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Blackbaud Institute Hosts Content Series Reflecting on the Last Decade of Charitable Giving

Blackbaud Institute Celebrates 10 Years of its Charitable Giving Index with a Series of Fireside Chats to Help Social Good and Nonprofit Leaders Understand Key Trends

Charleston, S.C. (May 31, 2022) — The Blackbaud Institute, a research division of Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, is celebrating 10 years of its quarterly charitable giving index. The Blackbaud Institute aims to keep nonprofit executives informed with sector trends, industry insights and timely, relevant research to help guide their organizations and their teams to success.

Tracking over $40 billion in US-based charitable giving from over 8,400 organizations, the Blackbaud Institute Index is updated each quarter and reports year-over-year percent changes and giving to-date for the last 12 months. The Index features overall giving trends and can be viewed by organization size and by subsector. In addition to providing quarterly insights, the Index offers the context that organizations need to leverage the data as a benchmark against their efforts.

Conversations for Social Good Professionals

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Index, the Blackbaud Institute will host a series of free, virtual “fireside chats” with the sector’s foremost thought leaders and experts to give nonprofit leaders a clear picture of the trends that have shaped, and will continue to shape, the philanthropic landscape. Invited experts will cover trends and provide new insights around donor engagement, direct marketing, events and leadership. 

Upcoming conversations include:

  • June 9, 12:00 p.m. ET: The Science of Philanthropy with Chuck Longfield, founder of the Blackbaud Institute Index and former chief scientist at Blackbaud
  • June 29, 12:00 p.m. ET: Achieving Marketing Maturity with Rachel Clemens, chief marketing officer, Mighty Citizen
  • July 26, 1:00 p.m. ET: The Value Proposition with Tim Kachuriak, chief innovation and optimization officer, NextAfter
  • Aug. 16, 1:00 p.m. ET: From Awareness to IMPACT: How your Brand Can Drive Higher Value with Ben Smithee, chief executive officer of The Smithee Group
  • Sept. 8, 1:00 p.m. ET: The History of Direct Marketing: From Mail to Email and Beyond with Roger Craver, editor of The Agitator
  • Sept. 28, 12:00 pm ET: Leadership and the Surprising Gift of Doubt with Marc Pitman, bestselling author and chief executive officer of Concord Leadership Group
  • Oct. 26, 1:00 p.m. ET: The Shifting Demographics and Perspectives of Donors with Dr. Una Osili, associate dean for research and international programs at Indiana University Lily School of Philanthropy

Find more details and register for free here. Additional dates to be added soon.

“In today’s giving climate, social good organizations are continuing to support pandemic-related causes, while responding to heightened awareness of social issues, adopting digital-first strategies, and navigating a new environment with inflation on the rise,” said Ashley Thompson, managing director, Blackbaud Institute. “Leaders of nonprofit organizations need to be aware of the trends shaping the philanthropic space so they can best position themselves for the future. We’re proud to provide charitable trends through the Blackbaud Institute Index, and tactical expertise through our upcoming series celebrating the Index’s 10th anniversary.”    

The Blackbaud Institute’s mission is to convene the best minds in philanthropy to develop and share leading edge research and insight that accelerates the impact of the social good community. Operating as part of Blackbaud’s commitment to the Ecosystem of Good®, all Blackbaud Institute resources are provided to the social good community free of cost. 

About the Blackbaud Institute 
The Blackbaud Institute drives research and insight to accelerate the impact of the social good community. It convenes expert partners from across the philanthropic sector to foster diverse perspectives, collective thinking, and collaborative solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. Using the most comprehensive data set in the social good community, the Blackbaud Institute and its partners conduct research, uncover strategic insight and share results broadly to drive effective philanthropy at every stage, from fundraising to outcomes. Knowledge is powering the future of social good, and the Blackbaud Institute is an engine of that progress. Learn more, sign up for our newsletter, explore our knowledge base of social good best practices and trends, see the latest quarterly statistics on giving, and check out our most recent resources at www.blackbaudinstitute.com

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than four decades, Blackbaud is a remote-first company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, with operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit  www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. 

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