Disability Charity Wins Blackbaud Challenge

An Australian charity has received a $10,000 donation to “power the passions of people with disabilities” as part of a global online competition.

Disability Not for Profit Sylvanvale has won the Blackbaud $10K Challenge for the Asia Pacific region, an online competition hosted by global cloud software company Blackbaud.

The Sydney-based charity was presented with the prize for their Making Passions Come to Life submission, which told a touching story about the impact a donation of this kind could have on the lives of people with disability.  

The sixty second video showed footage of adults and children painting, gardening and hang-gliding, with commentary explaining how Sylvanvale’s mission is to see the person and not the disability and how their passion is “seeing the passion of others come to life”.

Jake Lyandon from Sylvanvale said: “Seeing how much joy and confidence even just making this video has created for our customers, has been a prize in itself.  Ali, who provided the voiceover has come right out of her shell and is just so excited to have won. This really does mean so much to so many people.”

More than 3,000 people voted in the competition, which launched in May this year and attracted submissions from a wide range of Australian charities including The Cancer Council, Care Flight and Cure Brain Cancer.

The top five entries with the most votes were put to a panel, consisting of Lise Taylor, editor of Fundraising and Philanthropy Magazine and Richenda Vermuelan, founder of Not for Profit digital agency Ntegrity and Pro Bono Australia contributor.

A second People’s Choice Award of $2,000 was awarded to Action Aid for their Passion for Empowerment video, which showed how the prize money could be used to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable and excluded women.

Senior marketing manager at Blackbaud Stacey Astley-Clark said: “We were moved to tears by the stories that each of the entries told. In the Not for Profit world, it’s easy for fundraisers to get lost in a targets and data, and forget what their incredible work is all about. Charities like Sylvanvale really do change lives.”

The results were announced on Tuesday at bbcon 16 – the world’s largest philanthropic conference series, hosted by Blackbaud, this year taking place in Sydney.

Congratulations to @Sylvanvale – winner of the Blackbaud $10K Challenge! #bbcon #sharethepassion pic.twitter.com/p7HdTZyU98

— Blackbaud Pacific (@BBPacific) August 2, 2016