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Blackbaud’s Rachel Hutchisson Speaks on the Future of Giving and Philanthropy at Social Innovation Summit 2020
Charleston, S.C. (July 23, 2020) — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, recently took to the mainstage of Social Innovation Summit 2020 as a featured sponsor of the all-virtual event. With an audience of 6,000 leaders and innovators across 75 countries, Blackbaud’s Rachel Hutchisson, vice president of corporate citizenship and philanthropy, shared insights into the future of giving and philanthropy during her mainstage presentation on day three of the Summit.
Blackbaud’s vision is to power an Ecosystem of Good® that builds a better world. During her presentation, Hutchisson shared, “Working at the intersection of all this good teaches us a lot…It reminds us, first of all, that even in this time of multiple social and economic crises, we are surrounded by so much good.”
Hutchisson emphasized the resiliency of giving, even during times of uncertainty. Giving in the U.S. over the past 40 years has consistently increased year over year with an average $7 billion annual increase in giving.
Moreover, people who are engaged are generous, even during an election year. Looking at 400,000 political donors who gave over $800 million to this year’s political campaigns revealed that they also gave more than that amount to other causes. Additionally, Hutchisson points out that generosity continues to beget generosity. In difficult economic times, the number of donor households decreases. However, data from the Great Recession, which began in December 2007 and lasted 19 months, revealed that those who could continue to give actually gave 40% more during those difficult times.
Hutchisson noted, “Companies are creating and sustaining this Ecosystem of Good, and it’s important to remember that companies are made up of people who want to be engaged. These employees are giving to COVID-related campaigns at a rate of 15 times the normal rate of giving.”
“Generosity is flowing,” Hutchisson concluded. “And when I look to the future, I’m hopeful this will continue. I’m reassured and reminded that there’s a spirit that flows through the Ecosystem of Good. And that spirit is generosity.”
Watch Hutchisson’s full presentation here and learn more about corporate social responsibility at Blackbaud here.
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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