Blackbaud Announces CRM Tech Platform for Nonprofits

Blackbaud, Inc.'s CEO Marc Chardon has announced that the company has released its technology platform, code-named Infinity, along with two new products for nonprofits' information management.

Released to selected customers in March, Blackbaud Direct Marketing, formerly code-named "Bullseye," and Blackbaud Enterprise CRM, formerly code-named "Galileo" are billed by company officials as combining "the strength of the company's knowledge of the nonprofit sector with its technology platform."

Blackbaud has been selling products to the nonprofit IT market for about twenty-five years. "For the past two years," Chardon said, "Blackbaud's development team has been designing and building a technology platform that will not only support this new breed of enterprise-level products but will also enhance the performance of existing products."

The new platform includes scalability, standards-based technology and what company officials say are "new levels in IT security."

"The unveiling of Blackbaud Enterprise CRM and Blackbaud Direct Marketing marks a milestone," Chardon said, noting that the move "extends our capability to support the current needs and future growth of the largest nonprofit organizations throughout the world."

Blackbaud Enterprise CRM is a suite of products that makes up a centralized system of record for all interactions and is designed to provide a 360 degree view of the constituent, which can be seen by all of a nonprofit's organizational elements.

Blackbaud Direct Marketing, which ties in to the company's Raiser's Edge product, and which can be used as a part of Blackbaud Enterprise CRM, helps nonprofits manage complex, multi-channel direct marketing campaigns, from list segmentations to reporting.

Among early adopters of the new offerings include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), two large state university organizations, and a major healthcare system.

Blackbaud has been focusing recently on an increasing number of international schools for sales, selling them products "to help them better manage their school administration, fundraising, Web site, and finances," company officials said in April.

International schools including The American School in Japan, International School of Tanganyika in Tanzania, The International School of Macao in China, The American School Foundation-Mexico City, and the Woodstock School in India each use components of the comprehensive school administration products.

Blackbaud’s Total School Solution is marketed as letting schools reduce staff time spent on administrative tasks, streamline student billing, speed collections, and automate and simplify the admissions process and class scheduling, as well as improve data efficiency, ensuring the consistent collection and update of information across all school offices.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) Net.  For more articles please visit David Sims' columnist page.

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