Blackbaud Institute’s New Report Reveals Untapped Value of New Donors

New resource provides data-backed insights on the latest household giving trends,
as well as proven fundraising strategies to retain increasingly valuable donors in the changing landscape 

Charleston, S.C. (April 10, 2018) — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announced the availability of a new report, “Vital Signs Part 2: The Undeveloped Value of New Donors,” featuring research-backed insight expanding upon donor behavior and specific retention strategies that map to the current giving landscape. This latest report from the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact is a follow-up to its Vital Signs Part 1 study, which looked at giving between 2010 and 2015 and showed how these challenges impacted the work of fundraisers.

“Part 1 of the Blackbaud Institute’s Vital Signs report showed a sector that has both rebounded from and struggled with the immense technological, economic, and demographic disruption that has shaped the world since the Great Recession,” said Mike Geiger, author of the report’s foreword and president and CEO of Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). “Now, in Vital Signs Part 2, these trends are revisited to provide deeper insight into the ways fundraisers can be more successful in this evolving donor landscape. This newest report doesn’t just give us new figures and data—it also provides ideas, steps, and perspective on how to address and increase our retention figures.”

The Blackbaud Institute’s Vital Signs Part 1 showed that while fewer households are giving, those who are giving are more valuable than ever. As such, today, organizations need to significantly focus their efforts to retain these donors. Vital Signs Part 2 expands upon these findings to learn more about:

• How the rise of civic engagement in 2017 affected the negative trends uncovered in Vital Signs Part 1; with the decline in new donor households appearing to stabilize in 2016 and, in 2017, the number of households adding organizations to their giving portfolio increasing for the first time since 2010
• What happens when donor households add one or more organizations to its giving portfolio, and whether they continue to support their regular charities
• What specific retention strategies organizations can implement to not only acquire new donors but retain them more effectively

“While the number of households giving has declined, the value of their giving has increased at a better rate than inflation; and our most recent data shows that this decline may have stopped and could even be reversing,” said Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud’s chief scientist and senior advisor to the Blackbaud Institute. “We’ve seen how greater social and political trends can affect our donor bases, with donor trends mirroring the economy. As we look ahead to an even more uncertain landscape, there has never been a better time to double down on stewardship, embrace our donors, and focus on acquisition.”

Download the report at https://institute.blackbaud.com/asset/vital-signs-part-2-the-undeveloped-value-of-new-donors

About the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact

The Blackbaud Institute drives research and insight to accelerate the impact of the social good community. It convenes expert partners from across the philanthropic sector to foster diverse perspectives, collective thinking, and collaborative solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. Using the most comprehensive data set in the social good community, the Blackbaud Institute and its partners conduct research, uncover strategic insight, and share results broadly, all in order to drive effective philanthropy at every stage, from fundraising to outcomes. Knowledge is powering the future of social good, and the Blackbaud Institute is an engine of that progress. Learn more, sign up for updates, and check out our latest resources at www.blackbaudinstitute.com. 

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, foundations, corporations, education institutions, healthcare institutions and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through 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 and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

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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.