Blackbaud Speeds the Pace of Giving with Apple Pay

CHARLESTON, S.C., Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world's leading cloud software company powering social good, announced today it has added Apple Pay® to Blackbaud Merchant Services™ so its nonprofit customers can offer donors an easy, secure and private option for digital checkout, just in time for holiday giving. 

This news comes in conjunction with Apple's announcement that Apple Pay now supports charitable donations, and now Blackbaud has made Apple Pay available as part of its integrated digital payments solution, which already services tens of millions of users for charitable giving. 

Blackbaud Merchant Services is an end-to-end payment processing solution designed exclusively for nonprofits. The addition of Apple Pay as a new checkout option within Blackbaud's solution allows nonprofits to offer their donors an easy and secure way to pay -- all within the secure, simple and affordable donation processing system they have come to rely on from Blackbaud. 

"At Blackbaud, we're innovating to power every moment that helps nonprofits better understand and engage supporters," said Kevin McDearis, chief products officer at Blackbaud. "This also means building solutions that create frictionless, integrated and secure experiences across devices and platforms to support the work of philanthropy—from cultivation, to fundraising, donation processing and more. Integrating Apple Pay into our digital payments solution is a great example of how we're working to help nonprofits provide their donors with a modern, agile checkout experience that mirrors the convenience and mobility they enjoy as consumers." 

Many well-known charities using Blackbaud Merchant Services are already live today with Apple Pay, including American Heart Association, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), Feeding America, The Nature Conservancy, WNET and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 

"Donor behavior is constantly changing and we want to be able to quickly respond to those changes. Apple Pay lets Feeding America offer our donors a checkout experience that is as easy and fast as the best e-commerce experiences," said Liz Nielsen, senior vice president of Direct Marketing & Digital Engagement at Feeding America. "It is critical that we stay on the front-end of mobile technology if we want to continue to grow support for Feeding America and ultimately get more food to more people facing hunger in our country."

Nonprofits have signaled that offering Apple Pay as an option for donors will increase conversion rates from mobile and website visitors, simplify the donation process and reduce the information required for donors to give; potentially even increasing donation frequency as a result. 

"We are excited to be among the first nonprofit organizations to offer the ability to donate with Apple Pay," said Michael Osso, president and CEO of Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. "CCFA has always been on the forefront of technology to ensure a smooth donor experience. Offering fast and convenient technology that enhances our ability to raise crucial funds, especially during the end-of-year giving season, will help us deliver on our mission to improve the lives of patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis."

David Glass, senior director of online marketing for World Wildlife Fund added, "Giving donors new and simple ways to contribute to World Wildlife Fund's mission to protect the future of nature is critical to our work."

Apple Pay is available today for organizations using Blackbaud Merchant Services to process donations in Luminate Online™. In 2017, Blackbaud will expand Apple Pay functionality across the portfolio.

For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com/apple-pay.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world's leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, foundations, corporations, education institutions, and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through software, services, expertise, and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and relationship management, digital marketing, advocacy, accounting, payments, analytics, school management, grant management, corporate social responsibility, and volunteerism. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

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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; risks associated with the timing and integration of product features and capabilities; 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.

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