Blackbaud Launches Guide Creative Focused on Nonprofit Design
June 4, 2012
Announces The Great Guide Giveaway, with grand prize of a full website redesign package
CHARLESTON, SC – May 31, 2012 – Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB) announced the launch of Guide Creative™, a full service design agency exclusively serving nonprofits that offers strategy and branding services, web design and development, mobile and social strategy, and analysis. Guide Creative offers web design and development services for organizations using both Blackbaud products, including Blackbaud NetCommunity™ and Blackbaud Sphere®, and open-source platforms, like WordPress®.
In celebration of the launch, Guide Creative is holding a contest, with prizes including free design services, ranging from branding and strategic web design, to social strategy. Nonprofits can enter at www.guidecreative.com.
“Guide Creative is focused on helping nonprofits bring their missions to life,” said Kelley Jarrett, the group’s market manager. “From developing a brand to creating an online presence, our experts guide nonprofits through the storytelling process with effective and impactful branding and design.”
The new Guide Creative team has more than 150 years of combined experience and draws from Blackbaud’s existing team of interactive designers, adding new design experts that range from former nonprofit professionals to principals of independent design firms.
Designers from Guide Creative recently worked with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International to enhance branding, donor engagement and search engine optimization (SEO). In the first quarter after going live, the organization saw immediate results from the redesign of its site and SEO consulting. $45,000 more was raised in the 1st quarter of the year compared to the year before, direct traffic went up by 45 percent, bounce rates dropped by 5 percent, average page views went up by 18 percent, and average time on the site per user increased by 26 percent. In addition, as a result of the strong style guide and SEO best practices that were delivered to Dian Fossey as part of the design cycle process, site content has remained fresh in the months following their go-live.
“The architecture they helped us create makes navigation logical and enables visitors to see the breadth of our programs,” said Elizabeth Smith, CFRE, chief development officer, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. “The designer did a brilliant job. He created a system for doing promotion of multiple campaigns throughout every level of the site that is effective and manageable.”
Free nonprofit design series Guide Creative is offering a free web seminar series, “The Guide Series: Getting Creative on Purpose,” throughout the year. Attendees of the free web seminars will learn best practices, see industry-leading tools in action and leave with tactics they can immediately use in their design.
The four-part Branding and Identity section of the series will focus on branding that captures a nonprofit’s essence and creative design that allows its identity to shine through. It features the following web seminars:
- Defining Your Brand: Strategy — Monday, June 25, 1:00 p.m. ET — Register Now
- Living Your Brand: Implementation — Tuesday, June 26, 1:00 p.m. ET — Register Now
- Communicating Your Brand: The Brand Manual — Wednesday, June 27, 1:00 p.m. ET — Register Now
- Expanding Your Brand: Milestone Logos — Thursday, June 28, 1:00 p.m. ET — Register Now
The Guide Series will continue with a Strategy and Visual design series in August, an Interactive Design and Development series in October, and an Analysis and Action series in December. Archives of the Creative Overview webinar series from April can be found online.
For more information, to enter The Great Guide Giveaway, or to register for The Guide Series: Getting Creative on Purpose, visit www.guidecreative.com.
About Blackbaud
Serving the nonprofit and education sectors for 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) combines technology and expertise to help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works with more than 27,000 customers in more than 60 countries that support higher education, healthcare, human services, arts and culture, faith, the environment, independent education, animal welfare, and other charitable causes. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud-based and on-premise software solutions, and related services for organizations of all sizes including: fundraising, eMarketing, social media, advocacy, constituent relationship management (CRM), analytics, financial management, and vertical-specific solutions. Using Blackbaud technology, these organizations raise more than $100 billion each year. Recognized as a top company by Forbes, InformationWeek, and Software Magazine and honored by Best Places to Work, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has employees throughout the US, and in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
