Leaders from the Nonprofit Sector to Set Forth Recommendations for Growing Philanthropy in USA

CHARLESTON, SC – July 19, 2011 – Thirty-six of the leading U.S.-philanthropy experts, including nonprofit leaders, technology suppliers and consultants, and associations, recently gathered to discuss how the nonprofit sector can worktogether to grow the level of individual giving by Americans. TheGrowing Philanthropy Summit, held last month in Washington D.C., was sponsored by Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB) and SHartsook Companies and was hosted by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

• Videos are now available from the event at www.blackbaud.tv/nonprofit-news

“We believe it is possible to significantly grow the level of individual philanthropy in the United States,” said AdrianSargeant, professor of fundraising. “While over $290 billion dollarswas given to good causes in 2010, individual donors are no more generousnow than when data was first collected some 40 years ago. Despite theincreasing professionalization of fundraising, the rapid growth inglobal wealth in the 1990s, developments in electronic/masscommunications, and new financial mechanisms that facilitatefundraising, giving has been largely unmoved, remaining static at around2 percent.”

The Summit focused on how to grow giving by enhancing the quality of the donor experience.The next step will be to generate a series of recommendations and tosecure the assistance of key audiences, including foundations, nonprofitboards, and legislators among other groups, to actively move themforward.   

A report detailing the recommendations will be releasedin September with plans for how each idea should be implemented and themetrics that might be used to ensure both implementation and impact.

“Increasing giving beyond 2 percent of GDP will onlyhappen if we, as an industry, can entice donors to shift some of theirdiscretionary income to nonprofits,” said Marc Chardon, Blackbaud’schief executive officer. “At the Summit, we made a good start onrecommendations for building the quality ofpersonal and emotional benefits donors receive from giving throughenhanced relationships with the organizations they are supporting. Ilook forward to seeing the detailed recommendations in September andhelping further the collective goal of growing philanthropy in theUnited States.”

Initial discussions centered on the following four themes:

• Improving the quality of fundraising education and professional development
• Enhancing the quality of relationships that donors and prospective donors might have with the nonprofits they support
• Building public trust and confidence in the sector
• Identifying new forms and channels for giving with the greatest potential for growth and how this might be achieved

“The Summit provided a great dialogue for me and helpedme realize that there needs to be a much greater emphasis oncommunicating better and in using the research we have to interact withall of the diverse populations involved in growing philanthropy,” saidMargaret May Damen, event attendee and president of The Institute forWomen and Wealth. “We need to lead both the corporate and governmentsector to look at a new way to solve problems.”

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud is the leading global provider of software andservices designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, enablingthem to improve operational efficiency, build strong relationships, andraise more money to support their missions. Approximately 24,000organizations — including The American Red Cross, Cancer Research UK,Earthjustice, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Lincoln Center, TheSalvation Army, The Taft School, Tulsa Community Foundation, UrsinusCollege, the WGBH Educational Foundation, and Yale University — use oneor more Blackbaud 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.