The Scoop

Blackbaud to Deliver National CRM Database and Bilingual Website for The Kidney Foundation of Canada

Melanie Mathos — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:43:00 GMT

Blackbaud, Inc. today announced that it will develop a custom solution for The Kidney Foundation of Canada that will create a unified national CRM and web presence.

“We selected the Blackbaud solution to support bilingual peer-based online fundraising events for all of our branches,” said Paul Shay, The Foundation’s national executive director. “Additionally, the tight integration will support consistent branding and reporting nationwide.”

>>Read the full press release.

Blackbaud’s Kintera Division Increases Customer Support Team by 50 Percent

Melanie Mathos — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:22:00 GMT

Blackbaud announced today that it has completed the first phase of investment in its Kintera division’s support offerings. This multiple-part program includes: increased personnel investments, expanded training, the use of Blackbaud’s industry-leading support infrastructure, improved access to product and industry experts, and self-service options.

“Since the Blackbaud acquisition, I have experienced a vast improvement in the customer service quality and turnaround time,” said Lyndsay Myers, American Heart Association’s associate director of CRM and a Blackbaud, Kintera division customer who supports 25 field offices.

>> Read the full press release.

Blackbaud Launches Sphere-Raiser’s Edge Connector

Chad Norman — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:14:00 GMT

Blackbaud today announced the integration between Sphere®, the industry-leading online marketing and fundraising tool set produced by its Kintera division, with The Raiser’s Edge®, Blackbaud’s industry-leading fundraising management solution. The integration is designed so that Sphere connects to The Raiser’s Edge using the same underlying technology as Blackbaud’s market-proven NetSolutions and NetCommunity offerings, and solidifies Blackbaud’s dominant leadership position in integrated online/offline marketing and constituent management solutions.

By leveraging a single, powerful system that combines the high-touch fundraising solutions offered by Blackbaud with the online constituent acquisition tools of Sphere, nonprofit organizations that rely heavily on high volume online acquisition, marketing and engagement will also be able to operate more efficiently and manage constituent relationships more effectively.

» Read the full press release

Blackbaud Interviews Featuring Marc Chardon and Rich LaBarbera

Chad Norman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:08:00 GMT

Join Melissa Dodge as she sits down with Blackbaud CEO Marc Chardon and Kintera CEO Richard LaBarbera to discuss integration of the two company's products and services. Topics include what it's like to work together, the future of Kintera Connect, Sphere/The Raiser's Edge integration, Blackbaud support for existing Kintera produts, the future of PIN! and Fundware, and much more.

You can download the podcast directly, or subscribe to Blackbaud Interviews via the iTunes Music Store.

Blackbaud CTO Shaun Sullivan Kintera Connect Screencast

Chad Norman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:47:00 GMT

Check out Shaun Sullivan, Blackbaud's Chief Technology Officer, as he shows off some of the amazing integration between Blackbaud NetCommunity, Blackbaud Enterprise CRM, and Kintera Sphere. Shaun's screencast is pretty high on the geek-meter, but does a great job showing how the powerful APIs of these products make integration possible.

Read Shaun's post on Blackbaud Labs, or watch the screencast directly (.wmv).

You can also check out Steve MacLaughlin, Blackbaud's Director if Internet Solutions, as he provides insights about this integration on his blog.

Kintera Division Hires Vice President of Professional Services

Chad Norman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:32:00 GMT

Charleston, S.C. (Sept. 4, 2008) – Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB) announced that Meg McKinley has joined the Kintera division as vice president of professional services. McKinley will oversee all service delivery, creative services, integration and consulting teams for the on-demand, nonprofit software provider.

A software industry veteran with more than 10 years experience, McKinley has been director, enterprise solutions at Blackbaud. Blackbaud, based in Charleston, S.C., is the industry leading provider of software and services for nonprofits. At Blackbaud, McKinley’s 80 person services team contributed more than $17 million in annual revenue. Under McKinley’s leadership, the team at Blackbaud delivered hundreds of successful implementations of The Raiser’s Edge®, The Patron Edge®, and The Financial Edge™.

» Read the full press release

Chuck Longfield Discusses Kintera Integration

Chad Norman — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:13:00 GMT

I am extremely pleased that we have added Kintera to Blackbaud's family of companies. Kintera pioneered online donor relationship management and Software as a Service for nonprofit fundraising. These capabilities are vital to the success of many nonprofit clients served by Blackbaud, and will become critical to many more in the future.

Software is becoming more powerful and flexible, yet more complex and demanding to administer. At the same time, donor behaviors are changing in ways difficult to predict. Fundraisers and nonprofit marketers need to spend their time analyzing and adapting their donor programs, not their computer programs. They need technology suppliers who deliver innovative solutions for donor management, online & offline marketing, donor research, and financial management that work together, but require minimal resources from within their organizations.

Blackbaud has brought together several companies with hundreds of experts in different aspects of nonprofit technology. Our teams are working to unite complementary applications into systems that support a broader spectrum of donor interactions. Rather than acquire Blackbaud, Kintera, and Target functionality separately to connect on their own, nonprofits can rely on Blackbaud to deliver unified systems that will be installed locally, hosted remotely, or accessed globally via the web.

Successful fundraising and donor relationship management requires more technical capacity than many organizations can manage. Adding Kintera to the family helps Blackbaud expand the benefits technology brings to nonprofits while reducing their administrative burden.

Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud Chief Scientist

Welcome to The Scoop!

Chad Norman — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:23:00 GMT

Welcome to The Scoop. We built this site to share the things we are doing to bring Kintera and Blackbaud together. Our integration efforts span product, service, infrastructure and staff dimensions. We are excited about this merger because it will allow Blackbaud to offer each nonprofit a solution that is the best fit for its needs along with industry-leading services and support, particularly for the new clients in the Blackbaud family. Please read on, explore this site, or subscribe to the RSS feed to learn more!

Have a look at Shaun Sullivan’s screen cast to check in with our IT team as we build a connector between Blackbaud’s best-in-class Raiser’s Edge™ fundraising software and Kintera’s innovative marketing solution Sphere™. The connector turns Sphere and the Raiser’s Edge into one powerful package that nonprofits can use to do their jobs better than before. Don’t miss the press release on the connector and the associated pilot program.

Also, review the press releases that outline the staffing and infrastructure changes we are making in professional services and customer support. Blackbaud is a quality leader in both areas and the adjustments are aimed at providing Blackbaud’s new clients with “Blackbaud-Quality” services and support.

In the coming days and weeks you will find this page updated with blog posts, podcasts, press releases, customer stories and more. Keep up-to-date with the progress we are making by stopping back regularly or subscribing to the RSS feed.

Thank you for your visit,

Rich LaBarbera; SVP Blackbaud and CEO Kintera
Marc Chardon; CEO Blackbaud

Blackbaud Completes Acquisition of Kintera

Chad Norman — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:59:00 GMT

Charleston, S.C. (July 9, 2008) – Blackbaud®, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software and related services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Kintera®, Inc., the leader and pioneering provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to the nonprofit and government sectors. Upon the closing of the acquisition, all remaining outstanding Kintera shares that were not tendered prior to the expiry of the tender offer were converted into the right to receive $1.12 per share in cash. As a result of the transaction, Kintera has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackbaud.

» Read the full press release