Blackbaud Releases New Survey Results Revealing Churches' Response to the Pandemic

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world's leading cloud software company powering social good, in conjunction with The Unstuck Group releases the results of The Unstuck Church Report: How Churches are Positioning for the Future. The report details survey results from more than 500 churches ranging in size from under 100 to more than 5,000 in attendance (prior to the COVID-19 shutdowns) during the month of May and the impacts of the pandemic on their congregations and ministries.

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Most churches aren't ready to open their doors yet
• More than half of the churches surveyed have plans to reopen their buildings in the coming months, and only 6% have resumed in-person services to date.
• Nearly all churches that have reopened their buildings are experiencing lower attendance than pre-pandemic.
• Larger churches are more likely to be actively discussing longer-term changes to ministry methods, which includes 96% of both large churches and megachurches that are anticipating a new normal.
• Online engagement continues to increase
• Two-thirds of churches indicated online engagement since the onset of the pandemic has increased compared to in-person attendance prior to COVID-19.
• Most churches, including all megachurches and more than 70% of small churches surveyed, are now offering online small groups. Additionally, 45% of churches indicated that small group engagement has increased since COVID-19. In April, Blackbaud launched its virtual small group capability in a matter of days following customer feedback that this technology would be helpful during the pandemic. The new capability is available at no additional cost through Blackbaud Church Management™ or its native app, MobileMission™.
• Giving remains strong and churches are financially stable
• Two-thirds of churches surveyed indicated that giving has increased or stayed the same during the pandemic.
• More than 80% of churches reported having adequate cash reserves set aside in preparation for a crisis like COVID-19.

For decades, Blackbaud has been helping thousands of denominations and ministries connect their organizations, including now through Blackbaud Church Management, which is digitally transforming the day–to–day operations of churches by offering solutions that can reduce their IT footprint by eight to 12 systems; creating a truly connected church experience. The connected church has become even more critical during the pandemic as churches have closed their doors and moved services and offertory online.

Read the full survey results here and for more information about Blackbaud's Cloud Solution for Faith Communities, visit Blackbaud.com/who-we-serve/faith-communities.

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.

Media Inquiries
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Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. 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: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; 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. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

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SOURCE Blackbaud