Blackbaud Acquires Online Giving Platform JustGiving
4 October 2017 at 4:42 pm
Global cloud-software company Blackbaud has acquired UK-based JustGiving – a major online social giving platform that has been credited with taking a leading role in the growth of peer-to-peer fundraising worldwide.
Blackbaud said it purchased the platform through its UK subsidiary for £95 million, or approximately A$160 million.
“We are proud to welcome JustGiving to the Blackbaud family,” Blackbaud president and CEO Mike Gianoni said.
“Blackbaud is committed to accelerating the impact of individuals and organisations pursuing global good with modern, mobile-first and integrated cloud software.”
Gianoni said the “marriage” with JustGiving could “power game-changing breakthroughs that strengthen the entire social economy”.
The company said the acquisition came as peer-to-peer fundraising – driven by individual supporters rallying others to give – was playing a more significant role than ever in charitable giving.
Jerry Needel, president and general manager of Blackbaud Consumer Solutions said at the same time, social and mobile giving continued to grow.
“This acquisition is in line with our broader commitment to helping customers respond to and leverage technological and social change,” Needel said.
“Individual supporters – and the new ways they are connecting with causes, organisations and one another – continue to transform the landscape and potential of the social good community.
“It’s key for us to equip these individual change agents to drive impact for the causes they care about and to ensure organisations have the right tools to navigate and respond to changes in the landscape.”
JustGiving is seen as a leader in peer-to-peer giving, with people in 164 countries raising more than $4.5 billion for causes for more than 26,000 charities through its online platform since it started in 2001. The company was founded by Anne-Marie Huby and Zarine Kharas.
“We’re passionate about growing the world’s giving and advancing good causes – and I can’t think of a better way to do it than as part of the world’s leading cloud software provider powering social good,” Huby said.
