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Business Profile
The Blackbaud Fund: Since 1997, $215,000 in grants have been given to 37 nonprofit organizations, including Windwood Farm and the Children’s Garden Project.
Volunteer for Vacation: Since 2002, employees have donated more than 18,000 hours to various nonprofits. In return, employees earned 1,125 additional vacation days.
Reward Your Passion: This year, 80 nonprofits will receive grants of $500 each.
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Blackbaud, Inc.
Rewarding employees who give back
Few corporations are as close to the world-changing power of philanthropy as Daniel Island-based software company Black-baud, Inc. Their main program, The Raiser’s Edge®, manages fundraising and development for nonprofit organizations, so it’s a natural fit for employees to be close to the nonprofit community. “Our company believes that service to others makes the world a better place,” says CEO Marc Chardon. And since 1,110 of 1,700 Blackbaud employees are here in Charleston, most of that service takes place in this community and is driven by those very staff members.
Blackbaud has established several philanthropic programs, including The Blackbaud Fund at the Coastal Community Foundation, Volunteer for Vacation, and Reward Your Passion. The fund, which recently surpassed $1 million, is distributed by a committee that evaluates proposals, makes site visits, and determines the grant amounts. “The members of the committee come from all divisions of the company,” says Rachel Hutchisson, director of corporate relations and philanthropy. “Our executives have always felt strongly that this should be an employee-led effort.”
Volunteers for Vacation offers additional time off to employees who give personal time to the community. Ashley Anderson, recruiting leader and four-year employee, works regularly with Big Brothers Big Sisters. “I’ve been volunteering for two years now and have found it to be more rewarding than I ever could have imagined,” she says.
Reward Your Passion awards grants to nonprofits, thanks to the employees who apply on their behalf. Caroline Benton, a customer support analyst, has a particularly close tie to her nonprofit, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “CFF’s motto is ‘Money buys science, and science buys life.’ This gift will directly improve my five-year-old’s life expectancy and quality of life, and it will also benefit the 30,000 other Americans with this devastating disease,” says Benton. She won the grant as recognition for her work with CFF, which includes leading a walk team and raising $11,000, planning and speaking at special events, and even helping a 16-year-old cystic fibrosis patient raise money for a future liver transplant.
From wildlife grants to education support, Blackbaud understands that people and money are the center of philanthropy and knows how to put them together, giving back at award-winning levels in Charleston and beyond.
—Molly Goodwin |
