LONDON, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world's leading cloud
software company powering social good, has enabled
thousands of fundraisers to use their time during the national
lockdown to raise millions of pounds for COVID-19 causes using a
number of creative initiatives on JustGiving. More than ever
charities are relying on the goodwill of the public to help them
deliver vital services all over the UK. From healthcare providers
including the National Healthcare Service (NHS) to causes such as
food banks, JustGiving has seen a sharp rise in the number of
social good organizations launching emergency appeals on the
platform.
The JustGiving platform, which removed platform fees in March of
2019 and has helped people in 164 countries raise billions for
causes they care about, was created to help ensure no great cause
goes unfunded. The many COVID-19 campaigns that have been launched
have captured the spirit of JustGiving's mission and showed the
resilience and creativity of its loyal fundraising base.
"We have been overwhelmed by the response from the public to the
COVID-19 pandemic," said Pascale
Harvie, president and GM of Blackbaud's operations in
Europe. "Thousands of fundraisers
have turned to JustGiving to raise millions of dollars for a number
of good causes to help tackle this crisis. Whether they've run
marathons in their gardens, cycled the distance of the Tour de
France in their living rooms or
donated their commute, we have been inspired by each and every one
of those who have helped during this global emergency."
Generous donors have helped raise millions of dollars for
COVID-19 causes across the world, including direct donations to
charities, supporting fundraising campaigns or creating their own
crowdfunding appeals. Among the thousands of appeals that have been
launched on JustGiving in recent weeks are a number of significant
appeals that have really caught the public's attention.
Private Individual Appeals
Thousands of fundraisers
have turned to JustGiving to help the most vulnerable in society
during a time of national emergency. This has been best
demonstrated by the volume of creative crowdfunding and fundraising
appeals that have launched on JustGiving. Whether it's Jake Hill-Gowing who is cycling the
distance of the Tour de France in
his uniquely named Le Tour de Flat raising over $5,000 for the Big Issue Foundation or
James Campbell and Keith Clarke who have both run marathons in
their gardens, raising over $40,000
between them for NHS Charities Together and The Intensive Care
Society in separate appeals. The anonymous COVID CUTS has
launched the viral #covidcuts, encouraging people to get a home
haircut and donate the cost of the usual haircut to the appeal,
raising over $8,000 for NHS Charities
Together. Jack McDermott, AKA
Pieface23, livestreamed a series of silly challenges on Twitch
raising over $13,500 for NHS
Charities Together.
Quizmaster Laura Jones ran
'the one where 114,000 people all over the world took part in a
virtual F.R.I.E.N.D.S. quiz' followed by a Disney quiz the
following week raising almost $135,000 for NHS Charities Together. The aptly
named 'Barrython' ran a 12-hour livestream of workouts, also to
support NHS Charities Together, raising over $45,000. Proud Cornish residents Louise Hopes and Natalie
Pain are urging their fellow Cornish residents to donate £1
each to the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust Charitable
Fund to help tackle the local COVID-19 response. So far, the
people of Cornwall have donated
over $37,000.
Celebrity Appeals
A number of British celebrities
have helped raise thousands of dollars by launching appeals with
charities. Star of Homeland Damian Lewis, his wife actress
Helen McRory and their friend, star
of Little Britain comedian Matt
Lucas, teamed up with British restaurant chain LEON to
launch an appeal to help feed NHS staff. After becoming the
fifth largest crowdfunding appeal on JustGiving, raising over
$1.1m, Damian, Helen and Matt have
continued to use their voice to move the appeal to work with
University College London Hospitals Charity, ensuring the funds
raised go toward vital medical work to tackle COVID-19. English
football legend Gary Lineker has
launched the British Red Cross Coronavirus Response appeal,
kick-starting it with a phenomenal $172,000 donation, with the appeal already
raising more than $242,000. Some of
the U.K.'s biggest comedians have come together to raise over
$103,000 for the NextUp appeal.
Comedians Lee Mack and Richard Herring both donated over $12,000 each to the appeal, more than
$6,000 each from Sara Pascoe and Adam
Kay and large donations both anonymously and from comedians
including Dawn French, Tom Rosenthal, Al
Murray, Angela Barnes,
Susan Calman, Robert Webb and Geoff
Norcott as well as many others.
The Saturdays singer and TV presenter Rochelle Humes and her husband JLS singer and TV
presenter Marvin Humes launched
their appeal for the NSPCC to enable them to continue vital
work protecting vulnerable children away from the safety of school,
raising almost $13,000. Geordie Shore
star and winner of the UK reality show I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out
of Here! Vicky Pattison launched an
appeal with Age UK, McVities, Heinz, Whitworths and others to
create care packages for elderly and vulnerable members of the
community raising over $6,000 so
far.
Charity Appeals
Large numbers of charities have
launched emergency appeals both for COVID-19 causes and
non-COVID-19 causes. The largest charity appeal on JustGiving is
the NHS Charities Together appeal so far raising over
$2m to provide urgent grants to
member NHS Charities to support the health and emotional wellbeing
of those at the frontline so they can deliver the best possible
care to patients during this critical time. The Children's Society
has launched an Emergency Coronavirus Appeal to help thousands
of vulnerable children who are now in dangerous environments,
alone, hidden from view and subject to worsening neglect. Their
appeal has so far raised over $60,000. Children's charity Transforming Lives
for Good have launched their Urgent Coronavirus Appeal to
provide emergency care packages to children in desperate need whose
families struggle financially to feed them. Their appeal has raised
almost $36,000.
SameYou has launched an emergency appeal to help provide
urgent medical care to brain injury and stroke patients to recover
at home to allow hospital beds to be freed up for COVID-19 patients
and has so far raised over $78,000.
Imperial Health Charity launched their COVID-19 Relief Fund to
support the five London hospitals in the Imperial College
Healthcare NHS Trust raising a fantastic $336,000. In Kind Direct have launched an
appeal to get essential hygiene products dispensed to their
network of 3,500+ charities to help vulnerable people during the
crisis, so far raising nearly $20,000. The Irish Cancer Society has held a
virtual Daffodil Day Coffee Morning raising over $16,000 while the Alzheimer Society of
Ireland has launched an urgent
appeal raising more than $65,000. Simon Community Scotland has launched
its #GIVEHOPE appeal raising over $83,000 to help people in difficult situations
with nowhere to self-isolate who may already be in a vulnerable
health situation across Glasgow,
Edinburgh and Central Scotland.
Business Appeals
A number of businesses have launched
dedicated appeals, working with their colleagues, customers and
suppliers to raise thousands of dollars for COVID-19 causes. The
PRS Foundation has teamed up with the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief
Project to help alleviate hardship through grants for people
working in the music industry. Spotify is matching donations
pound-for-pound and with over $14,000
raised on their appeal so far, the total currently stands at more
than $28,000. The Sunday Times have
relaunched their 2019 Christmas Appeal to raise funds for the
Education Endowment Fund (EEF) helping alleviate the devastating
impact being out of school will have on the most vulnerable
children in society. Adding to the Christmas Appeal, the Sunday
Times has now raised $900,000 for
this appeal alone. Global IT company Options launched their
appeal with colleagues across London, Belfast and New
York to support frontline medical staff where they operate
by purchasing medical supplies, home support and technological
support to fight the virus. They have so far raised almost
$150,000.
Leyton Orient Football Club launched the incredible Ultimate
Quaran-Team FIFA Tournament, pitting football fans against each
other on FIFA raising over $70,000
for English Football League clubs and mental health charity MIND.
The National Videogame Museum in the UK have also launched an
emergency appeal to save the museum from closure during the
lockdown as they struggle with a prolonged shutdown, so far raising
over $38,000.
About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the
world's leading cloud software company powering social good.
Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher
education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations,
faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations,
companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and
empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud
software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud
portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with
solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy,
peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school
management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment
processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three
decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations
in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa
Rica and the United
Kingdom. For more information, visit
www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About JustGiving
JustGiving is the world's leading
online fundraising platform, enabling over 24 million people to
raise more than $4.9bn (£4.2bn) for
over 26,000 charities since launching in the UK in 2000. As a
tech-for-good company, JustGiving develops world-class technology
and innovative tools to fulfil its mission to connect people with
the causes they care about. By making giving more simple, social
and rewarding, JustGiving helps all causes, charities and people in
need to reach more people and raise more money. In March 2019, JustGiving removed its platform fees
ensuring more money goes to good causes. Aside from the payment
processing fee, 100% of donations now go to the causes people
donate too. JustGiving joined Blackbaud in 2017. For more
information, visit www.justgiving.com or follow us on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Press Inquiries
UK Queries
Felix Parker-Smith, Senior Public Relations
Specialist
felix.parker-smith@blackbaud.co.uk
US Queries
media@blackbaud.com
Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical
information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions
contained in this news release are forward-looking statements which
are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to,
statements regarding: the predictability of our business and
financial results. These statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making
these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future
circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such
statements are based. In addition, other important factors that
could cause results to differ materially include the following:
management of integration of acquired companies; uncertainty
regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers;
a shifting revenue mix that may impact gross margin; continued
success in sales growth; uncertainty regarding the COVID-19
disruption; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time
in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available
free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or upon request
from Blackbaud's investor relations department. Blackbaud assumes
no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking
statements, except as required by law.
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