Blackbaud Named a 2026 BIG Innovation Award Winner

Award recognizes Blackbaud’s leadership in AI innovation and commitment to accelerating global social impact

Blackbaud is proud to announce that we have been named a winner in the 2026 BIG Innovation Awards by Business Intelligence Group. This annual awards program honors organizations, products, and individuals that are bringing new ideas to life in innovative ways, and driving meaningful progress across industries. Blackbaud previously earned recognition in this program in 2024 in the Software category, marking this year as our second time being honored.

“We’re honored to be recognized among this year’s innovators,” said Sudip Datta, Chief Product Officer, Blackbaud. “Over the past year, we’ve pushed hard to advance purpose‑built AI that truly meets the needs of social impact organizations. This award reflects the momentum we’re building and the transformative outcomes our customers are already starting to see.”

In the last year, Blackbaud has significantly expanded its AI capabilities, reinforcing its position as the leader in AI for social impact. Building on years of domain expertise, data intelligence, and customer collaboration, Blackbaud introduced a suite of purpose‑built AI technologies designed to transform how social impact organizations work, including: 

• Agents for Good™: A first generation of agentic, virtual team members that autonomously manage donor cultivation, outreach, and complex workflows, helping organizations reach prospects they previously lacked capacity to engage.  

• Claude for Nonprofits: Blackbaud expanded its AI leadership through a first-of-its-kind partnership with Anthropic, launching the industry-first fundraising connector, allowing Blackbaud customers to access 40+ years of nonprofit performance data.  

• Chat for Blackbaud AI: Enables users to securely interact with donor and organizational data through natural language—summarizing histories, generating outreach, identifying prospects, and suggesting next steps. Integrated with Prospect Insights Pro, it supports a more intelligent, streamlined approach to fundraising and engagement workflows. 

• Blackbaud AI: We’re integrating purpose-built AI capabilities across our portfolio to make it more straightforward than ever for our customers to secure the resources they need to deliver on their missions and to run their operations. 

Organizations from across the globe submitted their recent innovations for consideration in the BIG Innovation Awards, and nominations were judged by a select group of business leaders and executives who volunteered their time and expertise to score submissions. Blackbaud is one of 159 companies recognized.

“The 2026 BIG Innovation Awards winners show that true innovation is no longer about chasing the latest buzzwords,” said Russ Fordyce, Chief Recognition Officer at the Business Intelligence Group. “It’s about building intelligent platforms, automating workflows with purpose, and making trust, privacy, and resilience the foundation of every breakthrough. These organizations and leaders are not just keeping pace with change, they are shaping the future of global business.”

See the full list of BIG Innovation award winners here and learn about Blackbaud AI here.