AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 26, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly 3000 change-makers convened in Austin, Texas for bbcon 2015, Blackbaud, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:BLKB) 16th annual conference for the worldwide philanthropic community. The three-day conference runs through Wednesday, October 28.
The event kicked off with a first wave of announcements from Blackbaud President and CEO, Mike Gianoni and other company executives including:
- A new outcomes solution that connects nonprofits and funders while seamlessly measuring program impact, was unveiled to attendees by Blackbaud’s MicroEdge business. “What I’m most excited about is the potential to do something that hasn’t been done before,” said Gianoni in the morning session. “And that is to create a pathway for a data standard and common language across nonprofits and foundations; and the ability to help you grow from the collective insights of others with the ability to compare data and results across focus areas.”
- Attendees were the first to hear that Blackbaud’s highly-lauded NXT Solution Line, which became generally available this summer, had already reached nearly 1500 clients, breaking company records. “The market has clearly decided. We hear from happy clients each day who are commending the intuitive and modern user interface which runs on any device, the baked-in analytics, the security and reliability, and more,” said Gianoni.
- Gianoni also showcased an innovative new service to support viral campaigns called Givalanche™, which is coming to many of Blackbaud’s cloud solutions. Givalanche offers donors giving within the Raiser’s Edge NXT™ platform, and soon other Blackbaud cloud solutions, a creative way to leverage their social networks to challenge others to give; allowing the donor to track the value of their gift and all who gave as part of their network.
- Blackbaud’s everydayhero business and crowdfunding solution now offers a Virtual Events fundraising solution. By partnering and integrating with Connected Fitness applications such as MapMyFitness, everydayhero now makes fundraising part of the connected fitness revolution so people can not only track their personal fitness activities, but also their charitable impact as part of a fundraising event.
Gianoni also highlighted that major developments and innovation has taken place in the last 12 months in the areas of roadmap transparency, higher-velocity innovation, a modernized user experience, total integrated solutions and a new, open cloud. He signaled that some of the company’s biggest bbcon announcements would be made during Tuesday’s 9:00AM general session led by Blackbaud executives Kevin McDearis, Executive Vice President of Research, Delivery and Operations, and Mary Beth Westmoreland, Chief Technology Officer. “We’ve taken significant measures in the last 12 months to bring more modern, intelligent and leading-edge capabilities to our clients, so we’re eager to introduce them to these exciting innovations on Tuesday,” said Gianoni.
This afternoon, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Nicholas Kristof. They will also have the opportunity to attend Big Idea sessions focused on the future of fundraising and how to leverage storytelling to grow mission impact. Attendees will also have access to more than 175 breakout sessions led by Blackbaud technologists, experts, and industry practitioners throughout the conference.
New to bbcon this year is the Social Media Lounge where the talk is all about social campaigns and activating change. The lounge is open throughout the entire conference and attendees are encouraged to stop by and be a part of the #bbcon buzz, or join for one of the social media pop-up sessions led by experts Derrick Feldmann (@derrickfeldmann), Austin Graff (@austinkgraff) and Brady Josephson (@bradyjosephson).
Media interested in attending to hear the major announcements on Tuesday should contact Nicole.McGougan@Blackbaud.com. For more information, visit www.bbconference.com. Follow the conference news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bbcon or like Blackbaud on Facebook® at www.facebook.com/blackbaud
About Blackbaud
Serving the worldwide philanthropic community for more than 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ:BLKB) combines innovative software and services, and expertise to help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works in over 60 countries to power the passions of more than 30,000 clients, including nonprofits, K-12 private and higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, foundations and other charitable giving entities, and corporations. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud and on-premise solutions, as well as a resource network that empowers and connects organizations of all sizes. Blackbaud's portfolio of software and services support nonprofit fundraising and relationship management, eMarketing, advocacy, accounting, payments and analytics, as well as grant management, corporate social responsibility, and education. Using Blackbaud technology, these organizations raise, invest, manage and award more than $100 billion each year. Recognized as a top company, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks related to our dividend policy and share repurchase program, including potential limitations on our ability to grow and the possibility that we might discontinue payment of dividends; risks relating to restrictions imposed by the credit facility; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud's investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.