Agenda Builder

bbcon 2025 kicks off with a celebration of progress and possibility—and pulls back the curtain on exiting announcements about how we’re using AI to drive powerful outcomes for the social impact community. We’ll start with a recap of last year’s six waves of innovation and then unveil two seismic shifts: more connection through intelligence systems of action and more possibility with agentic AI. You’ll hear how teams are using intelligent systems and virtual team members to streamline operations, deepen relationships, and unlock new potential. It’s a bold look at the future of impact—and the technology powering it.

This isn’t just another thought leadership session—it’s a front-row seat to the future of fundraising. Join Blackbaud’s product management leaders as they share bold insights into what’s coming next and reveal what’s already powering change under the hood of Raiser’s Edge NXT.

From smarter prospecting to seamless workflows, discover how our product strategy is delivering more intelligence, more efficiency, and more impact. You’ll get a glimpse into innovations like new gift batch and recognition program capabilities as well as learn how AI and automation are helping fundraisers grow donor bases and deepen relationships.

If you want more than inspiration—if you want clarity, confidence, and insights — this is your session.

Ready for more? Join us later in the week for the Super User Session—an open forum to ask your toughest questions and hear directly from expert users who are pushing Raiser’s Edge NXT to its full potential.
 

In an era marked by economic volatility, social change, and rapid technological advancement, the relationship between corporations and nonprofits is evolving faster than ever. This dynamic panel brings together thought leaders from Corporate Executives for Corporate Purpose, True Impact, YourCause, and Blackbaud’s Government Relations team to explore how innovation, data, and agility are reshaping cross-sector collaboration.

Attendees will gain insights into:

• The current climate of nonprofit engagement and employee giving.
• Why faster funding and richer donation data integrations are critical to empowering nonprofits and strengthening corporate partnerships.
• How YourCause’s Expedited Giving and donor detail integrations are driving real-time impact and transparency.
• The role of data in shaping the future of AI-driven philanthropy and decision-making.

Whether you're a corporate CSR leader or a nonprofit strategist, this session will equip you with actionable ideas to build resilient, responsive, and purpose-driven partnerships.

Join Andrew Horrow, Director of Finance at Fifth Avenue Committee and founder of Finnovate for Good, Alicia Eastvold, CPA at Your Part-time Controller (YPTC), and Paul Preziotti, Partner at Johnson Lambert LLP, as they explore critical topics affecting nonprofit financial professionals today. This session offers practical strategies and firsthand experiences to help you overcome common obstacles in three important areas:
 
• Lean operations – improving workflows, integrating systems, reducing manual tasks, and creating time for strategic planning
• Financial health – addressing funding gaps, shifts in enrollment, and rising community demands
• Team collaboration – fostering cross-departmental alignment and communication

Join fellow Blackbaud Altru users for an engaging onsite user group session designed to foster collaboration, spark innovation, and share best practices. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just beginning your journey, this interactive gathering offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, exchange insights, and explore real-world strategies for maximizing your Altru investment. Come ready to share, learn, and leave energized!

Join fellow Blackbaud CRM users for an engaging onsite user group session designed to foster collaboration, spark innovation, and share best practices. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just beginning your journey, this interactive gathering offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, exchange insights, and explore real-world strategies for maximizing your CRM investment. Come ready to share, learn, and leave inspired!

Here are all the people that will be part of the discussion: - Topher Lovell (Host)

Location: Check yourself in, 10 minutes in advance, to find your table at the Braindate Lounge.

Let the group know if you’re running late or can’t make it through the Braindate platform.

Details: go to the Braindate platform

Are you a college or university that uses Blackbaud Award Management™ and Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®? Have you struggled with tracking scholarships recipients across systems? Have you found yourself struggling with how to track specific scholarship names what attributes will be most useful and how to make the data easy to use for your front line fundraisers? If so, this session is for you! 

Join Maya for a use case discussion showcasing how the Wake Tech Foundation brought over a decade of scholarship recipient data from Award Management in to Raiser's Edge NXT. She'll take you on a walk through their decision making process and how they leveraged OmaticCloud and the available fields in Raiser's Edge NXT webview to decide what information to import and where to record it for the best usability. Maya will discuss both wins and challenges from this process. Attendees will walk away better prepared to dive into similar scenarios at their organization. 

As a school operations leader, there are key concepts to consider before implementing new software at your school. How do you set your team up for success? What are the change management and project management considerations to prepare and make the most of your team's valuable time? Join Jacob Glickman, Jessica Parker and Dr. Brett Scaglione to learn how NSU University School took a proactive approach to their software implementation with Blackbaud.

In this session, we explore the process of change management during a system implementation, focusing on how team feedback drove success across three critical phases: the project kick-off, the go-live milestone, and the stabilization year. Leveraging formal surveys conducted at each stage, we gauged team sentiment, identified challenges, and celebrated successes. This approach enabled us to capture the pulse of our team and adapt in ways that helped keep everyone engaged and informed. Attendees will gain insights into best practices for implementing change, including how to effectively gather and analyze feedback, translate it into actionable improvements, and build a culture of adaptability. We'll discuss what worked well and the strategies that allowed us to pivot when needed throughout the process. This session offers practical lessons for navigating the complexities of organizational change.

The purpose of this session is to help database people for K-12 schools tackle the daunting task of cleaning up their schools database. I will help people figuring out how to map out a plan of where to start, what to put in place before starting, how to start the cleanup process and how to maintain data integrity moving forward. This session will cover things like looking at your current data, how your data is currently going into RE, figuring out any gaps and how to fill in those gaps. This session will also look at different ways to use RE to get the most out of your data. Lastly the session will go over ways to insure your data continues to go into RE clean and what should be put in place in order to maintain data cleanliness.

Are you transitioning to Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT web view and hesitant to leave the comfort of database view? Are you reluctant to use the database at all?

Join us for an enlightening session that will showcase the user-friendly side of web view and its unique capabilities that are not available in database view. In this session, we will highlight our favorite ""wow"" factors that make web view an indispensable tool for modern fundraising and donor management. From intuitive dashboards with real-time analytics to data management capabilities, web view offers a range of features designed to enhance your efficiency and effectiveness.

Discover how web view's user-friendly interface can simplify your team’s tasks, improve data accessibility, and provide deeper insights into your donor base. Whether you're a seasoned user or new to Raiser's Edge NXT, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to leverage many of web view's capabilities. Don't miss this opportunity to see firsthand how web view can ease your workflow and elevate your organization's fundraising efforts. Join us and take the first step toward a more impactful use of Raiser's Edge NXT.

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and Raiser's Edge NXT are powerful on their own, but when integrated, their impact is even greater. Yet, many clients are unaware of the full advantages this connection offers. Join a Blackbaud subject matter expert and a current client to explore the benefits of integrating your accounting and fundraising solutions. Discover how this integration simplifies reconciliation, enhances collaboration, and increases transparency between departments.

•    Gain insights into how AP automation propelled business and professional growth. 
•    Explore how automated processes contributed to an improved work-life balance and the development of talent. 
•    Understand the importance of human support in ensuring a seamless process for team members. 

In today’s data-driven world knowing where to put your data is just as important as collecting it. In this session you will learn how to choose the right fields in Raisers Edge that are best suited for your data.  Whether you are managing a small database or handling large volumes of data we will cover the best practices for selecting organizing and inputting your data and the potential pitfalls of “dumping data”. By the end you will be equipped to make informed decisions for adding your data based on the data type accessibility needs and security requirements.

Blackbaud Altru’s Prospects module has immense potential to help an organization, not only in the area of major gift cultivation, but also on grant management and bequests. Along with an introduction to the key facets of this functionality, we will also review the flexibility of this module and how it can be tailored to match the size, focus, and culture of your organization and its major gift development efforts. We will also cover how it can be adjusted to assist with grant management and bequests.

Switching from a legacy option to Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT donation forms has had huge effects for the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation. Through a streamlined approach, teamwork, and strategic media buys, UOHIF raised almost $200K more in December 2024 than in 2023, and $330K more year-over-year. Learn from their approach, and find out how you can implement this at your organization. 

Donor Advised Funds continue to play a growing role in charitable giving — but how are they truly shaping nonprofit fundraising outcomes? This session will present key findings from the second annual DAF Fundraising Report, the most comprehensive analysis of nonprofit DAF gift data. Building on last year's findings — like the fact that when a donor switches to giving via DAF, their gift amount to the same organization increases by 96% on average, and that DAF revenue is growing 214x faster than non-DAF revenue in the sample group — the 2025 report offers fresh insights into how DAF giving patterns are evolving. The session will explore how DAF donors give compared to other donor types, including gift size, frequency, and repeat giving behavior, as well as how nonprofits are integrating DAFs into their fundraising strategies and where the greatest opportunities lie to harness this growing source of support.

Front-line P2P fundraising has rapidly evolved. Balancing relationship-building with data-driven strategy, personalization and technology fluency. Yet too often, a disconnect remains between fundraising staff in the field and the tech teams designing the platforms meant to support them.

This interactive session explores how organizations can break down communication barriers between these two critical functions to create smarter tools, stronger engagement strategies, and better donor experiences.

Topics include how fundraising staff are actually using (or not using) current platforms, the untapped features or integrations they wish they had, and how tech teams can better align roadmaps with front-line needs.

Whether you’re in tech or fundraising, this session is designed to spark dialogue, challenge assumptions and encourage ongoing collaboration.

Expected Outcomes for Attendees
A deeper understanding of the challenges and priorities of front-line fundraisers in 2025
New ideas for aligning platform development with fundraising goals
Insights from organizations successfully bridging the communication gap
 

There is no shortage of external influences impacting our companies, employees, and communities. Yet despite some of the challenges and complexities, corporate social impact practitioners and the programs they run are charting a course toward more inclusive engagement, increasingly collaborative and trust-based partnerships, the implementation of innovative new solutions, and increasing overall community impact. Join us for this session where we will explore various data and research elements from YourCause from Blackbaud, Association for Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP), and Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) that illustrate the incredible work being undertaken across the CSR sector. 

Successful implementation of predictive analytics hinges on clearly identifying the key outcome that you’re driving for and identifying the specific predictions and applications that align to that outcome. This is why Blackbaud typically provides customers with several discrete predictive datapoints to leverage for their fundraising. ProspectPoint models, Affluence Insight and WealthPoint are just some of the terms you may have heard—what does each datapoint mean? How do they differ? How do you determine when and how to use a specific datapoint? These are the questions this session will help you answer.

Strategic consultants Marleen Lucas and Ashley Oates will define commonly used analytics solutions, examine their varying intended outcomes and applications, and provide a framework for applying them in tandem to improve portfolios. We’ll also address  common customer questions about how to leverage these solutions together with Prospect Insights and Prospect Insights Pro for Raiser’s Edge NXT customers. Finally, we’ll share real-world examples of how customers are using this combined approach to get the most out of all of their tools. 

How do you thrive—or even survive—in this rapidly changing sociopolitical landscape without losing yourself in the process? Join this interactive workshop to create your personalized "Changemaker's Success Plan"!

Social impact leaders worldwide are facing the challenge of staying true to their personal and professional missions while driving meaningful change in an increasingly polarized sociopolitical climate. In an industry that already demands energy and resolve to challenge the status quo, additional complexities—such as policy changes, funding restrictions and escalating data privacy concerns—add further layers of difficulty and stress.

In this workshop, attendees will gain practical strategies to navigate sociopolitical tensions mitigate risks and foster inclusivity ensuring their social impact initiatives remain authentic effective and aligned with core values. Participants will also explore how to leverage partnerships and community engagement to drive lasting change both personally and professionally.

Join us as we discuss recent releases and upcoming new features for Blackbaud Billing Management!

You’ve invested in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT—now make sure you’re using it to its full potential! By taking advantage of built-in features like custom fields, transaction codes, and a well-structured chart of accounts, you can improve reporting, streamline approvals, and integrate more smoothly with tech partners.

In this session, we’ll break down simple but powerful ways to optimize your system. Need an easier way to track endowment balances? Transaction codes can help you keep real-time running totals of principal earnings and spendable funds. Want to automate approvals and reporting? A custom field with a signatory’s name and email can help partners route workflows correctly and even automate scheduled report distribution.

We’ll focus on the idea of good data in, good data out—because keeping your system clean and well-organized means better insights, fewer manual workarounds, and more value from the tools you already have. Whether you're a new or experienced user, you’ll walk away with practical tips to make Financial Edge NXT work smarter for you.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

Join a candid conversation with Nicole Holt from Preble Street and Jessica White from Opportunity International as they share their journey of automating repetitive tasks using Microsoft Power Automate and Power BI with their Blackbaud solutions. Hear firsthand how they got started, overcame challenges, and found ways to save time and empower data-driven decision-making at their organizations. Whether you're just starting out or considering scaling your use, this session will help you assess if the Power Platform aligns with you and your organization’s goals—and inspire your next steps.
 
This session will include:
 
• How to save time with automations and business intelligence: Learn about the time savings the Power Platform can bring to your lean staff.
• Overcoming Challenges: Hear about the challenges faced solutions implemented and tips learned along the way providing valuable insights for anyone looking to embark on their own automation journey.
• Implementing & Optimizing Workflows: Learn where to get more training and advice for implementing your workflows.

You’re at the heart of everything we do. Join Blackbaud Support leadership for an engaging conversation about your support experience—what’s working, what could be better, and what’s next. We’re here to listen, learn, and grow with you. Your voice helps us build a smarter, more responsive, and more empowering support experience for the future.

Discover how the RENXT Total Web Solution is revolutionizing fundraising with cutting-edge technology. Imagine leveraging generative AI to create personalized donor acknowledgments that not only save time but also deepen donor relationships. Plus, with advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, organizations can make data-driven decisions to supercharge their fundraising efforts. It's all about working smarter, not harder, to achieve your mission!

Does it seem like every company is busy adding AI to every product you use? Are you left wondering what it actually means? Join us for an enlightening session where Thomas Betts one of Blackbaud's software architects and an industry expert on software trends will demystify the AI label.

In this session you'll gain a clear understanding of the fundamental building blocks of AI—without the jargon. We'll help you separate the hype from genuinely useful features that can enhance your productivity. Learn about the real-world technologies often referred to as AI such as machine learning natural language processing and predictive analytics and how they are applied in practical scenarios. Expect real-world examples including insights from Blackbaud solutions.

If you prioritize productivity over an AI label on a product this session will equip you to cut through the marketing jargon and identify genuinely useful features that save you time.

Breaking down operational silos is the key to unlocking fundraising efficiency, collaboration, and long-term success—but how do you turn cross-departmental barriers into bridges that foster ongoing growth? Join this engaging panel discussion with the 2024 Blackbaud Silo Buster Award winner as they share their real-world strategies for building and sustaining a culture of collaboration across legal, marketing, IT, and finance to drive fundraising success. Discover how leading with data became their secret weapon for instant buy-in, and how their strategic pillars allowed them to scale philanthropy, improve communication, and integrate fundraising across the organization. From MarCom transformation (moving from siloed messaging to full collaboration) to IT and finance partnerships this session will highlight how one year of intentional change created lasting operational alignment and fundraising growth. Whether you're just beginning to break down silos or looking for next-level integration strategies, you’ll leave with actionable insights on building cross-functional partnerships, overcoming growing pains, and sustaining collaboration for long-term success.

Join a dynamic panel of Blackbaud Award & Stewardship Management customers and product experts as they share best practices for maximizing impact across the full award and stewardship lifecycle. This session will explore proven strategies for:

1. Optimizing administrator workflows

2. Streamlining reviews & cycle management

3. Managing applications & leveraging solution functionality

4. Unlocking the power of APIs & integrations

5. Improving donor stewardship

Whether you're looking to improve operational efficiency, enhance applicant experiences, or explore solution adoption strategies, this session will equip you with actionable insights and peer-tested tips to improve your awarding processes.

Learn how advancement services at the University of Manitoba became the catalyst for a data-driven transformation and a hub of innovation using RE NXT as a foundational cornerstone. This journey began with a bold statement: "to become a data-driven organization." By implementing direct changes, advancement services evolved from a small service unit into a dynamic solutions provider. This transformation rapidly expanded to adjacent business units and, within just four years, reached central departments and faculties. Discover the best practices and strategies that fueled this rapid evolution, and learn how to apply these principles to foster innovation and data-driven decision-making in your own organization. Join us for an inspiring session filled with actionable insights and proven success stories.

Selecting the right donor management system can feel overwhelming, especially for small teams with limited resources. In this session, I’ll share how our two-person nonprofit navigated the transition to Raiser’s Edge, the key factors behind our decision, and the customizations that helped us maximize efficiency. From evaluating options to executing a smooth migration, I’ll outline our process and highlight the immediate impact on donor engagement and membership growth. Attendees will leave with a roadmap for assessing their own system needs and ways to leverage automation to streamline operations.

Gen Z is reshaping philanthropy with their digital-first mindset, demand for authenticity, and preference for action-driven causes. To capture their attention and inspire giving, nonprofits must adapt their engagement strategies to align with how this generation interacts, communicates, and donates. Join Brady United, SMS experts at Tatango and Mark Becker of Cathexis as we break down how nonprofits can build lasting relationships with the influential and growing Gen Z donor base. We’ll explore the power of mobile-first engagement, personalized messaging leveraging Blackbaud products, and values-based storytelling to drive action. Learn how to optimize Gen Z donor segmentation, predict engagement patterns, and tailor campaigns for relevance. Discover how SMS—fast, direct, and interactive—is the most effective channel for reaching and mobilizing younger supporters. Now is the time to embrace innovation and meet Gen Z where they are—on their phones, in their communities, and ready to take action.

As organizations increasingly turn to AI for efficiency and insight, the foundation for success is clear: accurate, integrated data. This session explores why connecting your data ecosystem isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. We’ll examine how clean, unified data directly powers AI outcomes, with real-world examples highlighting differences in performance and engagement when data is siloed versus connected.
We'll also explore key trends making data-driven decision-making more critical than ever, such as tightening budgets, the growing reliance on individual giving, and increasing staff turnover. With institutional knowledge at risk and donor relationships in flux, connected data ensures your AI tools and your team know where to focus time, energy, and resources.

You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of:
•    Why integrated data is the cornerstone of any AI strategy
•    How poor data quality can sabotage even the best AI tools
•    What a connected RENXT instance looks like — with and without full data integration
•    How to preserve relationships and prevent missed opportunities in a changing fundraising landscape

Many donors show up strong during the holiday season—but what if that generosity didn’t have to hibernate until next December? This panel brings together sector leaders from charities that have cracked the code on donor retention. You’ll learn the systems, segmentation tactics, and storytelling rhythms that keep supporters engaged from January through December. Real case studies show how personalized outreach, timely impact updates and other strategies can transform a one-time gift into ongoing commitment. Attendees will leave with the know-how to build continuous giving programs .

Key Takeaways:

• Data That Drives Loyalty: Why segmenting and analyzing donor patterns is key to identifying who’s ripe for deeper engagement.
• Storytelling Doesn’t Take a Holiday: How to build ongoing, emotionally resonant communication throughout the year that builds connection and trust.
• From Transaction to Relationship: How you can offer a mix of meaningful touchpoints - volunteering, advocacy, peer-to-peer campaigns—to convert transactional gifts into emotional investments

Join us for this informative session as we walk through the Resource tile design posting and organization. In tile design, we’ll show the different content and elements and how they work for designing a comprehensive tile, from both links documents and plain text. We will also discuss different ways to use Resource board tiles.

When the world around us is shifting, it can create fear and confusion for us as funders and our communities. The changes can also prompt us to make sure that the knowledge work we are doing is relevant, addressing our primary mission and values, and contributing to our best strategies both internally and externally. Today’s knowledge work in grantmaking involves many activities, roles, and titles. Whether your job description includes learning and evaluation, grant reporting, organizational change, grantee network building, information sharing, or any other knowledge term, there are important ways that we can turn challenge and fear into meaningful change. This session encourages participants to creatively address four key components of knowledge work – data, questions, analysis and technology partnership. Participants will engage with four important actions: 1. Shifting from data to datamaking harnesses our sense of urgency and agency to better focus our data systems on our strategic priorities. 2. Examining our knowledge work questions with an eye toward the opportunities that they open up. 3. Embracing analysis as a multi-dimensional process to be shared internally with our stakeholders and externally with our community. 4. Tapping into technology partnerships for learning, communication, transparency, and amplification. Taking these actions helps us uncover hidden opportunities and tap into our knowledge work to ensure our data and data systems are relevant to the times and effective at helping to move us into our desired future. Participants will leave with resources that deepen the practice of each of these actions.

Discuss the importance of security in securing financial data. Focus on modern permissions with tips and tricks to quickly implement controls into the organization.

Join us for a deep dive into the future of nonprofit fundraising, where artificial intelligence is no longer a concept—it's a co-worker. In this session, we’ll showcase how Blackbaud is embedding AI directly into Raiser’s Edge NXT through a major innovation: Virtual Team Members. 

If you're struggling to keep up with administrative demands while focusing on donor relationships - AI agents are here to help. If you're eager to explore the newest concept in fundraising, powered by the latest AI technology - AI agents may be what you're looking for.  

In this panel discussion, hosted by Paul Goldstein, Blackbaud’s new Sr Director of AI Growth, you'll uncover how fundraising organizations are using AI agents—intelligent, automated systems that accomplish complex, repetitive workflows—to address time-consuming tasks, empowering teams to spend more energy on building meaningful connections with donors. And learn firsthand how Blackbaud is training AI agents – known as Virtual Team Members – to help you streamline administrative tasks, help teams focus on building genuine connections with donors, and boost fundraising outcomes. 

Don’t miss the chance to learn how Virtual Team Members can empower your staff to focus on creative, mission-driven tasks to help your organization unlock more fundraising potential. 

Learning objective 1: Learn how Virtual Team Members can help augment your team’s efforts by streamlining and automating repetitive parts of your fundraising workflows. 

Learning objective 2: Gain insight into strategies for implementing agentic AI solutions successfully, from initial adoption to scaling capabilities and learn how to measure their impact on your fundraising performance. 

Learning objective 3: Understand Blackbaud’s roadmap for introducing agentic AI technology to supplement and support human fundraising efforts 

Explore how AI is reshaping Online Giving and Donor Portal experiences. We’ll share new product concepts—from intelligent analysis tools for admins to engaging donor conversations —and invite your feedback to help shape future enhancements. Join us to discover what’s next and influence what's to come.

Discussion and demonstration of all new functionality released to Tuition Management this year.

In an ever-evolving fundraising and technology landscape, staying ahead means embracing innovative data strategies. Join us for a deep dive into how data mesh principles can reshape your organization’s approach to data, driving smarter decision-making and improved fundraising results.

We will discuss Blackbaud’s strategic approach to data innovation, which can assist your organization in understanding and maximizing the lifetime value of your supporters, even with limited data. Discover practical techniques for adopting a data mesh framework and gain strategic insights that will help secure your fundraising efforts for the future.

We’ll also look at how shifting to managing data like a product lays the foundation for the next generation of fundraising tools—especially those driven by artificial intelligence. By treating data as a valuable asset with defined purpose and ownership, organizations can better use AI in influential, mission-driven ways.

Whether you are an experienced Raiser's Edge NXT user or seeking to improve your technical skills, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools to navigate the future with confidence.

Supporting student wellbeing requires good data. In this session, Peter Russell, CEO of August Schools, and John Neiers, Director of Technology at The Dalton School, will discuss how schools can build strong systems for student support by leveraging data across departments. Learn how to break down silos, create continuity of care, and use data to guide interventions that make a difference. Whether you're a tech leader or a student support leader, this session will offer practical, actionable strategies to help your school take a more coordinated, data-informed approach to student wellbeing.

Explore ways to take engagement to the next level in CSRconnect! In this session, YourCause product experts will walk you through powerful features like Engagement Elements, Splash Modals, Message Banners, and Questionnaires/Surveys  that help bring your programs to life. You’ll also hear firsthand from a client who’s successfully using CSRconnect to create meaningful connections and drive program success. Whether you’re looking for new ideas or practical tips, this session is all about equipping you with actionable strategies to better engage your employees.

Accountants, controllers, and CFOs at nonprofits have a wide range of audiences for which to interpret their numbers: executives, management teams, board members, and funders each have distinct, if overlapping, interests as well as varying degrees of fluency with the terms and concepts of nonprofit finance and accounting. Such interpretations and communications are wheelhouse tasks for generative AI. This session shares best practices and lessons learned about how to leverage AI effectively and responsibly to accelerate context-switching and communications around nonprofit financial information.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

Blackbaud NetCommunity and Online Express have been driving growth in online giving for more than 20 years now. Is now the right time to upgrade your digital fundraising tools? Join this informative webinar to learn how SJ Consulting has helped many organizations make their successful transition to Online Giving forms within Raiser's Edge NXT.

This session features leaders from two of the largest sustainer giving programs in the nation. Drawing on their years of experience, our presenters will share lessons they have learned and their top strategies for growing monthly recurring giving. This session is designed to provide you with practical tactics and actionable data to enhance your organization's sustainer giving efforts. 

Key takeaways from this session will include:
Understanding sustainer giving: Learn the fundamentals of sustainer giving and why it is crucial for the financial stability and growth of non-profits. 
Building a strong program: Discover best practices and key metrics for maintaining a robust sustainer giving program, including sustainer acquisition, retention, and long-term value. 
Organizing to succeed: What level of staffing is ideal to grow a healthy sustainer program?  Where should you focus on a sustainer’s journey of supporting your organization?  
Case studies and success stories: Gain inspiration from real-world examples and success stories from non-profits that have effectively implemented sustainer giving programs. 

Whether you are just starting out or looking to optimize your existing sustainer giving program, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to succeed. Don't miss this opportunity to learn! 

Successful fundraising starts with knowing your supporters, but scattered data and outdated tools can slow you down. Learn how Avon Old Farms School accelerated donor research and outreach by using technology to bring student, alumni, and donor data together. You'll leave with practical tips to scale and streamline the way you manage data, identify top prospects more easily, and connect with donors in a more meaningful way—without adding extra work for your team. In this session, you’ll learn about: • Navigating the Evolving Tech Landscape: Understand how emerging technologies are reshaping fundraising and why schools must adapt to stay ahead. • Leveraging Unified Data for Smarter Fundraising: Learn how integrating data across systems can maximize the value of your tech stack, uncover top prospects, and enhance engagement strategies. • Actionable Strategies for Scalability & Impact: Discover practical ways to identify top donors, streamline outreach, and reduce manual work—so your team can focus on building meaningful connections.

Failure is a common aspect of life, but at the office, it transforms into a terrible beast, a taboo word only spoken in hushed tones behind closed doors. Mistakes mean money wasted, donor support lost, and loss of confidence in your abilities. Perfection seems like the only way forward. But is it? No! Through this session, we aim to dispel the fear behind failure and turn it into something positive. This will be accomplished by 1. Clearly defining both failure and mistakes 2. Providing guidance for how to approach situations in which a mistake, failure, or both take place, using real-life examples from the presenters, at the personal and organizational levels 3. Showing how to turn these situations into positive learning experiences 4. Including tips for building better workplaces that encourage employees to expand their experience and put failure to task to learn and grow. We hope that this presentation will act as a step in changing the mindset surrounding failure and mistakes and contribute toward healthier workplaces by equipping attendees with helpful and usable strategies for navigating challenging situations in the future and influencing them, young and seasoned professionals alike, to model the behavior they want to see from their coworkers.

The arrival of the Total Web Solution for Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT is coming soon, while the end of the Database View lies ahead. How should database managers prepare themselves and their teams for this big transition after all the changes this year and those still coming? This session will recommend which users on your team should be using which Web View functions (present and anticipated), and how to train and support your users in that transition. While the presenter is a huge proponent of the Web View, this won’t be a marketing pitch; it will be an honest presentation about the tools in both views that organizations are using successfully and how he, as a long-term full-time Raiser's Edge consultant having worked with dozens of organizations, has seen happy customers. This session will be specific ,practical, realistic, and honest. Specific areas to be addressed include gift entry, constituent updates, mailings, reporting, direct marketing (mailings and emailing), major gifts, and leadership with training and support guidance for these users. We’ll also discuss how DBMs can realistically stay on top of these and future changes.

Join Product Manager, Jessi Walters, to talk shop about all things Core: permissions, security, privacy, system configuration, reporting, calendars, resources, directories, and more!

Organizations need flexibility to innovate with point solutions that fit their unique needs. Blackbaud Integrated Payments offers that flexibility by working with solutions covering a variety of needs, including auctions, text-to-give, face-to-face canvassing, telemarketing, ticketing, school fees and more. Hear directly from organizations today on how they simplify their payments and save time and money with Blackbaud Integrated Payments.

Discover how Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT is evolving to empower nonprofit organizations with cutting-edge innovations in artificial intelligence. In this session, hosted by Blackbaud’s Product Management team, we’ll explore how the integration of Agentic AI, Blackbaud AI, and Action Hubs is transforming workflows and redefining efficiency. Learn how these tools can provide actionable insights, improve monthly closings, enhance collections processes, and enable smarter decision-making—all while maintaining transparency and empowering users.
We’ll also dive into the reimagined Information Architecture (IA) and navigation updates designed to simplify access to critical tools and maximize productivity for users across all levels of experience. Whether it’s creating a personalized home page for your role or leveraging AI to identify trends and automate key processes, this session will give you a firsthand look at the future of Financial Edge NXT. Join us to uncover how connected experiences and intelligent systems are reshaping the way nonprofit financial teams operate—and imagine what your organization could accomplish with these powerful advancements.

Join a candid panel of event fundraisers as they recount their most spectacular campaign collapses - and the clever pivots that saved the day. You’ll hear unfiltered stories about misfired appeals, technical meltdowns, and donor backlash, followed by the steps they took to shift focus, rebuild trust and the results. This session will arm you with the playbook for transforming missteps into strategic wins. Expect actionable insights and a good dose of humour!

Key takeaways:

• Learn from Failure: Dive into big campaign hiccups, extract the lessons, and learn how to make continuous improvement a part of your culture
• Straightforward Trust-Building: Learn how our speakers owned their missteps, shared honest updates with supporters, and reinforced their credibility 
• Calm in the Crisis: Learn how to establish protocols to limit damage when things go sideways - so when the unexpected hits, you handle it like a pro.

This session will provide an overview of the Blackbaud Financial Aid Management product roadmap, along with a variety of product updates and demonstrations.

Learn how YourCause GrantsConnect can simplify and strengthen your grant management process in this engaging session. Our product experts are here to guide you through exciting features like enhanced workflow automation and the AI-powered Form Intelligence tool. You’ll also gain insight from a customer who shares their experience using GrantsConnect to optimize programs and achieve meaningful results. If your goal is to make processes smoother and maximize results, this session is designed to spark ideas and give you the tools to succeed.

Join me J.D. Trueblood as I unveil the transformative journey of the Turtle Creek Association from a struggling nonprofit with an annual revenue of $280000 to a thriving entity surpassing $1 million all within five years. With only a two-person team at the helm we harnessed the power of technology to achieve exponential growth. This session will dive deep into how we leveraged Blackbaud's eTapestry to master our donor engagement through sophisticated reporting and data analytics. I'll share insights into developing a holistic marketing campaign that integrates our website social media platforms and a monthly newsletter to keep our mission visible and engaging. Moreover learn how we simplified the donation process by embracing various payment technologies like Google Pay Apple Pay and Text to Pay making it easier for supporters to contribute to our cause. Whether you're looking to boost your nonprofit’s financial health enhance donor relationships or streamline operations this talk will provide valuable strategies that you can implement to elevate your organization's impact. Get ready to be inspired by a story of resilience innovation and success that's not just about surviving but thriving in the digital age.

This session will be a case study on how Gonzaga College High School was able to increase their Matching Gifts by over 300% from 2023 to 2024 and continues the momentum. By using RE NXT, DoubleTheDonation, dedicated personnel, and organized processes Gonzaga is able to maximize donors' ability to execute Matching Gifts year over year.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has been a GivBee client since 2020. In 2025 GivBee released a direct integration with Blackbaud Checkout that changed the text to donate landscape for good. See real data from our spring summit and extra details about Raiser's Edge NXT records

Discover how Power Automate can transform your workflows, boost efficiency, and seamlessly integrate with Raiser’s Edge NXT. This session will kick off with a practical overview of how to set up and connect Power Automate—whether your organization uses Microsoft or Google platforms.

We’ll explore the key advantages of automation, including reducing manual tasks, improving data accuracy, and streamlining reporting. Through a live, step-by-step demonstration, you’ll learn how to build a workflow from scratch—perfect for those who are new to automation or hesitant to get started.

But we won’t stop at reporting. You’ll also see how Power Automate can enhance donor and constituent management. Learn how to automate donor updates, manage custom fields for tracking loyalty and leadership giving, and improve data visibility with custom constituent tiles.

By the end of this session, you’ll walk away with actionable insights and a clear understanding of how to use Power Automate to drive consistency, automate key processes, and deepen donor engagement. Whether you're just beginning or looking to refine your existing workflows, this session will equip you with the tools and confidence to take the next step.

Altru provides a wealth of data about your patrons. But how best to get at it? Learn the difference between reports and queries, explore functionality in Altru that can enhance your queries, and discover some tips and tricks along the way.

In separation, division, misunderstanding, and frustration, there is an opportunity for connection, understanding, and empathy. Unfortunately, we often choose reaction and response instead of pausing to listen and learn. The possibility lies within the pause, curiosity, and communication. We want to come together to address and explore the empathy divide in the sector, that often exists within nonprofit, philanthropy, and community spaces. We want to focus on how our individual and collective unknowns can become the fuel for relationship-building, trust, and greater impact. We will talk about - the potential benefits and harm of empathy - moving beyond consent to relationships and knowledge sharing - how to explore the greatest unknowns to shape powerful conversations - how insights can fuel accountable solutions beyond what you ever imagined Heather Hiscox, Founder and CEO of Pause for Change will discuss the opportunities for learning and co-creation, and lead attendees through live activities where they can practice curious conversation and insight mapping. Attendees will leave with strategies they can use to better understand and address any area of uncertainty, including many of the challenges caused by empathy gaps.

Hear stories and gain tips and tricks from customers who have successfully implemented large projects with tight deadlines in the midst of much uncertainty. We will look back on some projects, such as the recent PCI mandated changes, to pull out some great lessons learned for all, regardless of the size of your organization.

In today's data-driven environment, maintaining clean, accurate, and well-governed CRM data is crucial for organizations to drive engagement, enhance decision-making, and ensure compliance. This session explores how external tools—such as data integration platforms, ETL solutions, and automation software—can enhance CRM data management and governance.

They’re BAAAAAACK.  

Join Stacy Cope, Austen Brown and Nic Prenger for the third annual installment of bbcon’s most popular session. 

Automation tools like Microsoft Power Automate are transforming how development offices operate. In this fast-paced session, attendees will learn six brand new, game-changing automations that Blackbaud customers are using to save time, raise more money and streamline their processes. 

After attending this session, attendees will look at their job in a whole new light. Each boring, repetitive task will become an opportunity to automate, improve or streamline.  Food will taste better. Birds will sing more sweetly. The sun will lift from behind the clouds, and life will be worth living. 

Were your tuition and accounting systems developed with independent schools in mind? Or does it seem like they were built by software engineers with no input from people with real-world school accounting experience?  Your school's long-term financial sustainability relies on your business office, admissions, and IT operations. When poorly designed software or unreliable integrations disrupt workflows and the flow of information, your bottom line suffers. Join us in this session to discover how a fully-functioning general ledger and tuition subledger can streamline processes, empower your staff, and protect your school.

After a day of inspiring sessions, join us in the Exhibit Hall to officially kick off bbcon! The Welcome Reception is your opportunity to:

• See Blackbaud technology in action through live demos and hands-on experiences
• Connect with fellow attendees, partners, and experts in a relaxed, high-energy setting
• Explore solutions and services designed to power your mission
• Enjoy drinks, bites, and entertainment as you unwind and gear up for the days ahead

Whether you're looking to network, discover new tools, or simply celebrate the start of bbcon, the Welcome Reception is the place to be

Organizational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant takes the bbcon mainstage to share powerful insights from his latest book, Hidden Potential. Drawing from his work with global leaders and changemakers, Adam will explore how to energize teams, rethink strategies, and build cultures that unlock extraordinary impact. This inspiring keynote will challenge you to lead smarter, aim higher, and discover the untapped potential within yourself and your team. 

This session will only be available on-demand until Nov 8, 2025.

Still tracking events by hand? Or importing event registrations from spreadsheets? Streamline your events with Raiser's Edge NXT! In this session we will walk through the lifecycle of an event from creating and managing an invite list, to collecting registrations, to reminder emails and day of check-in. Oh, and don't forget about event reports to display all the hard work and fundraising success to your board and stakeholders!

You’re at the heart of everything we do. Join Blackbaud Support leadership for an engaging conversation about your support experience—what’s working, what could be better, and what’s next. We’re here to listen, learn, and grow with you. Your voice helps us build a smarter, more responsive, and more empowering support experience for the future.

As we are entering our fourth year of streamlining the Continuous Enrollment process using Blackbaud’s Education Management and Blackbaud Tuition Management, we’d like to share how we have refined the process.

Join Bruce Baughman - Senior P2P Administrator at Susan G. Komen talk about Blackbaud Integrated Payments and payment processing.  Learn how Komen is staying up to date with latest changes in payments, how they have adopted these changes and lessons they have learned along the way.

Let’s be real - if your content isn’t stopping thumbs, it’s getting scrolled past, so how can nonprofits break through the noise and connect with Gen Z? This session is your crash course in creating TikToks (and Reels, and Shorts) that actually do numbers, with real examples from Oregon Zoo and other organisations standing out on social channels. We’ll break down what makes content pop, how to ride the algorithm instead of fighting it. Expect trends, tips and a fresh perspective to help your content shine where it matters most. 
 
Key takeaways:
•    Learn what makes content perform across social media platforms.
•    Find out how to use trends, audio and storytelling to your advantage.
•    Know how to create unforgettable social content with small spend but big reach, giving you confidence in the tools to win at TikTok.
 

Chat with the Product Managers of Blackbauds Learning Management System and the Blackbaud Student Information System in a joint meeting. Learn about the vision of how the two products will work toward building a more integrated solution to better enable admin, faculty, and students alike.

Refresh and optimize your Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® Database. This session is focused on how to prioritize, plan, and implement data cleanup tasks. Utilizing ROI analysis of areas of cleanup and impact to everyday database usage, we can prioritize efforts in areas that will have the biggest impact to data integrity and analysis. We will also learn strategies to stay on top of incorrect data entry processes to prevent bulk cleanups in the future.

In today’s hyper-connected galaxy of GDPR, CCPA, and PIPEDA, every nonprofit needs a squad of data guardians—and an AI co-pilot—to keep donor information safe, compliant, and mission-ready. This dynamic session will equip you with a roadmap that combines rock-solid data governance and technology know-how, enabling you to navigate the privacy landscape with confidence.

Whether you’re decoding new U.S. state laws, updating EU consent records, or bracing for the next regulatory supernova, our privacy Avengers will show you how to leverage AI tools, proven frameworks, and best practices. 

Key Takeaways
•    Privacy Laws in the AI Age Demystified
Map the most critical regulations across the EU, Canada, and the U.S., then learn how to make a plan to ensure AI doesn't get you in a bind.
•    Data Governance Mastery
Identify mission-critical stakeholders, establish clear policies, and understand how AI can spotlight anomalies, keeping every byte right where it belongs.
•    Consent Tracking Techniques 
Use natural-language tools to parse opt-ins, opt-outs, and “tell-me-laters,” syncing them across CRMs without the spreadsheet or 17 systems. 
•    Empowering Donor Rights: The Right to Be Forgotten
Learn how to honor deletion requests while preserving the metrics your organization needs to thrive—and identify when the right to be forgotten may not be as straightforward, and why.

Who Should Attend?
Nonprofit leaders, data managers, compliance officers, fundraiser-techies, and anyone who has ever wondered, “Did we just email half of Europe without consent?” If you're concerned about donor data or worry about privacy headlines, this session is your launch pad.

Strap in, power up your AI copilots, and join us to become a true Guardian of the Data-Verse. 

Financial uncertainty may be part of the nonprofit world, but it doesn’t have to keep you in constant reaction mode. In this practical session, you’ll learn how to strengthen your organization’s financial health so you can focus on your mission instead of worrying about money. We’ll start by identifying and tracking the 3–5 key metrics that reveal your organization’s health and making them part of everyday leadership conversations. Then, we’ll dive into aligning revenue and expenses so every dollar coming in and going out supports your mission and long-term priorities. Finally, we’ll tackle how to build and maintain a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast. You’ll leave with a short list of actionable steps you can implement immediately to strengthen your financial foundation and future-proof your nonprofit for the years ahead.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

Mastering gift management is essential to unlocking your organization’s potential to achieve transformational fundraising results. Raiser’s Edge NXT continues to evolve to support your expertise, helping you navigate the complexities of gift management with confidence. Join Principal Product Manager Anthony Gallo and Product Manager Danielle VanHorn for an insightful session focused on the priorities that matter to you most. Together, we’ll explore ways to optimize and elevate your gift management processes. From simplifying gift processing with high-speed gift batch, leveraging smarter gift record functionality, and unlocking the potential of automated pledge payments, this session is designed to empower your operations. You’ll leave inspired by what’s possible and confident in your ability to lead your organization forward.

Adopting Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT Web View is more than just a system upgrade—it is a necessary transition as Blackbaud moves RENXT to a fully web-based solution. In this session Hallie Guiseppe shares Alvernia’s journey of adopting Web View from overcoming initial challenges to unlocking long-term benefits. She will discuss strategies for a smooth transition optimizing system adoption and leveraging automation tools like Power Automate to increase efficiency. Whether you're already making the switch or feeling overwhelmed by the change this session offers insights and lessons learned to help you navigate the shift and maximize your Blackbaud RENXT investment.

During this presentation we will discuss how the team at Sharp Healthcare Foundation customize their  processing and utilization of Blackbaud’s Grateful Patient Solution to fit their specific needs in conjunction with ResearchPoint and  Raiser’s Edge NXT. Senior Foundation Analyst Joe Martinez will share how the team has leaned on analytics to support an ongoing 10-year campaign that is the foundation’s largest to date. also share insights and perspectives on the foundation’s integration of their highly successful patient referral program into the fundraising process.

For years, accepting Donor Advised Fund (DAF) gifts in peer-to-peer campaigns was out of reach. Nonprofits couldn’t capture donor details in real time or credit gifts to the right fundraiser or event—leaving significant revenue untapped in one of the most dynamic fundraising channels.
That’s now changing. With the integration of DAFpay—Chariot’s DAF payment option—TeamRaiser customers are enabling seamless DAF contributions directly through their donation forms. Donors get a frictionless giving experience, and organizations gain the ability to properly attribute, acknowledge, and steward these gifts.
Join Mitch Stein from Chariot along with special guest TeamRaiser organizations as they share how they’ve unlocked this new revenue stream, the results they’re seeing, and how they’re evolving their peer-to-peer strategies to take full advantage of DAF giving.

If you've ever wondered if your organization is using all the features Award Management has to offer in the most optimal way, if you've experienced turnover, or you're unsure if configuration issues may be causing you more work than you realize, join us for this session! 

If you simply want an audit of your Award Management system to understand how well it is being used and would like analytical data to support it, a Process and Solution Assessment (PSA) may work wonders for your organization. The PSA is a comprehensive audit of your BBAM system, where an Award Management expert analyzes your system using a 75 point checklist to provide you with a summary of what you’re doing well, provide a feature usage assessment and suggestions to improve your system to implement as you see fit. In this session, we'll cover common areas of opportunity to improve your system, areas to check, processes to consider for evaluation and more insights about the PSA. 

Join us for a case study in implementing new technology to drive fundraising efficiencies without adding layers of unnecessary activity. Development Manager Cortney Moore will share the details of Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity’s unique goal-setting process which taps into feedback from a wide network. We will explain how this process helped them successfully improve major and mid-level donor prospecting with Prospect Insights Pro in Raiser’s Edge NXT, with an emphasis on delivering personalized donor experiences that effectively communicate the impact of their giving.

This session will offer practical tips for implementing new technology to ensure it fits seamlessly with your organization’s goals and engagement plans. We’ll also demonstrate how to measure key outcomes by identifying and analyzing leading and lagging indicators. Attendees will leave with actionable takeaways to help improve goal-setting at their organization and drive improved fundraising performance.

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a philanthropic institution dedicated to advancing AI and data science solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all. We are grantmakers and technologists, with a team of in-house software developers and data scientists working to advance socially beneficial AI solutions. Whether in the context of disaster relief, healthcare, or even philanthropic operations, one of the most powerful applications of AI is as a tool to draw insights from data, and to democratize access to specialized analytical expertise.

Earlier this year, building on our experience working with hundreds of nonprofits and peer funders, PJMF launched Grant Guardian, an AI-powered financial due diligence platform that equips grantmakers with data-driven insights. This tool allows all grantmakers, regardless of financial expertise, to interpret the financial health of a potential grantee with confidence. As the only free, AI-powered tool designed specifically for grantmakers, Grant Guardian is just the first example of strengthened philanthropy through AI. Building Grant Guardian brought us into dialogue with philanthropies across the U.S. on the potential of AI to enhance internal processes and strengthen the collective power of philanthropic contributions. During this session, we will share insights from our work funding responsible AI tools, as well as key takeaways from our discussion with foundations on AI’s applications within philanthropy. We will explore how these insights can help funders leverage AI to make more informed, effective decisions and drive greater impact across a wide range of programmatic focuses.

AI is reshaping the way database managers and fundraisers work—but how do you use it responsibly and effectively? This session will provide real-world AI applications that streamline database management, enhance reporting, and improve communication. From automation to ethical considerations, discover practical tools that can save time, boost insights, and optimize workflows. Whether you're AI-curious or already experimenting, you will walk away with actionable ideas you can start using immediately!

Whether you are new to automatically processing recurring gifts, you've been automatically processing for a while, or you just want to know more before you get started, this is the session for you. Join Sr Manager, Product Management, John Humphreys and one of your peers for an in-depth session on automated recurring gifts to better understand the advantages and capabilities of automated tasks. They will discuss features that align with recurring gifts, including donation forms, back-office administration, and how to use Blackbaud Integrated Payments to maximize it all. Let's dive deep and make your day-to-day tasks simpler.

When disasters strike, understanding how to effectively contribute with limited resources can feel daunting. Join our session where expert panelists from organizations like Cencora Impact Foundation will share compassionate and practical strategies for disaster response, including how to approach the work utilizing a decision-making framework and leveraging innovative solutions that go beyond traditional philanthropic funding to include employee engagement, emergency assistance relief, and product donations. Discover how to approach this critically important work holistically and with empathy with a view beyond immediate relief towards disaster preparedness, mitigation, and long-term recovery. 

Do you feel equipped to navigate the shifting landscape of financial aid with confidence? This session will be your financial aid GPS, guiding you through this season’s trends from three vantage points—family applications, school protocols, and FA assessment settings. We’ll chart common themes that emerged from family applications and explore how schools are recalibrating their protocols and deadlines. Join us for a full picture of this season to help you forecast and set coordinates for a successful 2026-2027 financial aid season.

Discover how the Coast Guard Foundation’s K9 Veterans Campaign transformed a creative concept into a high-impact, engagement-driven initiative. We’ll walk through the journey from idea to execution—how we built an interactive campaign that honored service dogs while driving donor acquisition and excitement. Learn the strategies behind its success and take away actionable insights to inspire your next campaign.

Join us for this session to learn more about Online Giving for Altru! Online Giving Donation Forms are now available to Altru customers. In this session, we will showcase the value these new forms can bring to your organization, share examples of successful donation forms from Altru customers, and explain how you can get started with Online Giving today!

VPM is Virginia’s home for public media connecting nearly 2 million people with insightful programming in news, education, arts, and culture across its television, radio and digital channels. With such a large audience to manage, the organization is focused on streamlining fundraising and engagement operations so teams can work confidently and independently while still ensuring alignment on key processes and objectives. 

In this session, Blackbaud Strategic Consultant Marleen Lucas and VPM’s Director of Membership Jennifer Whiteside share how VPM uses tools and processes both inside and outside of Raiser’s Edge NXT and various predictive analytics scores to optimize their channel engagement strategy, automate engagement actions, refine major giving qualification and more.

In this session we will demonstrate how VPM has dramatically improved internal communications across fundraising to eliminate duplicative work, increase productivity and provide consistent stewardship and solicitation paths to improve the supporter experience and drive revenue growth. 

Being a "database manager" is a different role—with different responsibilities—than being the fundraising team’s chief power user. It’s not just writing queries, creating reports, and making mailing lists.  It’s long been different than that, with responsibilities for security, system configuration, policy and procedure development, documentation, training, user support, external and internal teams’ liaison, and more.

Come hear our presenter, an experienced Raiser’s Edge consultant, discuss what it means to be a “database manager” in 2025 and beyond. This will include both the ways in which things have remained consistent as we’re moving from the technology of Raiser’s Edge 7—and the database view—to the full web view of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, as well as the ways the role has evolved as we work with significantly more knowledgeable, more engaged, and more technically capable users.

Bring your questions and share insights from your own experience as well!

Delve into the world of crypto-philanthropy, backed by insights from The Giving Block’s Annual Report on crypto giving. This session unveils why digital asset holders are rapidly emerging as a high-impact donor segment and how nonprofits can tap into their unique motivations. We’ll spotlight real-world success stories—from NFT auctions to crypto fundraising campaigns—and walk through the compliance, technology, and stewardship essentials. Attendees will leave ready to include crypto gifts in their fundraising mix.

Key takeaways:

• Understand the Landscape: Explore donor demographics, gift volumes, and growth trends from The Giving Block’s report.
• Case Study Spotlights: Explore real-world examples from nonprofits that have integrated crypto giving into their fundraising mix.
• Stewardship & Storytelling: Discover best practices for recognizing and engaging crypto donors

Managing daily operations can be challenging, and staying updated with new features in Enrollment Management can be overwhelming. In this fast-paced session, we'll dive into the latest releases and functionality updates that streamline your processes, enabling you to focus on attracting top candidates to your school. Committee Review, Online Decisions, Online Records Release, Admissions Scheduling updates, and more - don't miss this opportunity to enhance your admissions workflow and discover how Blackbaud's Enrollment Management can make your job easier and more efficient.

Unlock the full potential of your online fundraising with Blackbaud Donation Forms! Designed for Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®, Blackbaud CRM™, and Blackbaud Altru® users, this session offers an engaging walkthrough of Blackbaud's donation form solutions. See these tools in action with a live demonstration and discover how smartly crafted forms can boost donor engagement and increase the funds you raise. From enhancing donor experiences to driving conversions, you'll gain actionable insights and practical tips to build donation forms that work for you. By the end of this session, you'll feel empowered and ready to take your fundraising strategy to the next level. Join us to learn how Blackbaud Donation Forms can make a real difference for your mission!

Join us for an enlightening session focused on creating unique partnerships that engage a corporation's multi-stakeholder audience to advance nonprofit missions. This session will feature a detailed case study from Bread Financial and Ruling Our eXperiences, Inc. (ROX), showcasing their successful holistic engagement strategy that has been able to help ROX grow their presence from 24 to 36 of the United States. Bread Financial and ROX have cultivated a multifaceted partnership that serves as a model for others. This collaboration includes significant funding, active board membership, and strategic visibility for ROX within Bread Financial’s ecosystem. Their efforts encompass a comprehensive cause marketing campaign, sponsorship of signature events, and educational presentations, ensuring ROX’s mission resonates with Bread Financial’s associates, clients, customers, and board members. The partnership has become engrained into the company culture and is commonly known amongst the 6,500 associates worldwide. In 2024 Bread Financial introduced ROX to their customer base through a cause marketing campaign raising $500,000 to support ROX’s mission. By examining the collaboration between Bread Financial and ROX, participants will understand how to leverage corporate resources and networks to amplify their nonprofit’s mission, create sustainable impact, and foster long-term relationships. This session promises valuable takeaways for both nonprofit staff and corporate social responsibility professionals aiming to forge impactful partnerships.

In this session, we will explore the automated tools that Nick and Matt are using to feed data from RENXT, FENXT, and Education Management to Microsoft's PowerBI data visualization software. We will demonstrate the ways we can build queries in RENXT and schedule hourly exports to Google Sheets, and we will look at the process for automating the feeds of Advanced List data from the Education Management suite to Google Sheets. We will then demonstrate the ways we can feed this data to Microsoft's PowerBI suite to build reporting dashboards that leverage data from RE, FE, and Education Management via the SKY API. Finally, we will review the ways we can publish these auto-refreshing reporting tools to the online PowerBI portal for distribution to members of our school community.

In this session, we explore the process of change management during a system implementation, focusing on how team feedback drove success across three critical phases: the project kick-off, the go-live milestone, and the stabilization year. Leveraging formal surveys conducted at each stage, we gauged team sentiment, identified challenges, and celebrated successes. This approach enabled us to capture the pulse of our team and adapt in ways that helped keep everyone engaged and informed. Attendees will gain insights into best practices for implementing change, including how to effectively gather and analyze feedback, translate it into actionable improvements, and build a culture of adaptability. We'll discuss what worked well and the strategies that allowed us to pivot when needed throughout the process. This session offers practical lessons for navigating the complexities of organizational change.

As admins, when implementing a new product, we can often face resistance. In this session I share how A Better Chance has used listening as a key tool in our implementation strategies for smooth implementation and user adoption.

In the highly competitive world of Admissions, delivering exceptional customer experiences is essential to stand out from the competition. This interactive session focuses on the powerful features of Admissions Scheduling, illustrated through real-world examples and hands-on demonstrations. Participants will gain practical insights, best practices, and actionable strategies to enhance team collaboration and elevate the customer experience.

Learn how Blackbaud’s MobilePay and Payment Terminals help nonprofits unlock more giving through secure, card-present transactions. From tap-to-pay convenience to enhanced donor trust, discover how these tools drive engagement and elevate the in-person giving experience.

Customer will have had nearly a year of hands-on experience with the new Applicant Portal. This session aims to reveal how users of Blackbaud Grantmaking can maximize the exciting advancements of this innovative, user-centric tool. Two seasoned instructors from Blackbaud University will lead a series of swift demonstrations to spotlight some of its most intriguing new features. The demonstrations will include examples of conditional logic, automated program processes, eligibility assessments, and form translation. There will also be a dedicated time for attendees to ask questions and share their most valuable insights.

Join Blackbaud’s Product Management team for an exclusive preview of the future of financial operations with Financial Edge NXT. In this session, we will examine how Payment Assistant, AP Automation, and Spend Management are changing the way nonprofits and social impact organizations handle their finances. You’ll get an insider's view of the newest innovations aimed at optimizing workflows, minimizing manual tasks, and boosting visibility into organizational spending. Discover how these tools collaborate to:

•    Automate invoice processing and approvals with intelligent workflows.
•    Simplify vendor payments while enhancing security and compliance.
•    Utilize AI-driven insights to track spending patterns and optimize budgets.

Whether you're a finance leader, accountant, or system administrator, this session will offer practical strategies and a forward-thinking perspective on how AI is integrated into Financial Edge NXT to help your organization achieve more with fewer resources. Special Guest: Seth Hurd from Berwick Academy will join us to share his experiences with Payment Assistant.

Think you need to be a developer to build powerful solutions with AI and the Power Platform? Think again.

In this inspiring session, hear from two unexpected innovators—a middle school English teacher and a K–12 professional—who used AI tools like Claude.ai and Copilot with the Microsoft Power Platform to solve real-world problems without writing a single line of code.

Discover how one educator created a dynamic Power BI dashboard to track critical classroom assignments, improving student outcomes and teacher collaboration. Learn how another user built a Power Automate flow that sends timely email alerts to reconnect with lapsed donors—boosting engagement and fundraising efforts.

Whether you're new to Power Platform or looking to empower others in your organization, this session will show you what’s possible when curiosity meets AI—no coding required.
(In the spirit of the presentation, this description was drafted by Copilot.)

Here are all the people that will be part of the discussion: - Topher Lovell (Host)

Location: Check yourself in, 10 minutes in advance, to find your table at the Braindate Lounge.

Let the group know if you’re running late or can’t make it through the Braindate platform.

Details: go to the Braindate platform

Location: Go to the Braindate Lounge and check yourself in. Once you’re checked in, you’ll be shown your meeting point.

Details: go to the Braindate platform

The laws governing your use and development of AI are complex—and more are being added to the global regulatory landscape by the day. Join Blackbaud’s Chief Privacy Officer as we untangle these laws and their requirements to support your use of these innovative tools with confidence. In addition to demystifying global AI laws, we will explore best practices for AI risk management, helping your AI initiatives to be both innovative and legally sound. We will also provide real-world examples to illustrate how these practices can be effectively implemented in your organization.

Learn about all the ways Blackbaud Billing Management connects to other Blackbaud solutions including FENXT, Blackbaud Enrollment Management, Blackbaud Student information and Blackbaud Merchant Services

Back for a 4th year by popular demand, we invite you to engage with an all-star cast of your peers for an interactive panel discussion on all things Raiser’s Edge NXT. From leveraging SKY API updates to Raiser's Edge database view best practices, this group will seek to answer any question you throw at them. Bring your questions about fundraising and Raiser's Edge NXT the table—this session promises to be lively, engaging, and full of laughs!

Join Ryan Bentz from Syracuse University as he shares how their Blackbaud CRM environment—CITRUS—has transformed user access to tools and reports through a self-service, on-demand model. Over the past few years, Syracuse has made major strides by centralizing access to key resources, integrating complementary systems, and investing in ongoing training and support. Learn how these efforts have empowered users, streamlined operations, and driven adoption across the organization.

Join Shaun Porteous, Principal Product Manager for Luminate Online and TeamRaiser at Blackbaud, for an inside look at the transformative payment innovations now available within Luminate Online. This session will cover the shift from embedded to modal checkout experiences, introduce new fee cover options like Complete Cover and Donor Cover, and demonstrate how these tools can help you create more intuitive donor journeys and increase your net fundraising revenue. Learn how to align with PCI v4.0 requirements while unlocking new efficiencies and growth opportunities in your digital fundraising strategy.

Nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations know that sending more emails isn’t the answer—it’s sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time, and on the right channel. This session explores how the integration between Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Constant Contact empowers nonprofits and NPOs to plan, execute, and measure multi-channel campaigns that truly drive results. Attendees will learn how data from Raiser’s Edge NXT supports smarter segmentation and personalized outreach—not only to constituents, but also to nonconstituent contacts—across email, SMS, social media, and more. Performance insights flow directly back into Raiser’s Edge NXT, providing clear visibility into engagement and outcomes. With tools like AI-generated content, dynamic segmentation, and built-in integrations such as Canva and BrandKit, teams of any size can quickly create polished, on-brand campaigns across channels. Constant Contact’s intuitive design and automation paths help nonprofits cultivate relationships, boost donor retention, and reduce the lift of managing campaigns.

For organizations managing multiple locations or departments, Constant Contact’s multi-account capabilities support consistent messaging, coordinated campaigns, and greater visibility across your entire network.
Designed for nonprofits and NPOs looking to modernize their outreach strategy, this session offers a clear path to executing more effective, data-driven, multi-channel fundraising campaigns—without adding complexity.

Join us for an insightful session where we delve into how our organization leveraged OData integration with Blackbaud Altru to overcome significant data tracking challenges. This customer case study will highlight our journey, showcasing the collaboration with our education team to enhance data accuracy and accessibility. Discover practical tips and tricks that can help you optimize your own data management processes. Whether you're looking to improve data tracking, streamline reporting, or simply gain a deeper understanding of OData's capabilities, this session offers valuable insights and actionable strategies.

Discover how embracing the latest payment technologies such as AI and automation can transform your organization. This keynote will cover emerging trends like AI, digital currencies, and contactless payments, showing their potential to boost your operations. Equip yourself with strategic insights and practical tips to effectively utilize Blackbaud Integrated Payments for greater impact.

Unlock the power of peer-to-peer fundraising with expert insights from Susan G. Komen and Cathexis Partners! In this session, we’ll explore how to maximize fundraising success using TeamRaiser, a leading platform for engaging supporters and driving donations. Learn best practices for recruiting and motivating fundraisers, optimizing your event pages, and leveraging built-in tools to enhance donor engagement. Our speakers will share real-world success stories, practical strategies, and lesser-known tips to help you elevate your fundraising campaigns. Whether you’re new to TeamRaiser or looking to refine your approach, this session will provide actionable takeaways to boost participation, increase donor retention, and maximize revenue. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the experts and take your peer-to-peer fundraising to the next level!

Join us for an exciting deep dive into Attendance in Blackbaud Student Information and Learning Management Systems! Discover how our LMS and SIS seamlessly integrate to revolutionize your attendance management. From the effortless process of taking attendance to comprehensive reporting and sharing, we've got all your attendance needs covered. Explore the full range of functionalities and possibilities that our Attendance Hub and new features offer. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your attendance management skills and see how Blackbaud can streamline your processes and save you time.

Join us for an engaging session on the latest trends in philanthropy, focusing on the integration of AI tools in grant making. Discover how Blackbaud is your trusted partner in enhancing the applicant experience with seamless self-service options and advanced functionalities. We'll also explore the broader implications of data sharing and integration with various data sources.

Dino Koff, the Vice President for Financial Aid at Dartmouth College, is an industry leader who has deep experience as a financial planner and leadership at schools that cover the spectrum of financial stability. He is a dynamic speaker whose insights and case studies speak to the reality, and cause of financial pain points for so many academic institutions—and will offer best-practices germane to Blackbaud solutions. Learn how support for financial aid builds a stronger, more innovative institution to meet the needs of today's students. If you're looking to gain insights and inspiration about what institutions and practitioners can do to help schools and the students you serve maximize financial aid opportunities, this session is for you. 

Take a behind-the-scenes look at Blackbaud’s evolving AI journey—from the early experiments to the powerful capabilities of Blackbaud AI, and a glimpse into what’s next.

This session will explore the strategic thinking and innovation that drive Blackbaud’s AI development. Learn how rapid experimentation, collaborative ideation, and a hypothesis-driven framework have shaped our approach to building AI solutions.

Whether you're curious about how AI is being integrated into Blackbaud’s ecosystem or looking for inspiration on how to approach AI in your own organization, this session will offer insights into the process, the progress, and the possibilities ahead.

As Gen Z enters the giving pool, fundraisers need to find new and innovative ways to connect. More than 8 out of 10 support causes in some way—even if it isn’t monetary—and 1 in 3 expect to increase their giving in the coming years. The world in which they have come of age is radically different from previous generations, and connecting with them will require a willingness to evolve and adopt new communication strategies. 

Recent studies including the Blackbaud Institute’s Gen Z at the Table indicate significant fundraising opportunity among this audience, especially for organizations that invest in building trust during this crucial early stage of their development. The continuing “Great Wealth Transfer” which will see an estimated $84 trillion change hands through 2045 adds further long-term value for this audience. This session will focus on tools and strategies for diversifying messaging and communication channels to engage with younger donors

Employee volunteering is a powerful way to make an impact. In this session, our YourCause product experts will guide you through how CSRconnect simplifies volunteering for both administrators and employees. You’ll also hear from one of our customers about how they’ve used the platform to strengthen their programs and achieve meaningful results. Join us to explore practical tools and strategies that enhance volunteering efforts.

With so many different types of donation forms available, how do you fit them all into your website? In this session, we'll define donor personas for each type of form and prescribe the ideal website pathway for each scenario. Incorporating the principles of good Information Architecture and key design elements for each type of form, you’ll walk away with a multi-form strategy to meet your donors where they are most comfortable and most generous.

How are you maintaining donor trust? Learn how aligning fundraising and finance can be a game-changer for your organization. We will explore how the power of seamless integration builds trust with your donors and stakeholders.

Unlock practical tips on reducing manual tasks, allowing your team to focus on advancing your mission. Discover how unifying your staff and systems can provide clear and frequent information that highlights the impact of donations, boosting donor confidence.  We'll discuss strategies to present a transparent financial story, addressing donor concerns about overhead, and showing accountability. With actionable steps and real-life examples, this session will give you the tools to create lasting donor relationships through effective communication and data-driven insights. Join us to transform your donor engagement approach and make every contribution count.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

What is so special about nonprofit organization budgets? Nonprofits must manage and balance acquiring funding and use of limited financial resources with the added heavy responsibility that they exist to support the “public good” while being governed by volunteers. Consequently, budgets for nonprofit organizations are integral to mission delivery as well as financial health and continuity. Budgets help nonprofits use (expend) limited financial resources in a manner that not only advances mission but also recognizes capacity constraints, supports sustainability, and promotes continuity. Culture, management styles, and assigning budget responsibilities are important elements of proactive working budgeting systems and budget building processes. In this presentation we will discuss actions and tactics you can use to better connect project managers and staff with budget planning and budget building processes including adding an annual budget process assessment, engaging staff with rolling projections and looking forward, budgeting for revenue and support, special tactics for budgeting for salaries, and how decentralizing the budget building process and documenting budget assumptions is key to success.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank was at the center of the response to the horrific wildfires that struck Los Angeles County on January 7th, 2025. They immediately mobilized their team and by the end of February, they raised over $22 million with Luminate Online and Raiser’s Edge NXT in response to the fires, which is four times what they raised during the busy end of year giving season for 2024. The organization has increased its operations and program activity to respond to the impact of the wildfires, convening more than 9,000 volunteers and distributing more than 24.5 million pounds of food and products since the outbreak of the fires. During this session, we will hear from Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Chief Development Officer, Roger Castle, about their strategy to disaster response and how they relied on their Blackbaud solutions to provide a seamless user experience and allowed donors from within their community and across the country to give in support of their mission. Roger will also share their approach to managing the large influx of donor data and how they leveraged Blackbaud solutions to maintain the integrity and health of their database.

Unlock the secrets behind donor behavior with our session, "Donor Actions Decoded: A/B Testing Insights for Better Donation Forms." Dive into the world of A/B testing and discover how small changes can lead to significant improvements in donation form performance. This session will present real-world examples and data-driven insights from recent A/B tests, highlighting what works and what doesn't when it comes to engaging donors and maximizing contributions.  Learn how to design effective A/B tests, interpret results, and apply findings to optimize your donation forms. Whether you're a seasoned fundraiser or new to the field, this session will equip you with practical strategies to enhance donor experience and boost your fundraising efforts. Join us to decode donor actions and transform your donation forms into powerful tools for success.

Looking for a smarter way to monitor your key metrics? Power BI dashboards offer a dynamic, at-a-glance view of your most important data—bringing together insights from multiple reports into one interactive, streamlined display.

In this session, you’ll learn what sets dashboards apart from traditional Power BI reports, when to use them, and how they can simplify complex data into a single, actionable snapshot. We’ll walk through the process of building a dashboard from scratch and showcase a real-world example to bring it all to life.

Whether you're new to Power BI or looking to enhance your reporting strategy, this session will equip you with the tools to create dashboards that drive clarity, focus, and smarter decision-making.

Join us for a laid-back, insightful session where we’ll walk you through a student’s journey at ASHLEY HALL—starting with that first inquiry form submitted by parents when their child is just two years old, all the way through to her senior year and graduation. In Enrollment Management, we’ll cover how the parent checklist, school visits, tours, application, contracts and student billing are all managed, setting the foundation for her academic experience. Once enrolled, we’ll dive into how her class pages, schedules, and parent conferences are organized throughout her journey. But it doesn’t stop there. As she grows, we’ll show you how Blackbaud keeps up, tracking her report cards, official notes, transcripts, course registration and community group involvement, ensuring every milestone is captured. We’ll also dive into the Student Information System (SIS) side of the tool, covering important administrative features like parent forms, custom publishable fields, User/Student lists, custom roles, and how advanced lists have become essential for organizing and managing data efficiently. I'm excited to co-present with a Blackbaud representative, who’ll be on hand to explain how the platform is designed to serve and support schools like yours. Plus, we’ll highlight key integrations (think Tuition Management, August Schools, BrightArrow, CampBrain, PickAtime) that boost efficiency in our processes. Whether you’re new to Blackbaud or juggling multiple roles at your school, this presentation will offer practical tips and an easygoing conversation about how to make the most out of the tools available. Perfect for anyone looking to streamline and lighten the load!

Come engage with your Luminate Online & TeamRaiser Product Advisory Group and the Product Team to brainstorm and talk about areas that you would like to see on the roadmap in future years. Come prepared to be active and have your voice heard!

Interested in customizing your instance of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge NXT? This session will highlight the SKY Add-in options available, discuss their use cases, and show them in action!

A SKY Add-in is a custom tile or button that appears directly within your Raiser's Edge NXT interface, allowing you to extend functionality beyond what comes standard with the platform. These add-ins integrate seamlessly with your existing database, enhancing your team's efficiency without requiring users to leave the familiar Raiser's Edge environment.

This session will show three types of Add-Ins, from basic to advanced. First, a public form add-in which allows you to easily include a 3rd party form, like Google or Microsoft, that you already use and make it easily accessible from the home page of Raiser's Edge NXT. Second, a Power BI add-in which allows you to embed your Power BI reports right in Raiser's Edge NXT. Finally, Adaptive Card add-ins allow you to build your own tiles. The example to be shown is a student status update card which both speeds up the changes while reducing the chances for human error when making student status updates (think withdrawals, re-entry, and leave of absence) in Bennington College's Raiser's Edge NXT.

If you've ever struggled with which kinds of lists to use for different queries or communications, or how to get that particular field or filter for Admissions in Advanced lists, please join us for some hands-on list building that you will be able to take away with you. Explained by a non-techy person for non-techy people.

Have you heard about values-based management in Canada's non-profit sector? Do you know its likely to be the future of management? As millennials and Gen Z increasingly dominate the workforce, understanding their unique deterrents and motivators is paramount to organizational success. Join Laura Champion, Senior Manager, Donor Response Marketing and Megan Spurrell, Specialist Donor Response and Digital Marketing as they delve into the evolving nature of work for millennials and Gen Z, highlighting their vales, aspirations, and expectations from their employers. Drawing upon research and real-world examples, we uncover how these cohorts define success for themselves and for organizations beyond traditional metrics. They will spotlight the challenges and opportunities faced by leaders from privileged groups in fostering inclusive and progressive workplaces without falling into the traps of patronizing attitudes, saviourism, and tokenism. By examining strategies for genuine allyship and cultural humility, we aim to empower leaders to create environments where historically marginalized voices are not merely heard, they are listened to. Central to the discussion is the concept of intersectionality and its practical application to breakdown systemic barriers and drive measurable change. Through case studies and actionable insights, participants learn to make diversity not just a buzzword, but an imperative for positive transformation.

Mid-level donor prospects are an often poorly defined ignored transitional donor prospect group. With ever-expanding donor prospect databases, these donors appear to be giving lower than the threshold to justify warm personalized human interaction but are giving more than the masses we target for lukewarm, generalized content in direct mail. And yet, based on their giving levels they are better prospects for future major giving than our direct mail group. How do we identify the most promising prospects of this large group? How do we achieve that "balance" of personalized communication without taxing our limited human resources? We'll guide you through segmenting these donor prospects using predictive modeling scores, review what resources may already be in your budget that could be mobilized and discuss strategies for pipeline development. 

Environmental disasters are affecting our communities more frequently than ever. As grantmakers, we have the dual responsibility to keep our funding programs running while also supporting our impact areas. In this session, veteran grantmakers Audrey Kidwell from the Center of Disaster Philanthropy and Lisa Tacker, a grantmaking professional specializing in disaster response, will discuss their experiences supporting their grantees during a crisis and provide actionable steps for preparing your organization for the inevitable. Attendees will learn steps organizations can take now to keep their grantmaking processes operational when a climate event hits your community;  ways to develop community-driven approaches to ensure grant funding aligns with real-time needs;  and how to balance immediate crisis support with long-term mission alignment in disaster grantmaking.

Portal is available to all Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT customers at no extra cost. Portal reduces your workload and builds connections with your donors by empowering them to update their own profile and giving. So, why haven’t you used it? This session will unpack the mystique of Portal roll-out and arm you with a plan to start using this powerful tool with your donors.

Presto chango! With the click of a mouse (or a flick of a wand), learn how to generate defined field groupings, queries, and reports to track key fundraising initatives like membership, major giving, moves management, and more. While not quite magic, this session will show you how you can work smarter and not harder when tracking a new fundraising initative.

Learn how the folks at Brooklyn Friends School began their journey to using Mastery to assess student growth and provide quality feedback to students. Partnering with Blackbaud to talk through enhancements made to the Mastery module through the years and future enhancements to come!

In this dynamic session, discover how to maximize your small team's impact and create output that rivals organizations twice your size. We'll explore practical strategies for prioritization, workflow optimization, and leveraging the right tools to amplify your team's capabilities. Learn how nimbleness can be your superpower and walk away with actionable techniques to create the perception—and reality—of a much larger operation. Join us to transform your small but mighty team from a well-kept secret into a force that can't be ignored.

Discover how we're transforming the giving experience to make it easier for everyone involved—program administrators, employee donors, and nonprofit recipients. Join this session to hear directly from YourCause product experts about the latest updates and features, designed with your needs in mind. Plus, get inspired by a client spotlight showcasing how they’ve used CSRconnect to strengthen their programs and create meaningful outcomes. 

You’re at the heart of everything we do. Join Blackbaud Support leadership for an engaging conversation about your support experience—what’s working, what could be better, and what’s next. We’re here to listen, learn, and grow with you. Your voice helps us build a smarter, more responsive, and more empowering support experience for the future.

In today's competitive business environment, optimizing financial systems is crucial for enhancing talent retention and ensuring seamless job succession. This session will explore how fully utilizing Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT can make teams more agile and highlight how streamlined financial processes can create a more stable and attractive workplace.

By leveraging the advanced features of Financial Edge NXT, organizations can improve transparency, reduce operational costs, and allocate resources more effectively. These improvements not only foster a culture of trust and satisfaction among employees, but also enable better planning for future leadership transitions.

Attendees will gain insights into best practices for integrating financial optimization with Financial Edge NXT, learn from case studies of successful implementations, and discover actionable steps to enhance their organization's financial and talent management frameworks.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

In this session we will deep dive into a working example of how to use transaction codes to handle your endowment accounting natively within Financial Edge NXT. Transaction codes are user-defined fields that allow you to categorize, track, and analyze transactions. In addition to the above functionality, transaction codes have the added benefit of closing out to net assets, allowing you to dissect your data in new and insightful ways. Learn tips and tricks on how you can break down your net assets by categories while still rolling up into “with donor restrictions” and “without donor restrictions” at the organizational level and give you the ability to run endowment reports real time.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

Wrap up Day 2 with a high-energy evening designed to celebrate you—your impact, your accomplishments, and your community. This unforgettable event features:

• Live entertainment to keep the energy high and the vibes strong
• Networking zones by organization type, making it easy to stay connect with like-minded peers
• Interactive fun and action-packed moments to spark joy and conversation
• Opportunities to gather with friends old and new, share stories, and build lasting connections
• A chance to unwind and reflect on the incredible work you’ve done this year

Whether you're here to dance, laugh, or simply soak in the celebration, this night is all about honoring the people and purpose that drive us forward.

Discover how leading organizations are transforming their data strategies with Blackbaud CRM. In this dynamic panel discussion, experts from World Wildlife Fund and Boston Children’s Hospital share how they leverage Zuri Group’s Velocity data management engine to enhance data flows and transformation, improve internal processes and data quality management, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline operations. Packed with practical insights and real-world examples, this session will equip you with actionable strategies to elevate your own data management approach.

YourCause's Global by Design approach helps organizations craft meaningful and locally relevant experiences for employees and communities around the world. In this session, we'll dive into our global functionality and processing model, as well as share actionable insights on supporting diverse programs across different regions. You'll also hear from a client who’s leveraging YourCause to bring their worldwide initiatives to life. Join the conversation for an insightful discussion about making a difference on a worldwide scale.

We will review the process to prepare Tuition Management and Enrollment management for the upcoming school year. This will include payment plan setup, fee and discount review. We will also review setting updates, and contract build out in Enrollment management.

Building new TeamRaiser events and managing year-over-year (YoY) transitions doesn’t have to be complex! Learn how an optimized TeamRaiser template can simplify event setup, improve efficiency, and ensure consistency across campaigns. This session will walk you through key customizations, automations, and real-world success stories that demonstrate how a well-structured template can save time and reduce reliance on developers.

Join us for an informative session where we explore the seamless integration between Blackbaud Grantmaking and Financial Edge NXT. Learn how to utilize the Applicant Portal to collect payment details from grantees and effortlessly transfer this information to Financial Edge NXT. This connectivity ensures quick payments via the Payment Assistant tool. Lastly, we'll demonstrate how payment details are automatically logged back into Blackbaud Grantmaking, maintaining a thorough and effective workflow. This session is perfect for grant managers aiming to optimize payment processes, ensure precision, and increase efficiency in your financial operations. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how Blackbaud's integrated solutions can elevate your grant management process!

Joanna Gaines once said “The key to making a house feel like a home is to fill it with things you love and that tell your story.” That’s exactly what we did when we relaunched Defeat ALS Your Way on LO/TeamRaiser. We didn’t just create a DIY fundraising platform—we built a true home for supporters where their passion and ALS stories could live and thrive.

In this session we’ll take you through our 18-month journey of reimagining DIY fundraising from designing an intuitive UX and developing the right technology to crafting a strategy that truly connects with fundraisers. Learn how the right mix of UX development and storytelling can transform engagement empower participants and drive real results in the fight against ALS.

We have a wealth of data at our fingertips to benchmark organizational performance, track the health of the sector, and even pinpoint the preferences of select donor groups. The question becomes: what can I do with this data to set my organization apart from the crowd? Kate Averett Anderson, Research and Publications Lead for the Blackbaud Institute, will share a data-informed snapshot of the sector, highlighting the trends you should look to when planning your next fundraising campaign. Bringing this data to life will be creative fundraisers who have set themselves apart from the crowd to outperform the averages. This is a product agnostic session for organizations at any stage of data-savvy!

Imagine having an email series that fires up your supporters to donate on your organization's giving day. Join Allison King and Amy Matthews from Blackbaud University as they spill the secrets to making your emails pop and drive action. Learn how to plan, write, design, test, and optimize your email series for maximum impact. We’ll dive into segmenting your audience, customizing messages, and share the scoop on best practices for email copy and design to keep your brand looking sharp. Map out your email sequence and schedule, align it with your giving day strategy, and explore how to track and tweak your email metrics for better results. Don't miss out on this chance to level up your email game and boost those giving day donations!

The Prospects module is one of the most underutilized resources in Blackbaud Altru. Its comprehensive functionality and the unique needs shaped by each organization can make it a challenge. The experts of Skirball Cultural Center share their experience and expertise on how they approached and executed a prospect management operation through Altru. Attendees will get a tour of how the team identified priorities and designed a combination of business processes and database configuration to deliver true value for the organization.

We'll explore top strategies and best practices for enhancing budget processes and exceeding your organization's financial goals. Together, we'll outline an optimized budget development workflow, covering key areas such as position-based budgeting, advanced reporting, and the advantages of stakeholder collaboration through a centralized solution. As an accredited technology and service partner of Blackbaud, Zobrio has been delivering time- and cost-saving solutions for over 15 years.

In this session, Emily will cover the process by which our small decentralized scholarship office at Indiana State University awards hundreds of donor-funded scholarships each academic year. Key points include interfacing with campus partners, our best practices for communication and organization, and tips for aligning stakeholders with your awarding mission.

Converting event attendees into committed, long-term donors is a key challenge for any nonprofit. Join us for a free webinar featuring organizations that have mastered this process by leveraging Raiser's Edge NXT and Trellis.

In this session, you'll hear firsthand from nonprofit professionals who have successfully integrated these two platforms to create a seamless donor journey. They'll share their strategies and insights on how to:
•    Engage Attendees Before, During, and After an Event: Learn how to create personalized communication that keeps attendees invested in your mission long after the event is over.
•    Segment Your Audience for Smarter Fundraising: Discover how to use data from Trellis to segment attendees and tailor your follow-up appeals in Raiser's Edge NXT.
•    Automate Your Donor Conversion Funnel: See how to set up automated workflows that move attendees from one-time participants to loyal, recurring donors.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from your peers and unlock the full potential of your fundraising events.
Who should attend? This session is ideal for development directors, fundraising managers, and anyone involved in event management and donor relations.

What happens when Advancement and IT come together with a shared vision for better data? In this session, you’ll hear the story of how two departments collaborated to create a brand-new role: Director of Data and Database Management.

With limited resources and no budget for a full-time Database Manager, the team had to get creative. Through cross-departmental partnership, strategic planning, and a commitment to a data-driven future, they made it happen.

Join us to learn how this innovative approach not only filled a critical gap but also strengthened collaboration, improved data oversight, and laid the groundwork for long-term success. Whether you're facing similar constraints or simply looking to rethink your data strategy, this session will offer practical insights and inspiration.

Discover how integrating Blackbaud's Financial Edge NXT (FENXT) and Raiser's Edge NXT (RENXT) can streamline operations, improve data accuracy, and enhance organizational efficiency. This session is ideal for organizations that own either or both solutions but have not yet integrated them.

Independent schools have unique advancement database challenges—tracking multi-generational donors, managing multiple fundraising streams, and ensuring accurate event and donor engagement data. Having worked at three independent schools, I’ve seen firsthand what works, what doesn’t, and what every advancement database manager should prioritize. This session will provide practical, real-world strategies for making your database more efficient and valuable to your advancement team.

Attendees will learn how to:

• Run key Raiser’s Edge queries to track donor retention, event participation, and giving trends.
• Clean and standardize records to eliminate duplicates and improve reporting accuracy.
• Work with the communications team to create reports that support appeals and engagement efforts. With lessons drawn from different independent school environments, this session will help you streamline data processes, improve collaboration, and make your database a true fundraising tool—not just a record-keeping system.

With more than $84 trillion expected to change hands through 2045 as part of the so-called “greatest wealth transfer in history,” the topic of planned and asset-based giving is coming up more and more in discussions of long-term fundraising growth. Planned giving already accounts for roughly 7%-10% of total charitable giving in the United States, and there’s evidence that we’ve been missing out on significant untapped potential for some time. 

If you don’t yet have an intentional plan of action with explicit goals for planned giving, now is the time to craft one. This session will lay out the “101” of planned giving with key terms you must know, best practices and data-driven strategies to help fundraising teams of any size capitalize on this opportunity and grow their planned giving revenue. 

We often hear about concepts like the fundraising pyramid, donor prospecting, or the funnel approach to donor cultivation. But do these philosophical beliefs match up with reality? Join Steve MacLaughlin, senior vice president of products at GOBEL and bestselling author of Data Driven Nonprofits, as he explores if what we think we know about fundraising is really true. This session will explore some of the most common myths about fundraising and how nonprofits can adjust to the new normal in giving.

Nonprofit financial reporting is complicated. Different audiences need different information, which all needs to be regularly managed and reported. How do we prepare this information in an efficient way? And in a way that each of these audiences can understand? This session explores key principles in financial reporting design so that systems like Financial Edge can work better for you. Using a helpful metaphor, we’ll explain the different aspects of the nonprofit financial system, and then we will explore how, with the right set up, users should be able to get this information with “just a few clicks” so that our time is spent ACTING on our financial information rather than trying to find it.

This session is equal to one CPE credit.

Witness the future of attendance first-hand at BBCon 2025. Join Matt Varley, CEO of Orah for this session exploring how independent schools can begin leverage various existing and emerging technologies to streamline attendance tracking–without adding to teachers' workload. See how independent schools are already leveraging automated & integrated systems, garnering real-time insights to reduce administrative burden, enhance student safety and improve accuracy of attendance data–all while ensuring compliance and operational efficiency. In this session, we will interview 1-2 customer schools who use Orah + Blackbaud to keep track of students in real-time.

Join Blackbaud and Microsoft—alongside leaders from The Georgia Tech Foundation, Save the Children, and The University of Arizona Foundation—for a dynamic panel discussion on how AI is transforming enterprise fundraising.
Hear real-world insights from organizations driving social impact and product experts shaping the future of Blackbaud CRM and Microsoft Fabric. Learn how deep intelligence across datasets is unlocking predictive insights, streamlining workflows, and accelerating major giving.

We’ll also explore how agentic AI is powering a more agile, virtual workforce—automating tasks, coordinating complex workflows, and enabling fundraisers to focus on what matters most.

Five seasoned experts share captivating tales of their greatest crowdfunding triumphs and candidly reveal the moments when things didn't go as planned.

Effective communication is vital to successful gift processing and donor acknowledgements. However, the rapid pace of incoming donations from multiple channels, coupled with fundraisers on the go and late reports from third-party giving platforms, often leads to lost details and delayed processing. These disruptions can result in missed deadlines, increased discrepancies, and challenges in maintaining accurate data. This session will explore how Raiser’s Edge Proposals can be leveraged to create an efficient, continuous workflow for gift processing. Attendees will learn how to creatively use Proposals to communicate solicited gift information for accurate gift coding and donor acknowledgement. We will also discuss how these strategies can be applied to Raiser’s Edge NXT Opportunities to maintain data integrity and enhance fundraising efforts. By the end of this session, attendees will have actionable strategies to improve communication and workflow efficiency, enabling them to meet gift processing deadlines and reduce discrepancies.