The Buzz: July 2026 Edition!

Crystal Bruce

Welcome to the July edition of The Buzz — your quick roundup highlighting new community features, opportunities to engage, and helpful resources to explore this month. 

🏆 July's Monthly Challenge: Build Your Perfect bbcon Experience! 

The bbcon 2026 session catalog is officially live, and July's challenge is all about building your dream bbcon agenda! Share your must-attend sessions, why they’d be helpful to you, and earn this month’s badge: 

 

Don’t forget to claim your bbcon attendee badge if you are attending in person or virtually!  

⚽ Just for Fun: World Cup Fever is Real! (Bonus Badge for reading The Buzz!) 

It's summer and the World Cup buzz is undeniable! We've got a fun discussion going in the Member Lounge—join in and share your World Cup fever and earn a soccer/football badge for your profile page! 

 

NEW Community Home Pages: 

In case haven’t seen in yet—the Raiser’s Edge NXT, Financial Edge NXT, and the bbcon community have a new look!  

• Announcements and featured discussions are front and center 
• Easier connections to community All-Stars and active community members 
• List of helpful resources that are easily accessible 
• Success stories from members like you 

Check them out. Leave a comment below if you love the new look! We will be enhancing more product communities in the coming weeks. 

 

🙋 Can You Help? Your Expertise Matters! 

A few great questions are still waiting for more replies. If you've tackled a similar challenge or have a tip to share, jump in and help a fellow member move forward! 

• Raiser’s Edge NXT: If you’re using this product combo, we’d love your input! How’s it working for you? DotDigital / Zeidman / Raiser’s Edge NXT 
• Blackbaud CRM™: Has anyone added new columns to the Plan Outline grid under Prospects > Major Giving Setup > Plan Outlines? 
• bbcon London: Thinking of heading to bbcon London—or attended last year? Share your experience and insights with this member: bbcon 2026: London 
• Blackbaud Agents for Good™: Early adopters of Blackbaud’s agentic AI—how has your experience been so far? Share your insights with this member: Early Adopters, Early Feedback? 

🆕 ICYMI: What's New 

Don't miss the latest product updates this month! 

Raiser’s Edge NXT: 

• What's New in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT—July 7, 2026
• Managed Lists in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: A New Home for Query Lists

Blackbaud’s Education Management Solutions:  

• Blackbaud's Education Management Solutions: What's New for July 7, 2026 (K-12) 
• Blackbaud's Education Management Solutions: What's New for July 7, 2026 (Higher Ed)

Blackbaud Grantmaking:  

• The Grantmaking Post

ResearchPoint: 

• August/September 2026 AddressAccelerator and PostalSaver Updates for US Databases 

🌟 Featured Content 

Don't miss out on these great resources! 

Community News: 

• How Is AI Really Working in the Social Impact Sector? New Blackbaud Institute Research Has Answers 
• AI Innovator Priya Lakhani Joins the bbcon Mainstage—and the Session Catalog is Live  

Raiser's Edge NXT: 

• Managed Lists in Raiser’s Edge NXT: A New Home for Query Lists   

Blackbaud CRM™: 

•  Continuing the Blackbaud CRM SKY UX Modernization Journey

SKY Developer: 

• Two bbdevdays hackathon Projects Need You 
• Improved Guidance for Consent and Query API Data Synchronization Best Practices 

Agents for Good: 

• Introducing the Development Agent User Group: Learn, Connect, and Grow Together 

ENGAGE: 

• Phonathon Best Practices for More Confident Donor Outreach  
• Changemaker Spotlight Q&A: Donna Albaum, Donna Klein Jewish Academy  

 

Events: 

Don’t miss these opportunities to connect and learn!   

• Blackbaud ResearchPoint™ Product Tour - Segmentation (July 17) 
• Are You Ready for Agentic AI? A Human First Readiness Check for Nonprofits (July 23) 
• Increase Giving with Optimized Donation Forms in Luminate Online (July 28) 

Space is Limited Plan Ahead — Power Platform Workshops Coming to You! 

Build smarter workflows and reporting at our Power Platform Regional Workshops coming to Silicon Valley on August 25-26 and Washington, D.C. on October 27-28. Join Blackbaud and Microsoft experts for two days of hands-on learning with Microsoft’s Power Automate or Power BI solutions. Choose the location and track that works best for you and save your spot today! 

🏅 Community Kudos 

Let's celebrate the amazing contributions from our community members this past month! 

A special shoutout to All-Star Alex Wong for sharing his Gift Digest Email template. This Power Automate template streamlines gift reporting by compiling multiple Raiser's Edge NXT gift notifications into a single, consolidated email—ideal for daily or weekly updates.  

Thank you, Alex! 🌟 

Another special shout out to All-Star Sunshine Reinken Watson for collaborating with community members and All-Stars to keep a running list of bbcon sessions presented by members of our own community! That discussion already has 466 views and 11 comments. Thank you, Sunshine! 

Our final special shout-out goes out to All-Star Rachel Kauer for her recent blog in the Raiser’s Edge NXT Community: From Complexity to Clarity: Building Sustainable, Living Documentation for Gift and Constituent Data. Thanks, Rachel! 

🎂 Birthdays 

Let's wish all of our Cancers and Leos a very happy birthday. If you're celebrating a birthday in July, let us know in the comments so we can shower you with birthday wishes! 

Elizabeth Johnson

Wow @Crystal Bruce so much goodness in here. Can't wait to read @Rachel Kauer blog , @Alex Wong for always sharing so much, and @Sunshine Reinken Watson for helping us find each other's sessions at bbcon!

If you are reading this and thinking about doing the Power Platform workshops - go for it! Money and time well spent!

Rachel Cavalier

The highlight of this month's Buzz is for sure the bbcon London mention! 😍