March of Dimes launches Bikers for Babies site providing 35,000
riders with online fundraising tools
CHARLESTON, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2012--
Blackbaud, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLKB)
today announced that leading nonprofit organizations are using Blackbaud Friends
Asking Friends® as their fundraising
event management solution to expand their online peer-to-peer
fundraising programs. These organizations include: March of Dimes, The
Arthritis Society Canada, The National Down Syndrome Society, and Rodman
Ride for Kids. In addition, on a recent Blackbaud web seminar,
organizers of the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk shared that
continued success with Friends Asking Friends has resulted in a 19
percent increase in year over year online fundraising.
“We are pleased to partner with these leading organizations, four of
which have events included in this year’s Run Walk Ride 30, to provide
them the event fundraising solution they need to reach their goals,”
said Mark Davis, Blackbaud’s director of enterprise Internet solutions.
“Our goal is to provide organizations with the tools their supporters
use on a daily basis. Friends Asking Friends enables online, mobile, and
social giving, making it easy for participants and donors to interact
where they spend the most time—including donating right from their
smartphones.”
Blackbaud Friends Asking Friends, delivered through the Blackbaud
Sphere® platform, helps more than 800 nonprofit
organizations more effectively manage their event fundraising campaigns.
Forty-five million nonprofit supporters have used Friends Asking Friends
event fundraising tools supporting over 38,000 individual fundraising
events. Participants using Friends Asking Friends raise six times more
than non-users largely thanks to their ability to extend their
fundraising efforts through a multi-channel approach including mail,
mobile, web, email, and social media. A recent Blackbaud
study showed that participants using social media tools built into
Friends Asking Friends increased their fundraising success 40 percent
from the previous year.
March of Dimes, which advocates for stronger, healthier babies through
the prevention of premature births, birth defects, and infant mortality,
originally selected Blackbaud
CRM® in January 2011 and recently added Friends Asking
Friends to manage its Bikers
for Babies event. In 2010, Bikers for Babies raised about $2
million, primarily through registration fees and corporate
sponsorship. In 2011, more than 35,000 people participated in 35 rides
across the country. The March of Dimes looked to increase revenue by
adding a peer-to-peer fundraising component to the event.
“Blackbaud is uniquely positioned to support our global fundraising
efforts through both traditional and online means,” said Carolyn
Pizzuto, March of Dimes vice president of revenue management. “Blackbaud
Friends Asking Friends and the CRM software go hand in hand in enabling
us to meet and exceed our fundraising goals. By running our Bikers for
Babies events on Friends Asking Friends, we are able to leverage the
viral power of online fundraising, enabling our riders to reach out to
their individual personal networks, improving participation.”
Since 2002, American
Heart Association (AHA) has used Friends Asking Friends to fundraise
for its annual Heart Walk program. In 2010, Blackbaud partnered with AHA
to design and launch a new
Heart Walk national website, helping to increase online participant
registration by nearly 80,000 in less than two years. Heart Walk online
participants use Friends Asking Friends as a single place to manage
their online solicitations using email, mobile, Facebook and Twitter, as
well as their “offline” checks and cash. While online donations continue
to increase for the program, AHA has been able to maintain success in
offline giving as well.
During November’s Blackbaud
Events Boot Camp, Jodie Kolkowski, AHA’s national director of
digital strategy, said that online continues to be the organization’s
largest growth opportunity. “As we continue to partner with Blackbaud
and invest in our online Heart Walk strategy, we also want to make sure
we’re maintaining our offline giving,” she said. “Programs like Heart
Walk began in offices and neighborhoods, and we encourage our
participants to take a multi-channel approach to their fundraising by
communicating with potential donors for fundraising the same way they
communicate with them every day.
“It is important for our tools to support their team building
activities, everyday interactions and extend their donor reach online
with the social media, email, and mobile giving tools available within
Friends Asking Friends.”
The Rodman
Ride for Kids, an umbrella matching gift charity raising funds for
youth-focused social service agencies that support at-risk kids in
Massachusetts, will once again use Friends Asking Friends for its 2012
ride. “Since using Friends Asking Friends, our event participation and
revenue has experienced tremendous annual growth,” said Tracey Goulet,
the organization’s executive director. “I’m proud to share that in 2011,
our fundraising increased by nearly $1 million compared to 2010. We’re
looking forward to 2012 and feel Friends Asking Friends is the best
solution in the marketplace to support our continued growth.”
Visit Blackbaud’s new event fundraising resource page featuring
research, the Friends
Asking Amy event fundraising blog, case studies and white papers
designed to help nonprofits become more successful event fundraisers at www.blackbaud.com/rwr.
For more information on Blackbaud’s event fundraising solutions, visit www.blackbaud.com/faf.
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 25,000 customers
in over 60 countries that support higher education, healthcare, human
services, arts and culture, faith, the environment, independent K-12
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. 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.
Source: Blackbaud, Inc.
Blackbaud, Inc.
Melanie Mathos, 843-216-6200 x3307
media@blackbaud.com