Blackbaud is observing an accelerated embrace of artificial intelligence across the nonprofit sector, according to President and CEO Mike Gianoni, who told Investing.com that the technology is already driving greater customer investment and broadening the firm's strategic advantages.
Gianoni described a persistent staffing imbalance in fundraising operations, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicating that more than 10,000 fundraising positions need to be filled each year. He also referenced a 2023 National Council of Nonprofits survey documenting widespread vacancies in public-facing roles.
"AI can help these very stretched fundraisers to extend their reach and reduce the burden of repetitive, time‑intensive work," Gianoni said. He added that, at minimum, AI will shorten the technology learning curve by letting users interact with systems in natural language, but it will also enable productivity gains beyond that baseline.
As part of its product roadmap, Blackbaud has launched Agents for Good, a suite of autonomous AI tools that includes a Development Agent designed to analyze donor data, rank prospects and carry out multistep outreach sequences. Gianoni expects these capabilities to free fundraisers from routine tasks so they can concentrate on deepening relationships with high-value supporters.
Gianoni noted that annual charitable giving in the United States remains resilient, with charitable contributions nearing $600 billion and corporate giving reported at record levels. He observed, however, that large nonprofits are continuing to outperform smaller organizations, making targeted, AI-driven donor identification and engagement increasingly critical.
A central pillar of Blackbaud's competitive argument is its proprietary philanthropic dataset, which Gianoni said is not accessible to public large language models offered by companies such as Microsoft or Salesforce. He emphasized that AI's effectiveness depends on the quality and scope of the data it can access and the contextual understanding it has within the operating environment.
"Our data brings together licensed consumer insights, proprietary philanthropic intelligence, outcomes benchmarks, high‑performer usage patterns, real‑time feedback signals, and ecosystem intelligence," Gianoni said.
He added that this information is not publicly available on the open internet for LLMs to draw on, and that Blackbaud's aggregated data gives clients "a uniquely comprehensive view of the trends, risks, opportunities, and behavioral dynamics shaping generosity and social impact."
Blackbaud's data also supports forecasting systems that generate roughly 30 billion predictions each year, supplying donor insights and recommendations across fundraising, education and corporate social responsibility programs.
Gianoni highlighted that AI is assisting organizations both in discovering new donors and in improving staff efficiency when reaching existing supporters. He pointed to the company's flagship fundraising product, Raiser’s Edge NXT, which the CEO described as the most powerful tool in its market and said helps customers achieve a 44% average increase in total dollars raised.
"With AI embedded directly in the product, we’re helping nonprofits accomplish several things at once," he said, noting that users of AI-enabled offerings like Raiser’s Edge NXT attribute gains to better donor identification and operational efficiency.
Looking ahead, Gianoni stressed that donor sentiment this year is likely to hinge on transparency and clearer communication about impact. He said the sector is witnessing "more dollars being given by fewer donors," a pattern he characterized as resilient but selective generosity. As a result, cultivating a broad base of donors and engaging everyday contributors will be critical, and trust will remain the underpinning of that effort.
Finally, Gianoni said Blackbaud plans to expand its AI capabilities within an open ecosystem approach and pointed to partnerships such as its integration with Anthropic as part of that strategy.