Blackbaud Newsroom

A Message from CEO Mike Gianoni on Blackbaud’s 2020 Social Responsibility Report

2020 presented a unique opportunity to rethink change— for our customers, for us as individuals, and for Blackbaud as a company. 

We began 2020 inspired by the promise of not only a new year, but a new decade in which to grow and innovate in pursuit of our higher purpose: to help good take over the world. 

But before the first quarter ended, we knew that the growth and innovation we envisioned would require swift reimagination as a devastating global pandemic transformed the way our customers and our team could work. 

So, we rethought. We adapted. We persevered. And, most importantly, we listened. 

We listened to our customers, who needed new ways to stay effective and connected in a socially distanced world. They needed experts and worldclass tools to drive impact in a rapidly transforming landscape. They also needed resources to deepen their technical expertise and ways to stay informed of the ideas shaping the broader social good community. Most of all, they needed a true partner who would help them face the future with insight, creativity, and confidence. 

We also listened to our employees. Like our customers, they were eager for professional development opportunities to sharpen their skills and wanted resources to stay engaged and inspired in a world that was beginning to blend their personal and   professional lives. With that in mind, we purposefully accelerated our focus on corporate diversity and inclusion. And following our overnight shift to a fully remote workforce, we planned for a more flexible structure when our offices reopen.    

I’m proud to share our 2020 Social Responsibility Report, which demonstrates how our company responded to what we heard—and how we used an environment of tremendous change to drive powerful impact toward our higher purpose. 

We continue to live out our commitment to diversity and inclusion, a thriving employee culture, philanthropy, data security and trust, and environmental sustainability—and are demonstrating our resolve with a new emphasis on transparent reporting of key ESG metrics, which you can read about  here.  

We accepted the challenges that 2020 presented and took the opportunity to rethink and evolve. I hope you enjoy reading some of the stories of empathy, ingenuity, and hope that emerged in a year unlike any other.   

Headshot of Mike G
— Mike Gianoni, president and CEO, Blackbaud

View Blackbaud’s 2020 Social Responsibility Report here.