2025 Finalists
The Changemaker Award
You don’t just respond to change; you use tech to embrace it.
Recognizes agile organizations that have embraced new tech capabilities to overcome challenges and deliver results.
- Bauer Radio’s Cash for Kids – For their use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and the Importacular integration from Blackbaud partner Zeidman Development to transform how they connect internal teams, visualize and access data, and build donor relationships to provide support for over 500,000 disadvantaged children in the UK.
- IWK Foundation – For leveraging SKY APIs for Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Blackbaud Integrated Payments® to build a custom app to streamline the donation process for their live telethon, enabling the organization to smoothly process, reconcile, and report on a record-breaking $8.3 million CAD in donations supporting women’s and children’s health across Atlantic Canada.
- Save the Children – For their use of Blackbaud CRM™, Blackbaud Luminate Online®, Blackbaud Integrated Payments, Blackbaud Professional Services, and Blackbaud partners to modernize their legacy child sponsorship program into a new recurring giving program, creating stronger connections with donors and cultivating support for children’s health, education and protection in the U.S. and around the world.
-
The Planning Council – For utilizing Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT® to help overhaul and strengthen internal controls and streamline financial processes, leading to significant time savings and exemplary month-end audit preparation workflows.
-
Wesco International – For their use of Blackbaud’s YourCause® CSR Connect®, GrantsConnect®, and Impact Edge to strategically centralize, automate, and grow their philanthropic programs, leading to an incredible 225% year-over-year increase in giving and volunteering and increased matching gifts caps and ultimately making a bigger difference in communities around the world.
The Silo Buster Award
Silos never stood a chance at your org.
Recognizes organizations that have broken down silos and increased collaboration for greater impact.
- Alvernia University – For their use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, Microsoft Power BI, and Blackbaud partner RedArc to unify data across departments, improve campaign success, and foster a culture of shared responsibility, thereby exceeding their $70 million capital campaign goal and enhancing collaboration among institutional divisions
- CDW Corporation – For their use of Blackbaud’s YourCause® solutions to launch a new standardized, scalable program for managing volunteer events and matching gifts across regions and departments, creating a measurable framework for tracking cross-functional collaboration, and ultimately increasing community impact in the program’s first year.
- Dexter Southfield – For their use of Blackbaud’s education management solutions and Microsoft Power Automate to establish new norms for sharing enrollment and withdrawal information across departments, eliminating disconnected communications to students and families, and ultimately creating a better experience for faculty, staff, students, and families alike.
The Data Strategist Award
Data is your not-so-secret weapon.
Recognizes organizations that showcase how data-informed decisions or problem solving have given them a greater edge.
-
Capgemini Americas – For their use of Blackbaud’s YourCause® CSR Connect® to drive data-informed decision making across their CSR initiatives, enabling 2x employee engagement, strengthening nonprofit due diligence, increasing regional adoption 24% to 54%, and growing global usage company wide.
-
Center for Grieving Children – For their use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Prospect Insights to overhaul their gift tracking and implement a detailed data-informed fundraising strategy, leading to a 77% boost in online giving, 25% boost in online giving, 30% increase in major donors, and 20% increase in grant funding, all of which has improved their ability to serve grieving children, teens, and families.
-
Deakin University – For their use of Blackbaud CRM™ to create a Constituent Affinity Score to determine a constituent’s affinity to the university at both a specific time and over time, thereby enabling more targeted strategic donor outreach, identifying new opportunities to re-engage high profile alumni, and defining new ambitious alumni engagement targets.
-
Zonta Foundation for Women – For their use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, Blackbaud Luminate Online ®, and Blackbaud’s analytics solutions to launch a new data-informed multi-channel outreach strategy for their 40th anniversary campaign, leading to a 54% increase in overall giving, 27% increase in online donations, and 805% increase in major gift revenue, and strengthening the Foundation’s impact on empowering women and girls worldwide.
The Fueling Greatness Award
You’ve turned audacious goals into inspiring results.
Recognizes organizations that have reached or surpassed ambitious goals.
-
Royal Neighbors of America – For their use of Blackbaud Grantmaking® to achieve a record-breaking year for their member-led community social impact programs, generating $43.8 million in social good impact in 2024, exceeding their stretch goal by 29%, with a 41% increase over goal for approved volunteer grant applications and a 310% increase over goal for new community volunteer chapters.
-
University of Indianapolis – For their use of Blackbaud Fundraiser Performance Management™ and Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® to transform their fundraising model, achieving back-to-back $10M+ years for the first time in university history and fostering a sustainable culture of philanthropy and expanding support for students, faculty, and programs.
-
WSU Tech Foundation – For utilizing Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Blackbaud Integrated Payments to drive a 21% increase in employee donor participation and 15% increase in dollars raised during their 2024 Employee Giving Campaign, the highest in campaign history, fostering a deeper sense of community and shared commitment to student success.
-
Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge – For their use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, Blackbaud Donation Forms, and Blackbaud partner solution 360MatchPro to implement a new segmentation strategy for end-of-year appeals that increased fundraising by 84% year-over-year, expanding their capacity to care for the growing number of injured, sick, and orphaned animals they receive each year.
The Futurist Award
Thinking inside the box? No way! You’re a master of tech flexibility.
Recognizes organizations that have pursued technological exploration and creativity within Blackbaud’s flexible ecosystem with notable results.
- British Columbia Children’s Hospital Foundation – For their custom integration of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Microsoft Teams, with the help of SKY API, to allow key fundraising data to be surfaced and acted upon right within Teams, significantly enhancing efficiency and donor engagement to benefit their mission of improving the health and well-being of children across British Columbia and the Yukon.
- Citymeals on Wheels – For their use of SKY API to integrate Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, Blackbaud partner solution VolunteerHub, and Engaging Networks, automating updates across systems and creating a centralized analytics dashboard with detailed donor data and historical performance, helping the organization move closer to its mission of ending elder hunger in New York City by 2040.
- Georgia Tech Foundation – For their creative use of Blackbaud CRM™, Blackbaud Internet Solutions, Microsoft Power BI, and Blackbaud partner Zuri Group to develop a dynamic self-service donor portal that enables alumni profile updates and provides all donors with real-time access to key information such as giving history, endowment balances, designation details, and athletic point totals.
- University School – For their use of SKY API and Microsoft Power Platform to create a centralized KPI dashboard that integrates data across Blackbaud’s education management solutions and Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, empowering leadership with actionable insights on key programs such as enrollment, campaigns, and giving trends and fostering a stronger culture of data-informed decision-making.
The Outstanding Leadership Award
A leader who empowers teams and pushes boundaries.
Celebrates exceptional executive-level leaders who empower their teams and organizations
- Heather Geronemus, Senior Director, Social Impact, UKG – For transforming UKG’s corporate social impact strategy into a cohesive, globally scalable, community-driven approach that positively drives employee engagement and corporate reputation, championing the use of data and technology to amplify social impact, and promoting a culture that values every employee’s philanthropic contribution.
- Dawn Ingram, Director of Fundraising, Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity – For her central role in driving an inclusive and forward-thinking organizational culture and championing a data-driven approach that has led to consistently exceeding fundraising goals.
- Vanessa Longacre-Wilcox, Senior Executive Director, Data Philanthropy, Fred Hutch Cancer Center – For her instrumental role in elevating the Center’s donor experience, modernizing their digital fundraising infrastructure, and being a champion for a culture of respect, innovation, and accessibility.
- Philip Thornton, Vice President of Advancement, University of Indianapolis – For leading an organizational transformation that has revitalized workplace culture, built sustainable infrastructure, and positioned the Advancement Team for continued growth and long-term success.
- Suzanne Whitbeck, Executive Director, El Sol, Jupiter’s Resource Center – For leading a digital transformation of the organization for the significant benefit of both staff and clients and creating a positive, inclusive environment where everyone is encouraged to share ideas and innovate.
- Nathan Smith, Vice President, Philanthropy, RAIN, Inc. – For his people-first approach to both fundraising and leadership, championing of technology adoption and innovation, and creating an inclusive environment that ensures all staff members are heard, ultimately helping to significantly increase revenue and diversify revenue streams to future-proof the organization
The Rising Star Award
A go-getter with exceptional potential in their field.
Celebrates ambitious individuals at manager-level or below (non-executive or director level) who demonstrate exceptional potential in their field.
- Rianti Bieler, Database Coordinator, Mary’s House Services – For quickly making a big impact with her data-driven approach that has enabled the Mary’s House Services team to better understand donor behavior and history, helping them achieve 123% year-over-year growth in revenue and 85% donor growth within her first fiscal year.
- Liam Castellan, Development Operations & Database Manager, Shakespeare & Company – For his proactive approach to continuous improvement, introduction of new innovative ideas to notably improve fundraising outcomes, and commitment to maximizing the use of Blackbaud software across the organization.
- Eleonore Heinrichs, Database and Reporting Team Lead, University of Manitoba – For her use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and move toward smarter, integrated systems that reduce friction, increase accuracy, and scale with minimal effort.
- Anna Gomez, Senior Specialist, External Communications & CSR, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits – For taking on a lead role in growing the company’s employee volunteer program, helping to increase internal recognition about the impact of CSR on business goals, and sharing her expertise at industry events to help advance corporate social impact more broadly.
- Ana Sapp, Donor Database Manager, Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region – For her impact in implementing new processes to promote greater cross-functional collaboration and communication, expanding the team’s use of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Blackbaud University training, and growing her leadership skills as a new people manager