
In 2023, Jackson faced the challenge of revitalizing employee volunteerism, which had declined during the pandemic. Jackson’s board of directors set a goal of achieving 30% participation in volunteer service among its 3,800 employees, the first time such a goal was set in the company’s history. The Corporate Philanthropy team saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to execute at scale and deepen relationships with their 150 nonprofit partners.
Solution
Blackbaud’s YourCause CSRconnect® played a key role in supporting the team’s efforts to reach the company’s volunteerism goal. They leveraged ad-hoc reporting capabilities in CSRconnect to better understand what efforts were most effective at generating engagement from employees and to develop dashboards to monitor and report on progress. CSRconnect also made it possible to easily sign up thousands of volunteers, track their service, and communicate service details.
Outcome
Jackson far surpassed its initial goal, with 48% of employees engaging in service throughout the year. More than 1,800 employees volunteered, serving over 400 nonprofits and logging nearly 21,000 hours of service—52.5% of which were service opportunities organized by Jackson’s Corporate Philanthropy team, a significant increase from the previous year. The focus on team service opportunities and recording board service hours significantly contributed to this success. The visibility and success of this initiative have elevated the importance of Jackson’s philanthropic efforts, leading to increased goals for 2024 and fostering a culture of giving back within the company.
The Data Strategist Award
Data is your not-so-secret weapon.
Recognizing data-fluent organizations who have demonstrated how data-informed decisions have given them a greater edge, or improved their analytics, reporting, and communications.
Combat Stress
Challenge
Combat Stress, a leading charity in the UK’s providing clinical treatment and support for veterans across all the British Armed Forces, faced a significant challenge in securing funding through legacy giving, a vital source of funding for the charity. They faced problems effectively contacting the right supporters and tracking touchpoints and analysis to encourage legacy giving.
Solution
To address this challenge, Combat Stress utilized Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT to report on numerous key donor attributes such as the length of support, what prompted supporters to flag their interest in legacy giving, their links to the charity’s work, if they have served in the military, and how they first came to support the organization. Analyzing these factors has enabled them to take an agile, data-driven approach to their legacy fundraising strategy to also target donors with additional opportunities they are most likely to support. The adaptability of Raiser’s Edge NXT has allowed the Combat Stress team to tailor it to their needs and analyze and track their legacy pipeline income, saving them time and money.
Outcome
Combat Stress has exceeded its initial legacy pledge goals with a 12% pledge rate and a growing number of new inquiries that they’ve been able to successfully move to including the organization in their wills. The organization has also seen a nearly 30% increase in average donations from legacy attribute supporters and significant re-engagement with lapsed supporters. The success they’ve had with Raiser’s Edge NXT also led to the Planned Giving team winning a UK national award for stewardship.
The Futurist Award
Thinking inside the box? No way! You’re a master of tech flexibility.
Recognizing organizations that can share their story of technological exploration and creativity within Blackbaud’s flexible ecosystem.
University of Manitoba
Challenge
The University of Manitoba’s Advancement Services faced significant challenges in their gift processing operations. The process was complex, time-consuming, and involved managing a large amount of structured and unstructured information across multiple departments’ workflows and disparate IT systems, and manual and inconsistent handling of gift details through email chains led to inefficiencies and delays in processing gifts.
Solution
The team at the University of Manitoba transformed gift processing from a cumbersome data entry process to a streamlined data management process for their fundraising and data entry staff. They developed an integrated set of single-page web applications collectively called Gift Intake Automation that ensures the required information to process a gift is collected up front and stored in a centralized data store before submitting for entry into Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. Leveraging SKY API, the intake form effectively collects gift information from the fundraiser and seamlessly validates data accuracy with real-time integrations to external systems. The centralized gift intake information can be edited, supplemented, and monitored to automatically trigger further automated downstream processing, which includes gift batching to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. Role-based dashboards and alerts were implemented to provide centralized process monitoring for fundraisers and gift processing operations.
Outcome
The implementation of the Gift Intake Automation project led to significant improvements in efficiency. In the pilot phase, the University has determined the automation reduces the time required to process a single gift from several days to several hours. The centralized and automated workflow ensured that all required information was collected upfront, leading to more accurate and timely gift processing. The project also demonstrated the potential to transform gift processing workflows at other higher educational institutions facing similar challenges.
The Outstanding Leadership Award
A leader who empowers teams and pushes boundaries.
Honoring executive-level leaders who empower their teams and drive organizational success.
Katie M. Lewis, Executive Director, Burger King Foundation
Mission Impact
Under Katie’s leadership, the Burger King Foundation has seen remarkable growth and revitalization in its mission to make education and literacy more accessible and provide emergency relief for over 2,000 Burger King employees worldwide. In 2023, the foundation raised a record-breaking $8.2 million––nearly $2 million more than the previous year. Katie’s efforts have resulted in increased scholarship funds distribution to a diverse range of students, enabling them to achieve their educational goals. Katie also engaged franchisees in launching a new program for the first time in the Foundation’s 20-year history to provide critical classroom supplies to students and teachers in need. In its first year, the Crown a Classroom program will invest $1.1 million in school supplies to over 2,200 schools, impacting over 100,000 students.
Championing the Use of Technology
With an extensive background in fundraising, Katie understands the importance of technology to maximize an organization’s fundraising potential. Realizing that the Foundation was not fully using its nonprofit fundraising CRM software, Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, to its fullest potential, she took quick action. One of the first things she did after coming on board was to hire a new team member to help with finance and data integrity, and they worked together to totally re-envision how the team used Raiser’s Edge NXT to track data, manage donations, and provide reporting—work that helped the organization achieve its record fundraising year.
Impact on Organizational Culture
Katie has fostered a culture of innovation and excellence at the Burger King Foundation. She has encouraged continuous improvement of the Foundation’s scholarship program to address the evolving needs of students and communities, and has focused the team on awarding students at high risk of being left behind.
Katie has also advanced a culture of giving back to the Foundation’s community of Miami, FL. She has built strong partnerships with local nonprofits and schools and has engaged corporate Burger King employees in volunteering their time to engage local students.
Uncomfortable with the status quo, Katie inspires her team to always look for new ways to grow and make an impact. While proud of their record-breaking 2023, Katie’s team is working hard alongside her to top their success in 2024.
Are you on the path to something extraordinary?
Stay tuned for the 2025 Blackbaud Impact Awards nominations