Sydney, Australia – Blackbaud has announced new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for social impact organisations in Australia and New Zealand, including fundraising agents, data management tools and an AI-assisted digital marketing platform.
The updates include a new Data Health Agent, expanded early access to its Development Agent, enhancements to its fundraising software and plans for Blackbaud Marketing, a multichannel marketing platform designed to connect fundraising and marketing teams.
The company also introduced Platform for Good, a unified operating system intended to connect data, workflows, AI capabilities and third-party solutions. Blackbaud said the platform will help organisations maintain context across interactions, streamline internal processes and create more connected experiences for supporters.
Blackbaud is also developing Lantern, a domain-specific language model designed for fundraising intelligence through a collaboration with Databricks. The model is intended to reflect fundraising terminology, practices and sector-specific knowledge. Blackbaud plans to begin using Lantern in selected Platform for Good experiences in 2027.
“Across Asia Pacific, organisations are continually looking for new ways to deepen engagement, improve efficiency and expand their impact while staying true to the people and communities they serve,” said Kevin Sher, President and General Manager, Asia Pacific Operations, at Blackbaud.
“With these innovations, we’re focused on helping customers put trusted data and AI to work in practical ways, giving their teams more capacity and more connected ways to build the relationships that advance their missions,” Sher continued
AI agents target fundraising and data management
Blackbaud’s Development Agent is in an early access programme for customers using Blackbaud Raiser‘s Edge NXT in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada. The tool is designed to support personalised, brand-aligned outreach to donors, with interactions recorded in Raiser’s Edge NXT and fundraising teams retaining control over engagement.
The company has also introduced the Data Health Agent, which identifies common data issues and recommends corrections through review-and-approval workflows. The tool is designed to reduce the time organisations spend maintaining fundraising data and help teams focus on donor engagement.
The Data Health Agent is initially available through an early access programme in the US, with international expansion planned after the company incorporates feedback from early users.
New marketing platform and fundraising software updates
Blackbaud Marketing is designed to help fundraising and marketing teams coordinate digital engagement across multiple channels. Built within Raiser’s Edge NXT, the platform connects supporter engagement data with constituent records used by fundraising teams.
AI-assisted functions will support marketing planning, content creation and optimisation. Blackbaud anticipates releasing the platform by the second quarter of 2027.
The company is also expanding capabilities within Raiser’s Edge NXT, including its unified web interface and embedded AI features. Blackbaud AI Chat allows fundraisers to interact with fundraising data conversationally, generate content and access recommended practices. Intelligent Tags are designed to help teams track important actions related to major-gift fundraising.
For organisations with more complex fundraising requirements, Blackbaud is updating Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM with a refreshed interface and plans to introduce Blackbaud AI Chat to the enterprise platform.
Organisations apply technology to fundraising and accessibility
Blackbaud highlighted several organisations in Asia-Pacific that have used its technology to support fundraising, accessibility and constituent engagement.
Vision Australia worked with Blackbaud to develop accessibility improvements across Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM and payment experiences. The work aimed to reduce digital barriers for people who are blind or have low vision while improving the usability of systems for staff.
Sam Ovais, Fundraising CRM Manager at Vision Australia, was also recognised for work advancing accessibility in the enterprise fundraising platform.
The Australian National University used Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM and Perplexity AI to develop a 100-point engagement score aligned with Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) guidance across 300,000 constituents. The university reported more than A$70 million in philanthropic income in 2025 and its most successful alumni engagement campaign.
Adelaide University consolidated two Raiser’s Edge NXT environments into a single advancement platform as part of its merger. The implementation brought together teams across philanthropy, alumni relations, prospect research, finance and IT, with the university reporting a 100% pass rate across testing and deployment.
