The Buzz: Season of Giving (December 2024) Edition!

Ask an Expert:

The new Query functionality for Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® will be released on December 9th and we want to answer any questions you may have. Get ready for an exclusive Ask an Expert session with Senior Product Manager David Springer December 10th-12th in the Raiser's Edge NXT Community.

All-Star Nominations:

Blackbaud Community All-Star nominations will close at 5pm est on December 6th. If you are on the fence about applying for the 2025 cohort, check out this blog from the All-Stars in their own words about why they love being part of the program. You can also find more about program expectations and benefits here. We will announce the 2025 cohort in January!

Season of Giving:

It is officially the Season of Giving and we are ready to give back to YOU in the form of a NEW exclusive Season of Giving badge. Here it is!

We had a lot of great challenges in 2024 and so many fun exclusive monthly badges. To end the year strong and give you an opportunity to earn any badge you may have missed, we are RE-OPENING all our challenges for the year!

Here’s a quick glance at all the challenges we’ve had this year:

• Share your favorite product tip/trick that saves you time and boosts productivity.

• Can we ask you a question? Answer an All-Star poll!

• Inspiration Station! What are your sources of inspiration?

• Bookworms Unite! What’s your favorite book of all time?

• Gen Z at the Table: Leave a comment, get a badge!

• Leave a Tip for Using Community!

• Learning from Mistakes: share a mistake that turned into a great learning opportunity!

• bbcon Bingo!

• Level Up! Earn the next level in your Facilitator badge by answering a question in the community.

• Share! What is your social impact origin story?

• Product Update Briefings: Watch on demand now and leave your feedback!

If you complete the challenge(s) you may have missed out on by the end of December, you’ll earn the corresponding badge(s)! And since it is the Season of Giving, if you participate in this month’s challenge by earning a badge you previously missed, you will also receive this month’s exclusive badge!

Community Tip of the Month:

Did you know there’s a handy page featuring all of the challenges and the members who earned the badges? You can easily subscribe to the Blackbaud Community Challenges forum to stay on top of the challenges each month. It’s also a great place to ask any questions you may have about a challenge or just give a shout out to yourself for completing it.

Connect for Success:

Register for December's Connect for Success events from Blackbaud – virtual meetings to engage with and learn from your peers. You can find a complete list of the topics for December’s Connect for Success events here.

Tell Us How You're Feeling About End-of-Year and 2025 Fundraising!

We have two new polls up in the Raiser's Edge NXT community! Tell us what your outlook is for meeting your 2024 fundraising goals, and what you're anticipating for 2025. Your responses will be helpful in informing Blackbaud's research and content. This is also a great opportunity for you to earn or level up your Pollster badge!

End-of-year Fundraising

Are you fully prepared to tap into the generosity of the last few weeks of the year? Check out Blackbaud’s Ultimate End-of-Year Fundraising Toolkit to get some last-minute tips and templates to incorporate into your campaign. Download the toolkit for free here!

Just for Fun: How are you handling end of year stress? Let us know in this discussion!

bbcon 2024 on demand:

You have until January 30th, 2025 to watch the inspiring main stage content and select breakout sessions from bbcon 2024 in Seattle on-demand. You can get your free bbcon virtual pass and get access to incredible conference insights and unforgettable moments. When you watch bbcon on demand, you’ll experience inspiring messages from Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph and mental health ambassador Dr. Alex George and learn about the six major waves of innovation announced on the mainstage! Register for your free bbcon virtual pass today.

Make sure to stay informed of bbcon 2025 news by subscribing to our bbcon discussion forum. You can share your biggest takeaway from this year’s conference in All-Star Christine Robertson’s discussion here.

Community Kudos:

It’s time for a round of community kudos!

Austen Brown earned an impressive 267,100 points in November and she is now officially the first community member to boast a TWO MILLION points badge on her profile. Thank Austen for her contributions by writing a note on her page!

Alex Wong continues his streak of answering the most questions in the community with 85 responses given in November!

Dan Snyder is the top “like” giver in community with 133 likes last month. Thank you, Dan, for being our community energizer!

Events:

Check out these events coming up in December.

• Webinar: Mastering Programs: Best Practices for Applicant and Grantee Success (Tuesday, December 10th at 11am EST)

• User Group: Microsoft Power BI User Group (Wednesday, December 11th at Noon EST)

• User Group: Microsoft Power Automate User Group  (Tuesday, December 17th at Noon EST)

Birthdays:

We want to wish all of our Sagittarius’s and my fellow Capricorn’s a very happy birthday! If you celebrate a birthday in December, let us know in the comments below!

And on a personal note, I want to thank everyone for making 2024 a great year in the Blackbaud Community. I wish you and yours a very happy holidays and Happy New Year and I’ll see you back here in the Buzz in 2025!