Blackbaud, Inc. : The Salvation Army Rings in its Online Christmas Campaign with Blackbaud

12/20/2011 | 10:25am

Using Blackbaud's next-generation online fundraising tools to fill the Online Red Kettle

Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB) today announced that The Salvation Army has successfully transitioned its national web properties, email marketing, online giving, and Online Red Kettle to Blackbaud Internet Solutions.

"We are delighted to partner with The Salvation Army to strengthen this renowned organization's fundraising capabilities," said Marc Chardon, Blackbaud's chief executive officer. "Through the use of Blackbaud solutions, The Salvation Army is able to empower and extend its donor base so the organization can provide services to even more people in need."

Blackbaud powering the 2011 Online Red Kettle

Started by a Salvation Army captain in San Francisco in 1891, the Red Kettle Campaign has grown into one of the most recognizable and important charitable campaigns in the United States. In recent years, the Red Kettle extended online, and last year, Online Red Kettles raised more than $1.6 million.

"We are excited that our 2011 Online Red Kettle is the first full campaign to use Blackbaud's next-generation Friends Asking Friends^® solution," said Jason Wood, director of Digital Communication Services at The Salvation Army National Headquarters. "Our goal is to provide supporters with a new set of online tools that will help them become more effective fundraisers using proven online best practices. We also are aiming to engage younger donors with a fun and easy way to support The Salvation Army."

The Friends Asking Friends product was introduced in 1999 as the first peer-to-peer event fundraising solution and is now used by over 800 nonprofits. In developing the next-generation solution, Blackbaud evaluated data from more than 45 million online fundraising participants and 38,000 online events to understand key trends and best practices shared by the most successful online event fundraisers.

"Online peer-to-peer fundraising has evolved significantly in the past 10 years--highlighted most recently by the increased importance of social media and mobile," said Mark Davis, Blackbaud's director of enterprise Internet solutions. "Blackbaud's next-generation Friends Asking Friends solution will provide participants online tools that were designed based on proven techniques used by the best peer-to-peer fundraisers. The power of this new technology is the ability for it to guide supporters through the fundraising process from appeal to follow-up to acknowledgement. Additionally, nonprofits will have greater access to more data by being able to track participants' recruitment, retention and fundraising success over multiple years."

To donate to the 2011 Online Red Kettle or to setup your own personal fundraising page, visit www.onlineredkettle.org.

Expanding partnership

In addition to powering the 2011 Online Red Kettle, Blackbaud helped The Salvation Army transition its email marketing and online giving operations to Blackbaud Internet Solutions. The Salvation Army's National Headquarters is now able to centrally manage email communications, while also distributing key marketing tools throughout the organization. The Army is also building donation forms that give donors flexibility and control over the frequency and designation of their funds.

In addition, The Salvation Army's Southern Territory is using Blackbaud CRM to share information across geographic locations, facilitate improved reporting, and streamline operations. And using services from Blackbaud's Target Analytics, the Carolinas Division has secured $4.2 million in previously undiscovered planned gifts.

"For The Salvation Army, Carolinas Division, there has been no single planned giving effort that has resulted in direct and measurable performance as that of our wealth overlay and modeling with Target Analytics," said Ashley Delamar, The Salvation Army North & South Carolina Division's divisional director of development. "We have found the wealth data and strategy development essential in our efforts and are extremely pleased with the results, including the production of new gifts, and discovering and correcting gift designation language for previously unknown gifts. Beyond new production, we view the information as an opportunity to practice good stewardship and ensure donors' good intentions are realized through proper gift designation language."

To learn more about Blackbaud's products and services for nonprofits, visit www.blackbaud.com.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in London in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.

About Blackbaud

Serving the nonprofit and education sectors for 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) combines technology and expertise to help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works with more than 25,000 customers in over 60 countries that support higher education, healthcare, human services, arts and culture, faith, the environment, independent K-12 education, animal welfare, and other charitable causes. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud-based and on-premise software solutions and related services for organizations of all sizes including: fundraising, eMarketing, social media, advocacy, constituent relationship management (CRM), analytics, financial management, and vertical-specific solutions. Using Blackbaud technology, these organizations raise more than $100 billion each year. Recognized as a top company by Forbes, InformationWeek, and Software Magazine and honored by Best Places to Work, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has employees throughout the US, and in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

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. 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 related to our dividend policy and share repurchase program, including potential limitations on our ability to grow and the possibility that we might discontinue payment of dividends; risks relating to restrictions imposed by the credit facility; 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.

Blackbaud, Inc.
Melanie Mathos, 843-216-6200 x3307
media@blackbaud.com