Name: Product Update Briefing - JustGiving® from Blackbaud
Uploaded: 2025-11-20T18:31:49.942Z
Duration: 33 min 16 s
Description: Product Update Briefing - JustGiving® from Blackbaud

Transcript for "Product Update Briefing - JustGiving® from Blackbaud": Thank you everyone for joining us today. Welcome to our November product update briefing. Let's get started with a few housekeeping items first. The webinar audio will be broadcasted through your computer speakers, so, hopefully, you can all hear me. If you need captions, you can hover over the stage and click the CC button on the bottom of the screen to turn captions on and off. If you encounter any audio or technical issues such as slides freezing, usually a quick refresh of your browser is the best way to get it working again. Worst case scenario, try leaving and logging back in. Please click the q and a button on the top right to submit any questions you may have throughout today's session. When submitting your questions, please make sure to be specific. The more details and specifics we have, the better we can address your questions directly. We have a great team in the background who will answer questions throughout today's webinar. Next to the q and a, you should see doc. Please click this to access several links and resources that you may want to access during our presentation and save for future reference. You can adjust any settings by using the cogwheel at the bottom of the event space. And, finally, you can use the tabs on the top of the event space to see today's agenda and meet your speakers. Our agenda for today will begin with a quick overview of JustGiving, followed by some customer spotlights, followed by our exciting product updates, and then we'll conclude with next steps. And then this is our safe harbor statement. Okay. Let's dive into, what JustGiving is. So a reminder that while our talk track does focus on JustGiving and Blackbaud's current plans and our general product direction, we will describe functionality that at times is not currently available and is subject to change at any time at our sole discretion. Oh, I think I accidentally skipped past our introductions. That is my bad. So quickly wanna introduce myself. My name is Anna, and I'm a customer success manager. And I am here with my colleagues, Matt and Tom, who are our amazing and talented product managers. Sorry about that. Okay. Now let's dive into what JustGiving is. So at its core, JustGiving is a global peer to peer fundraising platform. That means we help nonprofits to connect with supporters worldwide, making it simple for your organization to create and manage fundraising campaigns to which your supporters can give directly or create and share their own fundraising page and encourage their personal networks to give. In the twenty five years since we were founded, JustGiving has raised over $10,000,000,000 for good causes around the world. JustGiving is the bridge that brings together the passion of fundraisers, the needs of good causes, and the generosity of donors. We achieve this through empowering fundraisers to simply raise funds for the causes closest to their hearts, making it easy for them to make a difference. We then enable good causes to optimize their donations, allowing them to fully fund their essential missions. Every contribution counts. And lastly, we provide donors with the convenience they deserve. We make it simple for them to give support to their friends and the causes they believe in. JustGiving can be used for direct giving, fundraising, large campaigns, and events for your nonprofit, and it's free for any US and Canadian charity to use. It also integrates with Blackbaud products, including razors edge NXT, eTapestry, and Blackbaud CRM. The native integration allows data to flow directly from just giving to your chosen CRM, saving you time and allowing you to view real time data directly in your database. So let's kick things off by celebrating organizations that are absolutely shining on just giving. Let's take a look at a few standout campaigns. So first, we're spotlighting an incredible Just Giving success story, meet canstruction, a creative competition where teams turn canned goods into jaw dropping sculptures, all to fight hunger. Supporters can vote for their favorite sculpture by donating to its fundraising page. Every can counts, and every donation makes a difference. And all of the proceeds go to support the North Texas Food Bank donations and all of the canned goods that were used to create these sculptures. This year's canstruction event features masterpieces like The Empire Strikes Hunger, Welcome to Jurassic Fork, and Sending Hunger to the Upside Down. Next up, we have Hockey Fest. So hosted by Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation, this isn't just a street hockey tournament. It's a full blown community celebration with one powerful mission, raising funds for cancer care in Northern British Columbia. Players of all ages hit pro style rinks, live music filled the air, food trucks kept everyone fueled, and families enjoyed nonstop entertainment. The best part, participants got a chance to play alongside some NHL stars. Thanks to this incredible event, $50,000 was raised to improve local cancer treatment and equipment, providing that when a community comes together, amazing things happen. And for our final campaign spotlight, meet the twenty twenty five pause to be thankful campaign by Paws with a Cause. This incredible initiative transforms lives through custom trained assistant dogs, bringing independence, comfort, and connection to those who need it most. Running through Giving Tuesday, the campaign shares inspiring stories of lives changed and aims to raise a $100,000 to train and place more life changing dogs. Now let's take a moment to celebrate the remarkable fundraisers on JustGiving. One standout story is Wyatt's Warriors Walk for UPMC Children's Hospital Foundation. The Diehl family is tackling a critical challenge, transportation. Each year, over 5,000 vital appointments at UPMC Children's Hospital are missed, not because families don't want care, but because they simply can't get there and insurance doesn't cover the ride. Wyatt's Warriors is working to change that. Their vision is to create an endowment that provides ride share vouchers, ensuring that children facing asthma, cancer, and genetic disorders never have to miss life saving treatment due to lack of transportation. They've raised over $200,000 thanks to the generosity of supporters and their astounding fundraising efforts. If these campaigns have you feeling inspired, it's not too late to create your own. Whether it's a last minute Giving Tuesday campaign, an end of year appeal, or you wanna hit the ground running for 2026, we've got you covered. Download our free guide for tips, tricks, and best practices for maximizing your fundraising efforts on just giving this giving season. And now introducing our four key focus areas. For supporters of your cause, we strive to make fundraising as easy, inspiring, and impactful as possible. New and improved tools and integration help the thousands of nonprofits using just giving work smarter and not harder. For donors, we're always thinking about how we can make every donation count for more by making giving as easy and frictionless as possible. And central to our philosophy of ongoing improvements is our focus on optimizations as well as the bigger releases. We're always making small incremental changes across just giving, which drive up average donation value, checkout completion, and other metrics we're always monitoring. First, let's frame the road map conversation we'll have today. Expect this presentation to focus a lot on features we have just recently released into the product because you might not know about them yet. Also, for the near term or, quote, next time frame, we will share information about specific features we have a high degree of confidence about releasing in the next few months. Looking ahead for product development, we're likely to be released further into the future. We'll talk talk about them in terms of themes so you can know which areas we'll be emphasizing, and you can come to the product update session planned for April to hear more concrete details. This overview includes current and upcoming road map highlights. Please keep in mind that road map plans are always subject to change. We have releases planned across the charity, fundraiser, and donor experience as well as optimizations. These releases are available globally unless otherwise stated. And now I'm gonna hand it over to Matt. Great. Thank you, Anna, and hello, everybody. Let's take a moment to look at what's already landed in the product over the last six months. These features that are available to you right now, designed to make fundraising easier, more engaging, and more effective. So let's start with a feature that we're really excited to introduce, the new Fundraiser Hub, a central place where fundraisers can manage every aspect of their journey. The Hub brings together page management, updates, milestones and sharing tools in one place with a soon to be built intuitive dashboard. This unified experience makes it easier for fundraisers to stay organized, track progress, and take action, all from a single location. And what's really exciting is that in the next three features that I'll share, the fundraising page list, fundraiser updates, and edit page for fundraisers are all part of this new hub experience and available right now. Each one is designed to make fundraising simpler, more engaging, and more successful for everyone. So let's take a closer look at how the fundraiser hub brings these features together. Now managing pages is now simpler and more intuitive. We've grouped pages into active and previous, removed clutter, and introduced a clear card view for all page types. If a supporter doesn't have an active page, they'll see a prominent prompt to start fundraising. These updates make navigation easier and encourage onward actions that drive results. Keeping supporters engaged isn't just important. It's the lifeblood of a successful fundraising. Updates have always been part of the experience, but now we've taken them to the next level by introducing milestones. These sync directly to a fundraiser's target, giving supporters a clear sense of progress and achievement. Fundraisers can post real time updates, share personal stories, and even connect fitness activities to their page. We've added guidance and real examples to help craft updates that inspire action. And here's the really exciting part. Fundraisers who post an update are 42% more likely to share their page. That means more visibility, more engagement, and ultimately more donations. This isn't just about adding content. It's about turning a static page into a living, breathing story that supporters want to follow and share. Every update is an opportunity to spark emotion, remind donors why they gave, and encourage them to give again. And finally, we've also improved the editing experience. Fundraisers can now update specific sections such as their story, title, or target through dedicated models with helpful tips along the way. This cleaner, more focused design reduces friction and empowers fundraisers to create compelling pages that convert. Now moving slightly on, over to sharing. As we know, sharing should be effortless, and we'd like to think that we've made it easier. Fundraisers can now add their fundraising QR code directly to their Apple or Google Wallet. This means sharing your page is just a double click away. No more searching for links or fumbling with apps. Whether you're at the school gates, grabbing lunch, or training for your next big event, you can instantly connect supporters to your cause. And since launch, we've seen 31,000 fundraisers added their page to their wallet. It's a small change with a big impact, helping fundraisers connect with donors instantly and making giving part of daily life. And because not every supporter is online, we've introduced offline sharing options. Fundraisers can now create printable posters featuring their hero image, target amount and a QR code linking directly to their page. We've enhanced these posters with larger profile pictures, clearer calls to action, and personalized details. The results, over 200,000 donations from poster QR codes since January. This proves that blending digital and physical fundraising works. Whether it's pinned on a notice board or displayed at an event, these posters turn visibility into action. Now moving on to our fundraising page, campaign page, and team page. As we know, first impressions count. And what we've done is we've refreshed all of these page layouts to make them clear, cleaner, more modern, and easier to navigate. Titles are now the front and center. Key details like the fundraiser's name and the total raised are displayed in a compact, optimized format, and the design feels more engaging across devices. These changes aren't just cosmetic. They're driving results. Fundraisers are seeing more shares and better engagement because supporters can instantly understand the story and take action. It's all about making people feel every page feel inspiring and effortless to explore. And with that, I'll be handing over to Tom, who'll be sharing some really exciting optimizations from a donor perspective. Thanks, Matt. Let me just get over to the next screen. So before I and hello, everybody. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tom. Nice to meet you all. Before I go over some of the recent changes in the checkout, I wanted to touch upon the donation experience and how we continuously optimize the checkout to benefit your nonprofits. Last year alone, we processed over 20,000,000 donations. So this is a really high impact space where even small improvements can lead to meaningful results. And this space, this space is is is extremely busy, so we take a lot of donors in and we never stop testing. So it's a continuous cycle of learning customer behavior and then continuously iterating on it to ensure we either fail fast and learn from that behavior or look at further improving through testing. And we can run anything from about 50 to a 100 tests a year on the checkout alone. And to give you some interesting stats, 28% of our tests were clear wins, meaning they made improvements to our metrics. Metrics. 30% were inconclusive, meaning they didn't have a positive or negative impact, and 42% were losses. So they had a negative impact on our metrics. And the key the key point I wanna make here is that we conduct AB testing not to just chase those wins, but to continue learning. So every test, whether it succeeds, fails, or lands somewhere in between, gives us a real valuable insight to user behavior. Understanding what doesn't work is just as important as knowing what does. And next, I'll walk you through a few changes that began as experiments and then have since been rolled out to deliver real benefits for your nonprofits. So to kick things off, let's look at our suggested amounts test or our largest suggested amounts test. And this was designed to see whether preset donation suggestions could increase the average donation value. So for for our control group a on the left, screenshot on the left, we have no monetary suggestions. We leave it completely up to the user to decide what they want to donate. And on variant b, we have some suggested amounts that are slightly higher than the average donation amount. And the amounts that we surface here are all based on the transactional data we receive from the checkout. Our hypothesis here was that introducing these higher suggested amounts will increase the average value that donors donate. And we ran this test for about a month, collected all that data, and observed that the test resulted in a win. So we saw and we saw that average donation value increased. So people that gave gave more by 1.5% and this is due to the anchoring effect. So when people see these higher numbers, the perception of what's normal shifts upwards. In fact in fact, donors were 37 more likely to choose one of the suggested amounts, and even the highest tiers, which you see, like $200 and $300, saw more uptake. And as mentioned in the last slide, we followed up on this, like all of our tests, with an iteration. And the next iteration was to include outcomes so donors could see the impact of each suggested amount when they select it. Our hypothesis here was that this added context would increase the average transaction value as people would better understand what their donation achieves, and it worked. So we ran this test for about twenty days, and the analysis showed a 0.4% increase in average transaction value. Now that percentage increase might sound small, but when applied across all of our traffic, it translated to an estimated $2,500,000 more per year for nonprofits. And then looking ahead, as you may have heard in bbcon and highlighted at our bbcon keynotes, the next step is exploring agentic AI, which to to dynamically surface personalized prompts and suggested amounts, something I'll touch on again later in this presentation. Next up is our new accordion style checkout. So we tested a complete redesign or a completely redesigned experience moving away from the traditional step by step process, in the checkout to an accordion style flow. This is where sections expand and collapse as donors move through. And this makes the process more intuitive and transparent without that back and forth as you get in a traditional checkout. Our hypothesis here was that this approach would streamline the donation process with fewer clicks and faster completion, provide a clear step by step view, so donors can't can see what's next, and what's done and then easily return to any section if they if they wish, and deliver a modern intuitive design which reduces confusion, friction, and wait times. And it we hoped that it would boost conversion and donation amounts, meaning more gifts and higher value per donor. And we saw that it worked. So after multiple iterations and months of testing this, we saw a clear improvement in conversion, proving that this design makes giving easier and more engaging. And, of course, we continue to iterate. Next so so to iterate on this, we fine tune that accordion style checkout even further. So for variant b, the screenshot on the right, we made a few key improvements like adding color to the folds for better visual hierarchy. We removed icons on active pages to free up spaces and clutter, and we improved text wrapping for longer messages and widened the layout on mobile and desktop journeys. And this step was critical for future localization plans like we have for French Canadian, where text runs a little longer. And for this, our initial hypothesis would that it would it would look better, it would be a better, UX, but we didn't expect any impact on our metrics. But what we actually saw is that it drove a significant conversion uplift, which resulted in around a 100,000 more donations. This is mainly because this design felt cleaner, more intuitive, and easier to navigate. And it really shows us and and and you guys that these micro optimizations and and micro iterations really compound and collectively drive great results. And in this case, more donations. So stay tuned for the next iteration, on the accordion. But for now, I'll hand it over back to Matt to cover login Great. Thanks, Tom. So let's talk. creating a page. We know that the first step in the fundraising journey should feel effortless, and now we'd like to think it does. We've made logging in, and signing up simpler, clearer, and more inspiring. The sign up link is front and center, social login options are crystal clear, and we've created a direct connection between logging in and personalizing your page. Why does that matter? Because the easier it is to start, the more likely supporters are to take the next step. And the results have spoken for themselves. A 2.13% increase in pages created since these changes went live. That's thousands of new fundraising opportunities unlocked. Moving on to one of our more recent optimizations around the post page creation experience. We know that immediately after creating a page is a key opportunity to surface the relevant next best actions to support fundraisers in maximizing the value of their page. Historically, we've always prioritized self donate as the sole next action, But as part of this AB test, we provided multiple next best actions that fundraisers would be presented, including the self donate, but also share and the ability to add to wallets, which you can see visualized in the image on the slide. The hypothesis here was that by providing different actions post page creation post page creation, sorry, this would lead to an increase in page activation, which is a page receiving a first donation. And in terms of results, we saw a huge 128% increase in users selecting the next best action, which was to be expected given we're surfacing more. But more importantly, we saw a 1.72%, increase in page activation, so people receiving their first donation and a 4.63% reduction in the time to receive that first donation. Now looking ahead, we're focused on enhancements we'll be looking to launch in the next few months. These updates are designed to make fundraising even more effective and user friendly. Social may media is where conversations happen, and now fundraising will be part of that conversation in a bigger way. We're partnering with Meta to supercharge social sharing on Facebook. The integration allows fundraisers to create richer, more impactful posts that include a donate button. And as we know, every share matters, with each share equating to $81 in donations to a charity. So incorporating a visual donation prompt will look to drive both higher engagement and conversion. Now managing donations should feel empowering, not overwhelming. That's why we're introducing a revamped donation section for fundraisers. This new experience provides a clear snapshot of all donations received with simple onward actions to view details or add offline gifts. The work itself is part of the wider fundraiser hub previously mentioned. We're also thinking bigger. Future enhancements will include the ability to thank donors individually, control the visibility of donation messages on pages, and even personalize acknowledgements. Why does this matter? Because every interaction with a donor is an opportunity to build loyalty and inspire repeat giving. Fundraising is emotional, and now we're giving supporters a way to express that emotion instantly. Introducing paid reactions, quick, meaningful responses like gratitude, celebration, and encouragement. These reactions create a sense of momentum and community, and the visible reaction counts act as a powerful social proof for donors, signaling that the page is active, supported, and worth contributing to. This feature is coming soon to fundraising pages and is designed to make fundraising pages feel alive and interactive, turning every visit into an opportunity for engagement and connection. Now as we know, events are one of the foundations of fundraising, and we're making those easier too. We're collaborating with partners like Let's Do This to offer integrated event registration. Participants will seem will be seamlessly registered to have just giving fundraising pages created automatically, boost page activation, receiving their first donation, and conversion rates. This means charities can boost the number of pages created and fundraisers receiving their first donation while maintaining branding control and deliver a smooth user experience. Whether it's a marathon, a walk, or a community event, this integration ensures support has hit the ground running. So let's start looking ahead. For features likely to be released six months or more from now, we'll talk more of them in terms of themes for our product development so you know which areas we'll be emphasizing. And you can come to the product update briefings planned for six months from now and hear more concrete details. Sky API is all about making things easier and more reliable behind the scenes. In simple terms, it is the technology that connects third parties with Blackboard tools and trusted partners, so your data moves smoothly and securely between systems. And here's the key update. JustGiving will be moving all of its APIs over to Sky API in 2026. This upgrade means less manual work, fewer errors, and more time for you to focus on your mission. Because Sky API uses the latest security standards, you can trust that your support's information is protected. In short, this migration is about speed, simplicity, and security, so you spend less time on admin and more time making an impact. And with that, I'll be handing over to Tom. Thanks, Matt. So, yeah, no update. JustGiving or Blackboard would be complete without a mention of our approach to Agentic AI. So looking back, we were the first fundraising platform to use generative AI with the launch of story enhancer, where we focused on helping fundraisers write their personal fundraising stories. And as we embed Agenca AI into the just giving experience, we so we see so much potential for how this can help, nonprofits and your supporters. So what could this look like on just giving? A few examples I've listed include smart donation prompts. So these could be suggested donation amounts which surface to donors based on past behavior, campaign goals, and what what those amounts achieve for the charity. Context aware nudges, so nudges that take campaign status and giving history into account such as rounding up for impact and adding $2 to fund urgent needs, and smart social prompts, which would make it easier and faster for fundraisers to share updates by providing them with ready made and tailored social media captions, hashtags, and images. And many of these ideas listed on the screen are already in discovery right now, so do stay tuned for our next product update briefing to find out where we get up to. And for our Canadian market, we're exploring an exciting integration with PayPal Giving Fund Canada, and the goal here is to make donating to Canadian charities easier and fully compliant for all of our supporters. And this integration would enable donors to give to over 11,000 registered Canadian charities directly through JustGiving while PayPal handles secure payment processing and fund distribution. For charities, it means greater visibility and access to a wider donor base with no extra setup required. And we're currently in the discovery phase for this mapping out this work, but do again, do stay tuned in our next product update briefing for any updates on this initiative. Now back over to Anna to wrap up today's update. Thank you, Tom. So we are launching a free, sector specific AI certification with the AI Coalition for Social Impact designed to help use AI ethically and effectively. You'll gain practical skills, earn continuing education credits, and join a community of change makers leading the way in responsible AI. The first course module arrives in early twenty twenty six. Sign up for the wait list and be among the first to get certified. At bbcon this year, we announced how we're delivering more connection, more possibility, and more confidence through innovative AI solutions. From a agentic AI to our free AI certification, we're making it easier for you to drive impact and lead with trust. If you'd like to learn more, check out the full recap of all the biggest announcements. And as we wrap up today's session, I want to leave you with a few simple next steps to keep the momentum going. First, if you'd like to discuss anything you've heard today or have questions specific to your organization, please book a call with me. You can get to my calendar and all of these other resources under the docs tab. I'd love to connect and help you make the most of these updates. Second, don't forget to download the free end of year giving guide. It's packed with practical tips and best practices to help you maximize your fundraising efforts as we head into the busiest giving season. And finally, your feedback and ideas are what drive our innovation. If you have suggestions or features you'd like to see, please submit those to our ideas bank. We're always listening and eager to hear how we can better support your mission. Thank you everyone for joining. Really quick, we've got a quick survey. We would love for you to fill out if you have the time, and then you should also see a poll popping up as well. So thanks again for joining, and I look forward to connecting with you soon.