Blackbaud and Tickets.com Partner to Enable Nonprofits to Better Succeed

Charleston, SC, and Costa Mesa, CA (October 9, 2002) – Blackbaud, the leader in bringing technology to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, and Tickets.com, Inc.(Nasdaq: TIXX), the leading global live events ticketing solutions provider, announced today that the two firms have joined forces to integrate the critical fundraising and ticketing functions of nonprofit organizations.

More than 10,000 nonprofits, including museums, performing arts groups, zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens, operate box offices that sell tickets for entry to the organizations’ grounds or to events and concerts, in addition to collecting donations to help support their work.

Although the staffs in these two areas of the organization have different goals, they need to share data to ensure the nonprofit is maximizing constituent relationships. For example, the box office staff needs to know that the person purchasing a ticket is a major donor and should receive priority seating and special discounts. Fundraisers need to have access to data showing which prospective donors often attend events and might be interested in giving to the organization.

The technology solution developed by the two firms will allow The Raiser’s Edge®, Blackbaud’s fundraising software, and Tickets.com’s Ticketing Software to communicate. The result is a system that coordinates the critical fundraising, patron management and ticketing functions and increases the nonprofit’s ability to successfully develop key relationships.

“Tickets.com and Blackbaud together identified the needs of our nonprofit customers and created a platform to deliver critical services that will facilitate their success,” said Carl Thomas, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Tickets.com. “We are dedicated to integrating solutions, and sought out the most out the most compatible and advanced partner to deliver the most functionality to our clients in common.”

About Blackbaud, Inc.

Blackbaud is the leading provider of relationship-building software, services and Web-based solutions to the nonprofit and educational institutions worldwide. More than 12,000 organizations use Blackbaud products and services to achieve success in fundraising, financial management and education administration. Blackbaud offers three product families – The Raiser’s Edge®, The Financial Edge(tm) and Education Administration(tm), in addition to a wide range of consulting and educational services. Founded in 1981, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has offices in Glasgow, Scotland, and Sydney, Australia.
About Tickets.com
Tickets.com is a leading global live event ticketing solutions provider. The company facilitates the sale of tickets by enabling venues to sell tickets and manage ticket operations through a variety of distribution channels. Tickets.com develops private label ticketing services for live entertainment organizations with e-commerce distribution platforms. The company also distributes tickets for clients to consumers at www.tickets.com and through private label branded sites, providing tickets and information on virtually all events and entertainment organizations. Tickets.com’s automated ticketing solutions are used by thousands of entertainment organizations such as leading performing arts centers, professional sports organizations and various stadiums and arenas in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Latin America. Tickets.com is the official ticketing supplier to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games as well as the official online ticketing solutions provider for MLB.com.

For more information, please contact:

Bill Harrison
Zukerman PR
310.275.0481
[email protected]