Transforming Campus Collaboration with Blackbaud’s Total School Solution

Emma Willard School shows what’s possible when teams operate on a truly connected technology foundation. In this video, school leaders share how Blackbaud’s Total School Solution brings advancement, finance, and academics together to streamline operations and support informed decision‑making across campus. 

By unifying data and workflows across departments, Emma Willard strengthened collaboration between the development and business offices while supporting a record-breaking‑ $175 million capital campaign — the largest for a girls’ secondary school in the United States. 

“The collaboration has been really awesome for Emma Willard School. The relationship between development and the business office is the strongest relationship I have at the school right now,” said Brian Grandjean, director of business services. 

That connectivity extends across campus. “It connects all of us across campus…just everybody being able to see everything in a central location. We’re all kind of speaking the same language,” added Registrar Casey Summers. 

With fundraising data flowing between Raiser’s Edge NXT and Financial Edge NXT, teams now reconcile gifts and transactions in just 20 minutes, while leaders gain clearer financial visibility and stronger operational control. Parents and families also benefit from a more seamless experience, with access to tuition, billing, and student information in one place. 

Looking ahead, Emma Willard continues to explore ways to modernize workflows and reduce manual effort. “I’m really excited that Blackbaud is leaning into getting AI into the products, but in ways that feel like they really will make a difference,” said Nick Marchese, director of academic & strategic technology. “It’s purposeful features that I think will really change the workflow of folks.” 

Explore Emma Willard’s Connected Campus in More Detail

These additional videos offer deeper perspective on how Emma Willard’s staff put a connected technology foundation into practice across campus.

Strengthening Collaboration Across Campus

Brian Grandjean, director of business services, and Casey Summers, registrar, share how connecting data across departments improved collaboration between the development team and the business office. With shared visibility and access to consistent information, teams work more closely together and operate with greater confidence across campus.

Building a Foundation for Ongoing Efficiency and Innovation

Nick Marchese, director of academic and strategic technology, discusses how a connected foundation helps simplify workflows and reduce manual effort across campus. He also shares how Emma Willard thinks about evolving its systems over time to support staff, students, and families as needs continue to change.