Blackbaud to Highlight Museum Management Software, Announce Partnership with Leading Fundraising Firm, and Lead Panels at 2011 AAM

CHARLESTON, SC – May 18, 2011 – Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB) today announced its participation at the American Association of Museums Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo (2011 AAM)in Houston from May 22-25. This annual event is the largest gatheringfor AAM members.  AAM includes over 15,000 museum professionals and3,000 institutions, such as aquariums, zoos, historic sites, and scienceand technology centers.  

Altru release: unified museum management
With over 4,500 museum professionals expected to attend, this year’sconference presents an ideal opportunity for Blackbaud to spotlightAltru, its unified museum management solution.  Altru is a web-based solution for managing every aspect of ageneral admissions arts and cultural organization, includingcultivating supporters, scheduling events, and managing earned andcontributed revenue. It was launched at last year’s AAM Conference.

“The theme for this year’s conference is ‘The Museum of Tomorrow,’ withall events, sessions, exhibits, and workshops geared to preparing ourmembers for the global, economic, and technological challenges of thefuture,” said Ford W. Bell, president of the American Association ofMuseums.  “Blackbaud is a natural fit for this mission since the companyprovides solutions that enable AAM members to manage their operations,patron relationships, and communications efficiently.”   

Partnership with Leading Consulting Firm
Blackbaud is also announcing its intent to form a new partnership withone of the country’s top arts and cultural fundraising/consulting firms, Alexander Haas,headquartered in Atlanta. Through this partnership, Blackbaud willmarket fundraising best practices recommendations from Alexander Haas asa companion offering to Blackbaud’s Altru software.  Dashboards of keymetrics will be configured within Altru to track fundraising progress.  Other services Altru customers will receive from Alexander Haas throughthis partnership include: assessment of current processes andprocedures, examination of selected materials and reports to assesstrends, recordkeeping, and an annual re-assessment to gauge progress andlook for additional enhancements.

“We’re excited to combine Alexander Haas’ unsurpassed arts and culturalfundraising expertise, best practices in constituent relations, andfundraising assessment with our comprehensive technology suite for artsand cultural organizations,” said Jay Odell, Blackbaud’s vice presidentand general manager of Altru.

Among its promotional activities at AAM, Blackbaud will sponsor theAltru Cyber Café, the only hot spot in the exhibit hall offeringvisitors free Wi-Fi, handheld device charging stations, socialnetworking, as well as video presentations of Altru.

AAM Panels
Melissa Baffa, Executive Director of Gull Wings Children’s Museum, willbe on hand at the Blackbaud Exhibitor Forum, Monday, May 23, 2011 from2:00-3:15pm to discuss how her museum benefits from using Altru. Baffawill also join Blackbaud’s Michael Culler for a special event: “CareerCafé Organizational Skills Lab: The Value of Sharing Data across yourMuseum,” on Tuesday, May 24, from 3:45-5:00pm. They will providepractical advice on how museum departments can eliminate redundant dataentry by sharing Altru’s searchable, relational database.

Blackbaud Product Manager Kathryn Matthew will chair a sessionentitled, “Collaborations with Museums in the Middle East,” a paneldiscussion about how cross-cultural partnerships between museums aroundthe world can help the industry stay relevant and vital. 

Blackbaud will also sponsor AAM’s Development and Marketing annual luncheon on Tuesday, May 24, from 12:15-2:00pm. 

Built for the future
“We’re extremely pleased to participate in this year’s AAM Conference,and we have a great story to tell about how Altru can enable arts andcultural organizations to meet their organizational mission andoperational objectives,” said Odell.  “While Altru is new to thismarketplace, we’re confident that it is a platform that arts andcultural organizations will be able to build on well into the future.” 

Blackbaud recently partnered with AAM, Association of Children’sMuseums, and American Public Gardens Association to offer exclusivediscounts on Blackbaud Altru to their members.   

For more information about Blackbaud and its products and services visit: http://www.blackbaud.com.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud is the leading global provider of software and servicesdesigned specifically for nonprofit organizations, enabling them toimprove operational efficiency, build strong relationships, and raisemore money to support their missions. Approximately 24,000 organizations— including The American Red Cross, Cancer Research UK, Earthjustice,International Fund for Animal Welfare, Lincoln Center, The SalvationArmy, The Taft School, Tulsa Community Foundation, Ursinus College, theWGBH Educational Foundation, and Yale University — use one or moreBlackbaud products and services for fundraising, constituentrelationship management, financial management, website management,direct marketing, education administration, ticketing, businessintelligence, prospect research, consulting, and analytics. Since 1981,Blackbaud’s sole focus and expertise has been partnering with nonprofitsand providing them the solutions they need to make a difference intheir local communities and worldwide. Headquartered in the UnitedStates, Blackbaud also has operations in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong,the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com