Blackbaud Newsroom
Blackbaud Hosts Groundbreaking First Virtual Innovation Marathon
Blackbaud’s 48-hour ‘Off the Grid’ event sees record number of participants from across the company and the world generating cutting-edge ideas
Charleston, S.C. (August 14, 2020) — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announces the results of its 48-hour innovation marathon, Off the Grid, which was held virtually for all global employees. Off the Grid is Blackbaud’s annual innovation marathon in which Blackbaud employees step outside of their day-to-day roles for 48 hours to innovate on creative new solutions to solve problems in the social good community.
This year’s Off the Grid welcomed over 400 participants from nine countries across Blackbaud departments, job profiles and time zones. Several Blackbaud customers also participated in Off the Grid – offering ideas and joining in the ideation. The event generated 72 new project ideas, many of which will be explored for future solution development for Blackbaud customers.
For the first time, this year’s event included an opportunity for the children of Blackbaud employees to explore STEM projects and participate in Blackbaud’s virtual science fair alongside their parents. Nearly 100 kids participated, working on projects from DIY science experiments to coding. Elementary school-aged children were supplied Innovation Force Kits from the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which introduced them to famous inventors and inventions while encouraging them to innovate on what they might design and invent themselves.
Highlights of innovative ideas from this year’s Off the Grid include:
- An app designed to track and share volunteering, donations and other forms of philanthropy with family and friends.
- A consumer facing video live stream and archive capabilities that seamlessly integrate with current Blackbaud solutions, enabling Blackbaud Church Management™ customers to increase engagement and outreach.
- A 360-degree panoramic immersive and interactive experience that places the user in the shoes of a beneficiary to better understand their needs and encourage others to donate or fundraise for items that will make a real difference to their lives.
Blackbaud has been hosting Off the Grid for its employees since 2012. During this innovation-infused event, employees work in teams of their choosing that span departments, locations and time zones across the globe and present their work to their colleagues, Blackbaud’s global management teams and Blackbaud customers. Past projects span topics such as dynamic ticket pricing for events, donation giving tied back to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Internet of Things. Innovations that have resulted from Off the Grid include a smart water monitoring solution to improve access and availability of safe water globally and the “Blackbaud Live” app that enables the user to broadcast live from fundraising events using custom overlays and streamlined donations.
For more information about tech innovations at Blackbaud, visit Blackbaud.com/solutions/our-cloud-solutions.
About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
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