Blackbaud Rolls Out 70-Plus AI Innovations for Social Impact Sector
Blackbaud, a provider of AI for social impact, announced an array of new embedded AI capabilities coming to its product portfolio, along with commitments to eliminate barriers that prevent nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations from fully harnessing responsible AI— including spearheading an industry coalition to confront systemic challenges.
“Nonprofits are built for times of uncertainty, and AI is the catalyst that can help them rise to today’s greatest challenges,” said Mike Gianoni, president, CEO and vice chairman of the board of directors, Blackbaud. “But to truly unlock AI’s promise for the millions of people and organizations across the social impact sector, we need more than generic tools—we need solutions designed for their unique business operations that deliver immediate results without adding complexity. That’s why we’re embedding sector-specific AI directly into our products and backing it with resources like a free AI certification through the new AI Coalition for Social Impact, led by Blackbaud. We’re setting a new standard for what’s possible.”
Delivering Purpose-Built, Embedded AI that Expands Social Impact Teams
Blackbaud launched its new agentic AI suite, Agents for Good, to help social impact organizations expand their teams with virtual team members and achieve more, at scale. This suite of agents from Blackbaud will turn AI into active teammates that autonomously execute complex workflows and free up teams across fundraising, finance, corporate impact and more. The first Agent for Good, a Development Agent natively embedded within the trusted Blackbaud environment, will enable teams to identify and steward donors they do not have the capacity to reach today, unlocking new revenue streams at a fraction of the cost possible in the past.
Key AI enhancements coming to Blackbaud products that bring more connection, more possibility and more confidence to the table for social impact organizations include:
- Embedded Blackbaud AI capabilities across the company’s solution portfolio, from powerful agents that take the currently available AI-assisted prospect insights within Blackbaud’s flagship fundraising solution and automate follow-up steps—like creating a personal cultivation plan and drafting email messages—to AI-powered translations for custom text in the YourCause CSRconnect solution. Intuitive dashboards, streamlined workflows and in-product guidance transform the system of record into the system of intelligent action.
- Blackbaud AI will now integrate insights across business offices, enabling, for example, a fundraiser to simply chat with Blackbaud AI to draw on accounting data in order to share how a specific donor gift was spent in real-time—a level of connected insight no other platform on the market offers.
Convening the Social Impact Sector for AI Success
Realizing that harnessing the full potential of AI will require a collective commitment to build skills, grow confidence and dismantle barriers to responsible adoption, Blackbaud has convened the AI Coalition for Social Impact to lift and equip the sector as a whole. Founding members of the coalition include Blackbaud, Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose, Curtis Group, Databricks, Datacamp, Ellis Morgan Enterprises, GivingTuesday, Greater Purpose, OneTrust, Realized Worth, Responsible AI Institute and The Nonprofit Alliance.
Members of the group will collaborate on the launch of the AI for Social Impact Certification Course—a free, platform-agnostic program focused on foundational AI skills and principles tailored specifically for the social impact sector.
“At Blackbaud, we believe that responsible AI will define the leaders of this generation. That’s why we convened the AI Coalition for Social Impact, uniting with partners to champion responsible AI together and ensure the sector has the resources and knowledge needed to advance with integrity, transparency and impact,” said Carrie Cobb, chief data and AI officer, Blackbaud. “Just as cybersecurity became mission-critical in the digital era, responsible AI will determine which organizations thrive in the AI era. Fairness, transparency, inclusiveness and trust must be built into governance, training and product design from the start.”
Building for the Future
Blackbaud also announced its vision to create an agentic ecosystem where Blackbaud AI goes beyond coordinating its own intelligent agents to orchestrate agents from across the entire landscape. In this new era, users will simply ask Blackbaud AI to accomplish a goal, and it will seamlessly delegate tasks to the correct agents, whether they’re built by Blackbaud or by other providers. Blackbaud has already laid the foundation for its agentic ecosystem by dramatically expanding partner integrations across its platform. In the past year alone, Blackbaud delivered a 22% increase in connections to third-party marketplace apps, introduced seamless integrations like UBIQ for school websites and DocuSign for grantmaking, and enabled partners to build specialized applications using open SKY APIs.
“Our AI rests on years of domain expertise and a wealth of data from a variety of sources. Today, our platform generates more than 30 billion predictions annually to help customers reach the right prospects,” said Andy Snyder, senior vice president and technical fellow, Blackbaud. “Now, we’re thinking even further ahead, setting our customers up for future success by making sure the technology they implement today will be able to work seamlessly across other AI systems tomorrow. Blackbaud AI will orchestrate agents from other providers so our customers can spend their time achieving their goals, not managing agents.”
Many more exciting product announcements and customer achievements will be unveiled this week at bbcon 2025, Blackbaud’s annual technology conference for the global social impact community. Learn more and watch the keynote livestream here.
AI Coalition for Social Impact Member Quotes
“At ACCP, we are excited about the potential of AI to be a force for good in the corporate social impact field. CSR professionals often face limited capacity and growing demands, and AI can help them work smarter and faster—freeing up valuable time to focus on strategy, innovation, and driving measurable impact. By equipping practitioners with tools to harness AI effectively, this certification course will help expand their ability to create positive change within their companies and in the communities they serve.” – Andrea Wood, president and CEO, Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals
“Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) is pleased to join this important effort to advance responsible AI and data ethics in the social impact sector. At CECP, we believe in the power of collaboration to drive meaningful change, and this initiative reflects our shared commitment to equipping leaders with the skills they need to harness AI for good. We look forward to working alongside our partners to shape a future where technology serves humanity.” – Daryl Brewster, CEO, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose
“Social impact professionals often work in small teams with limited resources. This Certification allows these teams to amplify their work through the use of AI and, in doing so, create a more substantive impact on charities, nonprofits and the communities they serve.” – Brad Offman, Founder and CEO, Greater Purpose
“Nonprofits face the same need as the private sector for robust governance and AI literacy that ensure innovation drives impact responsibly. OneTrust is proud to join the AI Coalition for Social Impact and partner with Blackbaud in operationalizing their responsible AI program. By combining practical tools like generative AI and agents with accessible training and certification, Blackbaud is equipping social impact leaders with the confidence, skills, and safeguards they need to cultivate donors, personalize outreach, and ultimately deliver meaningful, responsible change.” – Rebecca Evans, Product Marketing Director – AI Governance, OneTrust
“At Realized Worth, we believe that meaningful impact happens when people are equipped with both the skills and the responsibility to act. The AI for Social Impact Certification represents a powerful step toward ensuring that technology in our sector is not just advanced, but inclusive, and transformative.” – Chris Jarvis, CSO and Co-Founder, Realized Worth
“I am thrilled to join the AI Coalition for Social Impact. This is a timely new initiative, and I welcome the opportunity to share The Nonprofit Alliance’s perspective and demonstrated commitment to the issue of responsible use of AI in the nonprofit sector.” – Ann Hollingsworth, VP for Government Affairs, The Nonprofit Alliance (TNPA)
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
