Month: May 2023

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software for powering social impact, today released its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, demonstrating how the company is taking action to amplify its own global impact through continued progress across key ESG priorities.

“Blackbaud is wholly dedicated to fueling impact—not only through our essential software that expands what is possible across the nonprofit and private sectors, but also in the way we operate our business,” said Mike Gianoni, Blackbaud’s chief executive officer. “We’re excited to highlight the important work of our team on our ESG priority areas, and even more proud to celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of our community of customers. We power the global software infrastructure that turns sparks of generosity into our customers’ social impact. It’s an honor to play this role, and our ESG reporting tells that story.”

Aligned with its goal of powering social impact, Blackbaud’s ESG pillars and 2022 progress are categorized across a framework of four key ESG priority topics:

Fueling Social Impact: Blackbaud enables organizations of all types to run the essential business functions that enable them to deliver impact and empowers individuals with the trusted tools they need to make a difference. Blackbaud serves customers and empowers nonprofits, K-12 schools, universities, healthcare institutions, foundations, arts & cultural and faith organizations and individual change agents around the world.People and Culture: Blackbaud believes success can only be realized by embracing diverse perspectives and experiences. This pillar is vital to Blackbaud’s mission and includes the company’s DE&I focus, as well as its long history of philanthropy.Driving Climate Solutions: Blackbaud is dedicated to proactively protecting the environment through responsible operations, decarbonization and strategic partnerships with organizations making an impact through both the purchase of offsets as well as direct investments in companies like Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on solutions to climate change.Governance and Data Responsibility: Customer trust is a top priority and embedded in all facets of the company. Blackbaud is committed to providing customers the confidence that their technology and data are secure and continues to make significant investments in its security program.

Highlights of Blackbaud’s recent impact include:

Providing a multi-year gift to five organizations focused on workforce diversity and economic empowerment for underrepresented groups. Blackbaud employees will engage with these organizations throughout the partnership via learning and service opportunities.Sustained carbon neutrality for 2022 across its business operations by reducing emissions and investing in renewable energy credits and carbon offset projects.Engaging 3.4 million students in critical skills education through EVERFI from Blackbaud, fueling 9.5 million hours of learning across the globe.Igniting individual changemakers—over 1 million fundraising pages were created on JustGiving from Blackbaud, enabling over 17 million donations for good causes through the platform in 2022.Appointing United Airlines Chief Information Security Officer Deneen DeFiore to Blackbaud Board of Directors to provide another level of cybersecurity expertise and oversight for the company. ​

To learn more about how the company is fueling social impact, view the full 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report here.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud’s essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud’s solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organizations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies, Quartz’s list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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May 18, 2023 /3BL Media/ – AEG Presents’ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell has been awarded Gold certification by the Council for Responsible Sport, in recognition for its outstanding approach to social, environmental, economic and community impact.

The recognition makes Jazz Fest, which hosted some 475,000 visitors across seven days, the largest cultural event to receive certification under the Council’s criteria.

Gold certification was awarded to Jazz Fest for successfully developing a comprehensive approach to minimizing the environmental footprint of the festival, while increasing the inclusivity, economic and social benefits of the event.

The achievement recognized Jazz Fest’s 2022 commitment to a broad range of sustainability and impact goals, as well as its effort to incorporate these methods into day-to-day activity and then track and measure performance consistently.

Some of the highlights included:

Composting 17.56 metric tons of recycling diverted from landfill and 4.37 metric tons of food waste;Collecting and recycling 1.13 metric tons of hard-to-recycle plastics waste which was sent to a Nexus facility in Atlanta as part of Shell’s “Plastics Circularity Project;”Recycling 2,500 gallons of cooking oil which is turned into fuel for local shrimping boats;Completing a carbon footprint study, including the offsetting of 7,098 mt of Scope 1 and some Scope 3 emissions;And, implementing the NOLA Supplier Impact Program which strengthened the business sustainability and continuity of Black Female Suppliers in the Greater New Orleans area. The program is focused on increased understanding of how to maintain business continuity and sustainability even in times of uncertainty and providing productive networking and increased connections within the Women’s Business community.

“On behalf of everyone at Jazz Fest, we’re honored to have the festival receive Gold certification from the Council,” said Quint Davis, Producer/Director of the event. “Thanks to our partnership with Shell, the Festival has been able to develop a robust sustainability campaign, which is an important complement to our longstanding commitment to the cultural and socio-economic wellbeing of our community.”

The festival’s efforts were assessed in adherence to the Council’s certification framework using the cloud based ReScore platform, which enables sporting event organizers to measure, track, report, and verify their progress on a broad range of environmental and social indicators.

The Council for Responsible Sport is a 501 (c ) (3) not-for-profit organization with a vision of a world where responsibly produced sports and events are the norm. It has been helping people measure, manage and verify the social and environmental impacts of their events since 2007. The Council provides independent verification and certification of mass participation events in terms of their environmental, social and economic impacts. Many of the hundreds of events that have been certified are among the world’s leading examples of mass participation organizations going beyond the “norm” to generate positive impacts. For more information, and to see certification criteria, please click here.

VestedIn is committed to investing in Philadelphia’s youth and their impact on the future of the city. Often referred to as the “economic engine” of the community, VestedIn serves West Philadelphia’s Empowerment Zone and six additional counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

In addition to providing small business loans in the community, VestedIn has empowered the youngest residents of Philadelphia through WesGold Fellows for 13 years. WesGold Fellows is a vigorous eight-week paid youth entrepreneurship and investing accelerator internship program—now reaching up to 60 students each summer. Fellows are guided through curriculum-based instruction, experiential learning opportunities, uniquely engaging field trips and professional development training.

In the latest installment of Inspiring Conversations, Truist Foundation’s audio series with nonprofit leaders doing the work, Truist Foundation President Lynette Bell speaks with James Burnett, executive director of VestedIn, to learn more about how the community development financial institution (CDFI) is providing resources to youth and small businesses in communities that have been underrepresented and underserved.

To learn more, listen to Lynette’s conversation with James.

About Truist Foundation

Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation’s (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. Established in 2020, Truist Foundation makes strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality of life. Truist Foundation’s grants and activities focus on building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses. Learn more at truist.com/foundation.