Boston University Builds on Blackbaud CRM to Drive Advancement Innovation

Today, Boston University continues to build on that foundation with new tools and workflows designed to improve efficiency. These efforts include an internally developed advancement AI platform that is helping staff spend less time onadministrative tasks and more time focused on donor and alumni engagement.

In 2012, Boston University launched The Campaign for Boston University, its first comprehensive fundraising campaign, with a $1 billion goal to support financial aid, faculty, research, and facility improvements. When the campaign concluded in 2019, the university had raised $1.85 billion. Understanding the importance of having modern technology to support this major initiative, BU knew the legacy infrastructure powering its development efforts needed an upgrade. The team chose Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM to provide a consistent, reliable foundation for its data and the flexibility needed to support growing advancement initiatives.

“The Campaign for Boston University was the primary driver for selecting Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM,” Witkowski said. “By having an accurate view of constituents’ records, our fundraisers were able to make data-driven segmentation decisions and confidently solicit support from donors most likely to give.”

“The solution’s flexibility to manage multi-unit asks and complex donor agreements has proven to be an emerging requirement in today’s world of high major donor expectations. Campaigns have become highly collaborative partnerships among internal stakeholders and Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM’s ability to handle and report on those complexities became a critical success factor,” Witkowski said.

BU’s application development team also used the Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM software development kit (SDK) to customize features that improved the user experience and supported the university’s unique business requirements.

The student outreach tracker customization supported the stewardship needs of the comprehensive campaign and was recognized by CASE with a 2019 Circle of Excellence award. Building on previous projects between BU’s stewardship and donor relations team and development and alumni relations applications team, the custom-built tool automated the process of requesting and tracking thank-you letters from students receiving donor-funded scholarships. It also enabled the team to prioritize outreach by donor rating, track student submissions, and identify funds that had not yet been awarded.

Boston University continues to find new ways to improve advancement operations, strengthen its data, and support deeper engagement with donors and alumni. As its approach evolves, Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM provides the flexibility to support the university’s changing needs and continued innovation.