Nine Startups Join Blackbaud's Tech Accelerator Program for Social Impact Solutions

Rhea-AI Summary

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) has announced nine new participants in its Social Good Startup Program, a tech accelerator supporting early-stage software companies focused on social impact solutions. The January 2025 cohort includes startups developing innovative technologies for nonprofits and socially responsible companies.

The selected companies are: Altruify (philanthropy management marketplace), Boost My School (K-12 school fundraising platform), Collective (mobile platform for local causes), Connect To Give (educational institution fundraising), Daffodil (donor-advised funds network), KarmaSuite (nonprofit finance management), Mentor Spaces (career mentorship platform), Pledge (AI-powered charitable giving), and Revere Software (corporate volunteering platform).

Positive

• Program expansion with 9 new innovative startups strengthens Blackbaud's product ecosystem
• Integration opportunities with Blackbaud products enhance value proposition for customers
• Strategic focus on underrepresented founders in technology industry

Negative

• None.

Insights

Market Research Analyst

The addition of nine startups to Blackbaud's tech accelerator program represents a strategic move to expand its ecosystem and strengthen its market position in the social impact software sector. The selected startups focus on critical areas like donor-advised funds, corporate volunteering and AI-powered giving platforms - all representing growing segments within the $103 billion philanthropic technology market.

Notable among the cohort is Pledge, which has already facilitated over $150 million in donations across 50,000+ charities, demonstrating proven market traction. The program's focus on integrating these solutions with Blackbaud's existing products could create valuable cross-selling opportunities and enhance customer retention through a more comprehensive offering.

However, this initiative primarily represents a long-term strategic investment in ecosystem development rather than an immediate revenue driver. While the program may yield future partnerships or acquisition targets, its near-term financial impact on Blackbaud's $3.8 billion market cap is likely to be minimal.

Tech Expert

From a technical perspective, the selected startups showcase innovative applications of emerging technologies in the social impact space. Altruify's patented "Donate-Through-Data" technology represents a novel approach to monetizing digital interactions for charitable purposes, while KarmaSuite's focus on automating complex grant management addresses a significant pain point in nonprofit operations.

The cohort demonstrates a strong emphasis on API integration capabilities and modern architecture patterns, which aligns well with Blackbaud's platform strategy. The inclusion of AI-powered solutions like Pledge and data-driven platforms like Connect To Give indicates a push toward more sophisticated, automated philanthropic tools that could help modernize the sector.

Industry Specialist

The program reflects broader industry trends in social impact technology, particularly the growing demand for specialized solutions in areas like donor-advised funds (Daffodil) and skills-based volunteering (Revere Software). The focus on underrepresented founders aligns with increasing emphasis on diversity in tech and could provide Blackbaud with early access to innovative solutions targeting underserved market segments.

While the accelerator program enhances Blackbaud's position as an industry leader and innovation facilitator, it's primarily a strategic initiative rather than a material business event. The program's success will depend on how effectively these startups can integrate with Blackbaud's ecosystem and deliver value to its customer base.

Startups in the January 2025 Cohort of the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program are Bringing Cutting Edge Technology to the Social Impact Sector

CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software for powering social impact, today announced the newest cohort of participants in its Social Good Startup Program. The program is a tech accelerator designed to support early-stage software companies focused on solving problems that matter to the social impact community.

With nine new participants, the program continues to support startups focused on developing solutions to maximize impact for nonprofits and companies focused on social responsibility, and supports founders from backgrounds typically underrepresented in the technology industry.

"Blackbaud's Social Good Startup Program is a unique initiative that allows startups to showcase their innovative solutions while integrating with Blackbaud products, enhancing value for our customers," said Jerry Needel, Chief of Product Innovation, Blackbaud. "Through this program, we've successfully launched several leading solutions and we're excited to continue fueling social impact with these nine new participants."

The startups in the January 2025 cohort include:

• Altruify, a comprehensive philanthropy management digital marketplace, where all types of philanthropic participants including charitable donors, volunteers, corporations, foundations, DAFs and nonprofits can come together to collaborate and conduct their altruistic activities. Altruify's patented "Donate-Through-Data" technology allows charitable donors to monetize their interactions with potentially any digital device or app to make charitable donations and gain incentives such as donation matches and other rewards for their digital activities.
• Boost My School, a fundraising platform built specifically for K-12 schools. Founded in 2019, Boost My School now serves the unique needs of more than 150 advancement teams across the United States, helping schools transform their donor experience with engaging fundraising pages and modern payment options for giving, events, auctions and more.
• Collective, a mobile platform bridging the gap between mission-driven organizations and their neighbors. The platform helps people discover and connect with local causes making an impact in their community. Organizations share their stories, build lasting relationships, and grow through membership programs that turn supporters into sustained partners.
• Connect To Give's comprehensive suite of solutions is designed to secure transformational multi-year contributions from high-yield giving circles to sustain educational institutions. With an unparalleled integration of data-driven intelligence and community creation, Connect to Give precisely identifies qualified leads, uncovers relational affinity, and accelerates trusted peer-to-peer solicitations while helping institutional advancement professionals reduce tasks and save money.
• Daffodil, whose network unlocks donor-advised funds by matchmaking donors with great nonprofits. Daffodil aims to transform charitable giving by making it more accountable and rewarding. By combining technology and philanthropic expertise, they create incentives that recognize and amplify meaningful change.
• KarmaSuite, which helps nonprofit finance teams manage complexity that comes with restricted grants. Esoteric grant agreements, complex restrictions, manual allocations, and custom reporting requirements among others result in endless spreadsheets and manual work. With KarmaSuite, nonprofits can confidently shift their attention to their core mission, assured that their financial foundation is robust and perfectly aligned for their impact journey.
• Mentor Spaces, a software platform that helps corporate, university and nonprofit impact leaders launch or scale career mentorship programs that help underserved learners discover in-demand career pathways. By integrating with corporate volunteer programs, employees develop as leaders while supporting emerging professionals. Nonprofits and universities have the opportunity to unlock more than $1B in corporate volunteer grants to ensure programmatic sustainability.
• Pledge democratizes charitable giving through AI-powered products, free fundraising pages, and features like text-to-donate and cryptocurrency support. Named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, Pledge has facilitated over $150,000,000 in donations for more than 50,000 charities in 100+ countries and empowers nonprofits, businesses and individuals to amplify social impact and drive meaningful change globally.
• Revere Software, which is a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) platform for private-labeled corporate employee skills-based volunteering programs. It empowers nonprofit organizations, university students, and purpose-driven startups worldwide to engage with employee subject-matter experts for impactful pro bono mentoring and collaborative team projects.

"Through Blackbaud's Social Good Startup Program, we're able to offer our customers an opportunity to experiment with the newest products and solutions available, giving them even more ways to fuel their impact and achieve their goals," said Lizzie Schaffer, general manager, Social Good Startup Program, Blackbaud. "We are so excited to welcome these nine innovative startups in the social impact technology into the January 2025 cohort."

About the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program
Blackbaud recently celebrated five years of the Social Good Startup Program. Since the launch of the first cohort in January 2020, Blackbaud has supported a total of 77 startups through nine prior cohorts, with these organizations collectively raising upwards of $220 million in funding and contributing 30+ new solutions to the Blackbaud Marketplace. While the average success rate for tech startups is less than 50%, and most startups face a 65% failure rate within 10 years, the Blackbaud Social Good Startup program has seen an impressive 92% success rate, with 71 of the 77 startups still operating today.

Program participants receive curated access to Blackbaud resources, marketing opportunities and nondilutive grant funding, and Blackbaud works with startup founders to design a unique plan for each company that addresses their goals for growth. Participants have published multiple Blackbaud product integrations, collaborated with other Blackbaud ISV partners, participated in Blackbaud events and engaged in targeted discovery with Blackbaud customers to get product feedback and implement changes to best suit customer needs.

Founders will be invited to participate in the annual Blackbaud Social Good Startup Showcase later this year, where they can pitch their ideas to Blackbaud leaders for a chance to create networking opportunities and win prizes. Startups in this year's cohorts will also be invited to Blackbaud's annual tech conference happening in Philadelphia, October 6-8, and the winners of the 2025 showcase will be in attendance as well.

Blackbaud accepts applications for the Social Good Startup Program on a rolling basis. For consideration in the July 2025 or other future cohorts, learn more and apply here.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud's essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud's solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organizations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies, Quartz's list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes' list of America's Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media Inquiries
media@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, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. 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 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.

 

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SOURCE Blackbaud

FAQ

What are the 9 startups joining Blackbaud's (BLKB) Social Good Startup Program in January 2025?

The startups are Altruify, Boost My School, Collective, Connect To Give, Daffodil, KarmaSuite, Mentor Spaces, Pledge, and Revere Software, each focusing on different aspects of social impact technology.

How does Blackbaud's (BLKB) Social Good Startup Program benefit its customers?

The program allows Blackbaud customers to experiment with new products and solutions while enabling startups to integrate with Blackbaud products, enhancing overall value for customers.

What is the focus of Blackbaud's (BLKB) tech accelerator program launched in January 2025?

The program focuses on supporting early-stage software companies developing solutions for nonprofits and socially responsible companies, with emphasis on founders from underrepresented backgrounds in technology.

How much in donations has Pledge, one of BLKB's accelerator startups, facilitated globally?

Pledge has facilitated over $150,000,000 in donations for more than 50,000 charities across 100+ countries.