Blackbaud plans to start a Value-added Reseller program in 2016. The information was given at this week’s Investors Day. Unfortunately, I missed the webcast and no replay is yet available. The slides associated with the announcement say partners will manage client relationships and every relationship will be supported by a dedicated Blackbaud relationship manager. The nonprofit software company also pointed to success in its Partner program that was started this year. That is more an OEM/ISV group of 150 businesses, which the company says is growing. This part of the presentation was made by EVP Kevin Mooney, who manages the company’s general markets business unit. Blackbaud has not had a true VAR program since 2005, when it folded that effort. It later had a handful of FundWare resellers it picked up with the purchase of Kintera. The program that has been developing of the last few years is led by Chris Clinton, VP of global channels and partner ecosystems. The initiatives outlined by Mooney also show Blackbaud is hiring more direct sales people to push its cloud-based NXT products to new customers and the installed base. That includes a vertical focus on K-12 private schools, arts and cultural groups, foundations, and corporations.
