Sessions blend philanthropy, hi-tech

On Monday, the first big day of Blackbaud’s International Conference on Philanthropy, Sarah Meltzer and Bill Hoosier walked through the Charleston Area Convention Center’s exhibit hall, looking at firms with displays aimed straight at nonprofits – the bulk with a technological bent.

The two work for the nonprofit Good Shepherd Hospice in Auburndale, Fla. Like the vast majority of firms represented at the conference, the hospice is a Blackbaud customer.

Still, while part of the reason for attending the conference was to look at the company’s accounting software, both noted that the event has other benefits.

One of them, simply, is the gathering of so many nonprofits and Blackbaud customers in one place to talk about philanthropy and technology.

“You get to talk to other participants,” Meltzer said.

“The more you talk to the more you find out about how things are done. Maybe you can tell them something.”Indeed, that is the core purpose of the event – bringing together nearly 1,000 conference attendees from around the country, not to mention more than 100 Blackbaud employees, at the second annual conference, which began Sunday and runs through Wednesday.

While the conference is aimed largely at Blackbaud customers, its purpose is broader, say both attendees and company officials.

Blackbaud employees lead many of the training sessions, but those from outside the firm lead just as many.

One of them is Boston’s Gary Pforzheimer, who led a session on planned giving Monday.

“If you come and you’re an administrator and are not familiar with the whole Blackbaud line, you could spend all day at training sessions for Blackbaud products,” said Pforzheimer, president of PG Calc Inc., which makes software to manage planned giving.

“But most of the training tracks are on philanthropy and fund-raising.”

Rachel Hutchisson, Blackbaud’s director of corporate communications, said the firm’s customers have long wanted an annual gathering, but were looking for a more general philanthropy conference, too.

The event is a blend of philanthropy and technology.

“It’s a unique blend,” said Jim Krizan, a database administrator for Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, a seminary outside of Pittsburgh. The company uses Blackbaud’s The Raiser’s Edge fund-raising software, and is planning to upgrade to the latest version.

Like Krizan, other attendees said part of the reason for their attendance was to look at Blackbaud software, either by upgrading The Raiser’s Edge or adding one of the firm’s other products.

Vicki Doyle is a database administrator for Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. Like Krizan, she was at the conference in part because the firm is considering upgrading to the latest Raiser’s Edge version.

Her coworker, development assistant Pam Norten, said she wanted to broaden her fund-raising horizons. “I’m looking at cultivating relationships on the Internet,” she said. “That’s where things are going right now.”

Not everybody at the conference is a longtime customer. Only last year, the Sun ‘n Fun Aviation Foundation – which each spring holds the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In aviation convention in Lakeland, Fla. – began using The Raiser’s Edge.

Finance Manager Jane John wanted ideas on how to use the program and what to do with it – which the organization uses primarily to organize and keep track of its more than 4,000 volunteers.

Pforzheimer said before firms like Blackbaud came along, technology often didn’t have a place in the nonprofit industry.

“They provide a critical function,” he said. “When the company got started, people used index cards to keep track of donors. This industry has stayed as technologically advanced as other industries. Charities could have fallen behind. Blackbaud has been a leader in that.”

For many of those in attendance, the conference has another benefit – the Charleston area itself. Hutchisson said the city is a big draw for the conference.

This was actually John’s second trip to Charleston. In December, she spent 10 days here, learning Blackbaud software.

The memory of that trip is a big reason she returned. “I loved every minute of it,” she said. “I can’t wait to get downtown tonight.”