Name: Product Update Briefing - Blackbaud Grantmaking™ (APAC)
Uploaded: 2025-11-20T02:16:03.648Z
Duration: 1 h 8 s
Description: Product Update Briefing - Blackbaud Grantmaking™ (APAC)

Transcript for "Product Update Briefing - Blackbaud Grantmaking™ (APAC)": Hi, everyone, and welcome to the November product update briefing for Blackbaud grant making. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend today. So just to start us off, some quick webinar housekeeping tips. This webinar audio will be broadcasted through your computer speakers. So hopefully, you can all hear me right now. If you need captions, you can hover over the stage and click the CC button on the bottom of the screen to turn the captions on or off. If you encounter any audio or technical issues such as the slides freezing, Usually, a quick refresh of the browser is the best way to get it working again. And you can click on the q and a on the top right to submit any questions that you may have throughout the presentation. When submitting your questions, just please make sure to be as specific as you can. The more details we have, the better we can address your questions directly. We have an awesome team in the background who will be answering questions throughout today's webinar, so feel free to answer or ask questions whenever you want. Next to the q and a, you should also see a docs tab. So you can click on this to access several links and resources that you may want to access during the presentation and save for future reference. And finally, you can adjust any settings by using the cogwheel at the bottom of the event space. So since this is a forward looking presentation today, I'm required to read out the safe harbor statement. This presentation contains forward looking statements that involve inherent risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. It outlines Blackbaud's current plans and general product direction as of the date this presentation was created. Functionality described in this presentation that is not currently available is subject to change at any time at Blackbaud's sole discretion. It doesn't represent a commitment to developer release specific features within the time frame discussed according to the presented design or at all. Please make any purchase decisions based on features and functionality that are currently available today. And just to introduce our presenters today, my name is Nicole. For those of you I may not have met, I'm the senior product marketing manager for Blackbaud Grantmaking, and I'm happy to be joined today by Heather Johnson who is a director of product management for the financials and grantmaking pillar. And we also have Regina here today who's the financial edge NXT product manager, and she's helping us out with our grant making presentation today. And so for today's agenda, here's a look at what to expect. We will start off with setting the stage and sharing some recent announcements, then our product team will spend the bulk of today's session covering our road map. This includes recently released features, items coming soon, and longer term vision conversations. And finally, I'll round this out with some quick customer call outs at the end. Blackbaud grant making is a purpose built tool for funders that manages the entire grant life cycle, maximizes the impact of funds, and provides unparalleled insights into your grant making. With Blackbaud grant making, you're not just tracking grants, you're creating transformative impact and amplifying your organization's mission. By focusing on what truly matters to funders like you, we've developed a tool that powers results, ensures greater efficiency, and delivers actionable insights every step of the way. We focus on capabilities that will add value to the top outcomes that customers like you have told us are critically important to gain by using Blackbaud grant making. These outcomes are the key motivations behind our team's focus. This visual represents the full journey of innovation in grant making from the initial application to the award and beyond. It starts with a streamlined application process making it easy for applicants to engage. Next, we move into evaluation and collaboration where reviewers can work together efficiently to make informed decisions. Communication is at the heart of this process ensuring transparency and clarity with applicants and stakeholders. Once decisions are made, you can give with confidence knowing that payments and compliance are handled securely. And finally, the cycle doesn't end there. Impactful insights help you measure outcomes and inform future strategies driving continuous improvement. Blackbaud knows that security is a top priority for you and your organizations. That's why we're excited to introduce the Blackbaud Trust Center, your new centralized hub for all things related to Blackbaud Security. At trust.blackbaud.com, you'll find audit reports including SOC and PCI documentation, security white papers, a dedicated knowledge base for frequently asked security questions, security credentials, and self serve access to information for risk assessments and due diligence. You can access the trust center easily using your Blackbaud ID. No extra credentials are needed. This resource is designed to make your security reviews faster and easier, reduce the time spent on due diligence, and provide you with direct access to the information that you need whenever you need it. It's part of our commitment to transparency and to supporting your organization's security needs throughout your journey with Blackbaud. And I'm going to pass it off to Heather now and she's going to make a quick announcement on the applicant and grantee portal. You can Heather. Yeah. Thanks for a great start, Nicole. As many of you know, after listening to your closely to your input, we've decided to extend the availability of the legacy IGA portal at least through the end of this year. As we're heading into the holidays, we'll be extending it through the beginning of next year as well with a turn off date being shared with customers at least sixty days prior to removing the legacy portal access. This extension is meant to, allow us to continue refining the experience, addressing key feedback, and giving every organization the time and support needed for a successful transition and long term success. In the coming weeks and months, we will focus on addressing usability concerns of features that will complete the migration to our new applicant and grantee portal. Our approach will be using targeted prioritization based on customer feedback and highest impact items. Furthermore, we've increased engineering and design and product resources to focus efforts solely on the portal. Every feature we release is guided by what matters most to you, efficiency, flexibility, and impact. So thank you for your feedback and for joining us today. And this is just a look at, a a great resource for you all, but a great resource for my team as well. Thank you for contrib contributing your voices and insights to the ideas portal and discussion boards. You shared expertise, inspires us to envision a better future for the tools you rely on. We really do read each and every one of your future requests. Let's keep this collaboration going. Please continue to share your ideas and provide your invaluable insights that help shape our road map and help show shape your, aid your peers, in their day to day operations. And be on the lookout on the December, we will release our first edition of the grant making, post, which will be a blog with more helpful tips. And we'll start out looking at some of the capabilities that have been recently released. Again, based on your feedback, we continue to enhance your experience across these key themes, improving the applicant experience, efficiency, and compliance. Highlighted in green are enhancements from that community, IdeaBank. You now have the ability to view a list of in progress and submitted applications in report manager. We've also enabled the ability to classify grant funding based on percentage and the ability to transfer grantee accounts. The truncation workflow capability allows any any pending submission that failed to consider for reasons tied to character limits to be available to consider successively by truncating those fields that caused the error. The multistage application workflow allows any request record and grant making created from a stage one of two application form from the legacy portal to publish the stage two of two application form in the new applicant and grantee portal. And lastly, you now have the ability to bypass the government tax identification number when adding organizations in the applicant and grantee portal. And we'll take a look at a couple more capabilities that are available to you now. As grant managers, it's essential to keep your workflows efficient while accommodating both legacy and new systems. This slide highlights how we can continue managing outstanding requirements for applications not submitted via the new applicant and grantee portal. You'll notice the publish to web button. This allows us to push requirement forms directly from the current requirement records, ensuring your process does not get disrupted. It's a seamless way to maintain consistency across platforms while we transition, giving you full control over requirement tracking and communication with grantees. And this enhancement is all about security and convenience. In the new applicant and grantee experience, you now have the ability to securely collect payment information directly within the application process. This means you you can include bank information fields right in the form, eliminating the need for separate follow ups or manual data entry. This not only allows, streamlines your workflow, but it also ensures sensitive financial details are captured in a secure and compliant way. Ultimately, it helps you manage grants more efficiently and get funds to the recipients faster. Invitations make it easy to bring the right people into your programs. With this feature, you can invite individuals or organization contacts to apply directly to a program. Once invited, they'll see their unique invitation in the applicant and grantee portal, ensuring a seamless experience. These invitations are secure and cannot be shared, which helps maintain integrity and control over who can access your programs. And here's an important update if you haven't heard by now. MPO Connect is now called the Blackbaud verified network, but this is not just a name change. It's representing a strategic evolution, to deepen integration across the Blackbaud ecosystem and really improve nonprofit efficiency. So let's talk about what is the Black Lives MatterFi network and why it matters. First, what is it? The Black Lives MatterFi network is a free platform for nonprofit organizations. It allows nonprofits to join our global good network, which connects them with millions of potential donors. Next, where the where does the data come from? The network pulls from trusted sources like the IRS and GlobalGiving, creating a comprehensive database of nonprofit, schools, and charities worldwide. This ensures accuracy and credibility. Finally, how does it tie into Blackbaud grant making? The new applicant and grantee portal includes the verified network search tool, which makes it easy for applicants to find and apply under their official organization name. This streamlines the process and reduces errors, helping organizations get connected faster. And we'll take a closer look of why this is significant. First, there's improved data accuracy. By connecting applicants to verified organizations, we make sure that the data provided is precise and trustworthy. This is especially important when it comes to compliance and reporting where accurate information is not just preferred but absolutely essential. Second, we have regulatory compliance. The system creates and maintains a clear and detailed audit trail of grant applicants. The things organizations can easily demonstrate compliance with regulations, fulfill necessary requirements without adding extra work. Third, the integration leads to a much better user experience by reducing the likelihood of duplicate entries and cutting down on confusion. The application process becomes easier for everyone involved. Applicants will find it simpler to submit their applications without unnecessary frustrations, and administrators will benefit from a more organized and efficient process. It enhances efficiency and transparency at every step, ensuring that funders and applicants feel more confident in the system. And this feature is all about making it easier for grant managers to support a wider range of applicants. This, again, is based on your feedback. We've in many cases, especially with international or grassroots nonprofits, they may not have a government tax ID like an EIN or a registered charity number. With this new setting, grant managers could choose to make this, tax ID, field optional when applicants add their own organizations. It's a simple configuration change, but it opens the door to smoother onboarding and broader participation. By removing the barrier, grant managers can focus on impact, not paperwork, and ensure their programs are accessible to the communities they're designed to serve. And this feature is designed for grant managers supporting programs that use the optional add your own functionality. This allows applicants to manually submit an organization that isn't already listed in the shared nonprofit database. Often because it's new, local, or an international entity not yet registered in the BlackLine verified network. When the applicant uses this capability, the system creates a new organization record. Depending on the client's configuration, the record may remain private, meaning it exists only within the client's database and is not visible to other clients, or it may be promoted to a shared status after review. This enhancement focuses specifically on private organizations, those that are client specific and not part of the shared nonprofit registry. Until now, these records couldn't be edited once created. Now that's changing. Same grant managers will be able to edit the name, address, and registration directly within the system. This feature is especially valuable for global programs where regional differences and manual org entry are more common. It gives grant managers the control they need to maintain clean and accurate records without relying on workarounds. And this is a direct response, again, to your idea submissions and a great example of how user submitted ideas shape the platform. Again, grant managers have told us, I need a field where users can pick multiple options and assign a value to each. That's exactly what pick list group delivers. Quick difference. A pick list, choose one or more options. A pick list group, choose options and assign a number or percent to each all in one field. Why it matters? No more juggling extra fields or manual math. You get cleaner forms, built in validation, and better reporting. As an example, how will your budget support community programs? Youth education 40%, food assistance 35%, mental health 25%. One field captures it all, ensuring total that up, and data is ready for analysis. Grant managers have also told us, they need to support everything up to, you know, a 100%. So this is just another view of how we are keeping your data clean and continued updates based on your feedback, enabling precision, and better accuracy, cleaner data. You can take a look closer look at the screenshot above. The pick list group captures both selected programs and the allocation. Grant managers can hide options perform, convert existing multi select pick list if no responses exist, and use the field in workflow automation and conditional log logic based on selected options. Responses show up cleanly in PDFs and reports, making it easier to analyze and share. Compared to field groups, pick list groups are more efficient, easier to configure, and better suited for dynamic form specific data collection. They're ideal when you need structured input without the overhead of building and managing multiple fields. Now let's take a look at a feature that's all about saving time and making your forms work smarter. Conditional logic with custom data tables allow grant managers to build dynamic forms without the headache of manually entering hundreds or even thousands of values. Instead of stringing together long chains of or conditions, you can now reference a single data table. Whether you're validating a field, showing or hiding sections, or setting values, the system checks if the applicant's response is found in the table and applies your logic instantly. This is especially powerful for use cases like validating entries, a list of a a list of approved departments or codes, managing eligibility based on documentation requirements. And because the logic is tied to the data table, any updates to the table are automatically reflected in your forms. And I believe I'm passing it on to Regina to, take us look at some exciting things coming. Yes. Thanks, Heather. And so, for this section, we'll share information about specific features we are working on and features we have a high degree of confidence about releasing in the next few months and beyond. Here, we're showing what's coming next and what's ahead and also a bit further out. We continue to organize our road map around the three areas we hear most consistently from you. Making grant administration more efficient, improving the applicant and grantee experience, and maintaining compliance and security throughout the process. In the near term, you'll see enhancements that reduce manual work, like stronger duplicate checking, more flexible reporting, easier search options, and updates to the application dashboard. We are also improving how organizations are matched and simplifying requirements scheduling, which will make things smoother for both staff and applicants. And then looking a little further ahead, we are focused on deeper integration between grant making and Financial Edge NXT to streamline payments and reconciliation. We are modernizing the reviewer portal, expanding our data visualization capabilities with Impact Edge, and introducing thoughtful, responsible AI support like form intelligence and guided chat to reduce repetitive work and improve clarity in applications. All of this is about freeing your teams to spend more time partnering with communities and less time managing processes. Looking ahead to 2026, we are creating new opportunities for grant managers to expand what's possible with payment processing. This evolution is about giving you more flexibility, reducing manual work, and streamlining workflows so you can focus on driving impact. This slide highlights how Blackboard grant making integrates with financial and edge NXT to streamline financial workflows. Today, you have two powerful options available. Import and export, you can run on demand or scheduled exports from grantmaking into Financial Edge NXT templates. Plus invoice details from Financial Edge NXT can flow back into grant making to update payment records, keeping everything accurate and in sync. We also have Sky APIs. For automation, Sky API endpoints allow you to build local workflows using tools like Microsoft Power Platform. These workflows can be triggered by users, timers, or events, giving you flexibility and efficiency. Looking ahead, we are developing a standardized in product integration plan for 2026. If you want early access, just sign up using the link in the docs tab. This road map ensures that as your needs evolve, we are delivering deeper, more seamless connectivity between your grant making and financial system. Please note that Financial Edge NXT is only available in United States and Canada. This integration between Blackboard Grantmaking and Financial Edge NXT is designed to make your grant payment process seamless and efficient. With this feature, you can create invoices directly in Financial Edge NXT from your grant payment records, eliminating manual steps and reducing errors. Once payments are processed, the system automatically updates the paid status in Blackboard grant making so your records stay accurate and synchronized. This means less time spent on reconciliation and more time focused on managing your programs effectively. This is where we take grant payment processing to the next level. By connecting Blackboard Grantmaking with Financial Edge NXT, you unlock the power of payment assistant. This tool automates and accelerates vendor payments. So instead of manually processing each payment, you can handle them quickly and securely within Financial Edge NXT. It supports multiple payment methods like ACH, checks, and virtual cards, giving you flexibility while saving time. And the best part, it's available now in Financial Edge NXT. Looking ahead, the plan is to update the reviewer portal experience to make it simpler and more efficient. First, account and password management will be easier with Blackboard identity management. Reviewers can quickly reset your passwords without needing extra support. Second, the interface will be redesigned for better usability so so reviewers can navigate and complete their task with less friction. These updates are all about saving time and reducing complexity so reviewers can focus on what matters most, evaluating applications effectively. We are looking to update reports to give you more flexibility in copying, editing, and designing standard reports. We are planning to move some of our standard reports to ad hoc reports. We would love to hear what existing reports you would like to see moved to ad hoc reports. Please send names of reports you would like to see moved first to the ideas portal. Here, we'd like to introduce you to our latest AI powered feature, Form Intelligence. This is designed to help you perfect your forms so that you can make a better experience for your applicants. Form Intelligence leverages the power of AI to provide actionable insights, helping you create forms that are not only efficient but also aligned with your mission. This feature will offer the ability to enhance your form before publishing it, ensuring it's optimized for your applicants as well as reporting. Here's how it works. After you've created your form and are ready to publish, Form Intelligence will offer you a choice to see suggestions to refine your form. First up will be an AI powered spell check and grammar check for your forms. This will ensure your forms are polished and professionally right from the start. Then we will be building out this functionality to help you streamline the application process and make it quicker and easier for you and your applicants. Eventually, the AI might suggest that every question in your form aligns with your stated pillars or impact area, ensuring that your outcome reporting is as meaningful as possible. In short, Form Intelligence, we act as your trusted assistant to help you maximize your forms and making the whole process smoother for both you and your applicants. Also, upcoming is Impact Edge. Our vision is to unlock your reporting potential. To deliver that vision, Impact Edge is bringing together your grants, organizations, recipients, and award data in one place with intuitive and beautiful visuals and data insights at your fingertips. We are focused on a three point strategy to unify your data in one place, creating synergies across all of your CSR and grant making efforts, to create efficiencies in understanding your data and gleaning insights from that data, and to empower you to tell your employee engagement and community impact impact stories through strategic data partnerships and AI capabilities. And here, we are introducing a key capability that make day to day work in Blackboard grant making easier, faster, and more intuitive. That is chat for Blackboard AI, our conversational assistant. What you are hearing from customers is that AI feels most valuable when it's practical, when it helps with the real task and slow teams down in the real task rather that slow teams down, and that's exactly what this experience is designed for. Instead of digging through documentation or searching multiple screens, the AI chat brings the right information forward instantly. It's not replacing judgments. It's helping your teams get to decisions faster with more clarity. You can also see real customer reactions on this slide. What stands out is that grant making professionals are saying the AI feels familiar, approachable, and surprisingly helpful. They are using it to speed up task they use to avoid or postpone. The goal is simple. Give your team a smart partner that reduces friction and helps them to do their best work without adding complexity. We would love to hear your feedback, both on the releases available today and the road map direction. Thank you for your continued partnership and trust. With that, I will hand over to Nicole. Awesome. Thanks, Regina. So I'm just gonna end off the presentation with, some customer resources that you guys might all be interested in. So first of all, I'm excited to introduce our new AI Coalition for Social Impact. As part of our commitment to responsible AI, Blackbaud has convened a coalition of companies, organizations, and leaders who share the vision of removing obstacles to responsible AI adoption for the social impact sector. This includes several leaders in our corporate impact space like Realized Worth, CECP, and ACCP. The Coalition's flagship initiative is going to be a free platform agnostic AI for social impact certification course designed specifically for the social impact sector. Their first module in AI for social impact will be open for registration later this year, so don't forget to join the wait list. You can access the wait list in the docs tab so you can head over there and sign up to make sure you are aware of what the start date and everything that is involved in this certification course. And some of you may be familiar with this page already, but doesn't hurt to bring it up again. So the Blackbaud grant making customer success page is a great way to find links to everything you may need. It has links to Blackbaud University, helpful training and documentation, the help center, the community, helpful guides, videos as well as chat support. So you can find the link to this page as well, on the docs tab or by scanning this QR code. Highly recommend, bookmarking it for easy access. And don't forget our awesome customer success managers host Connect for Success sessions. These are basically small group virtual sessions where you can learn from your peers every month, and they cover a range of relevant topics and sessions that are facilitated. So you can choose a date or time that works for your schedule. You can also register for this by going to the blackboard community and navigating to community news. And Blackbaud University, like I mentioned earlier, is where you can take live instructor led training, e learnings, and more. The curriculum is constantly getting updated with new courses, so make sure to check it out. Notably, we have new courses that I highlighted there in green on application layouts, blackboard ID, requirements, and the reviewer portal. And lastly, just a call out to something new that's being offered at Blackbaud University. We have now introduced two to three minute short microlearning style videos to get caught up and on new features in Blackbaud grant making, which has been something that has been requested by customers. So listed below are a few of our most popular trending sessions for you to check out, which includes publishing outstanding requirements, exporting and importing legacy form fields, and sending program invites. So be sure to check those out as well. And lastly, please don't forget to fill out this survey that I'm about to launch for you. You should see it in the right hand panel, and I'm going to leave it up for five minutes or so to give you all time to fill it out. So make sure you do that before you leave, and that's all from us. Enjoy the rest of your day or night, wherever you're tuning in from, and thank you so much for taking the time today to see what's new and upcoming in Blackbaud grant making. Bye, everyone.