Blackbaud Bets on AI and Diversity to Reshape Social Impact Tech

CHARLESTON, S.C. – January 13, 2026 – Blackbaud, the software giant for the social impact sector, today announced the 12 startups joining its January 2026 Social Good Startup Program. The new cohort signals a significant strategic push, focusing on companies leveraging artificial intelligence to solve complex nonprofit challenges while championing a more inclusive and diverse vision for the future of technology.

AI as the New Engine for Social Good

A defining characteristic of the new cohort is its deep integration of artificial intelligence. These startups are moving beyond theoretical applications, building practical tools designed to automate tedious tasks and unlock new fundraising potential for resource-strapped organizations. This aligns with Blackbaud's broader corporate strategy, which has seen the company brand itself as the "leader in AI for social impact" and roll out a suite of AI-powered features across its core products.

The cohort includes ventures like DonorAtlas, an AI-native tool that synthesizes scattered public and private data into unified donor profiles, allowing fundraisers to use natural language to identify and cultivate prospects. Similarly, Givalgo is a multi-agent AI platform built for grantmakers, automating the arduous due-diligence process to enable faster, more informed giving decisions.

Other startups are targeting critical operational pain points. CORAA AI is transforming corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ESG compliance by automating due diligence and impact reporting, even offering multilingual AI agents for stakeholder communication. For event management, Grasshopper Signup uses AI to generate mobile-optimized signup forms from simple text descriptions. These innovations promise to free up valuable time, allowing nonprofit staff to focus less on administrative overhead and more on mission-driven work.

This focus on AI isn't happening in a vacuum. It reflects Blackbaud's significant investment in becoming the central AI hub for the nonprofit world. The company recently unveiled its own "Blackbaud Agents for Good," virtual AI teammates designed to handle complex tasks, and has forged a key partnership with AI firm Anthropic. By nurturing a new generation of AI-native startups, Blackbaud is not just fostering innovation but actively curating an ecosystem of tools that complement and enhance its own expanding AI capabilities.

Cultivating a More Inclusive and Sustainable Tech Ecosystem

Beyond the technological advancements, this cohort makes a powerful statement about diversity and inclusion. Blackbaud announced that 61% of the founders in the new group come from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the tech industry. This is a significant move in a sector where venture capital funding for minority and women founders has historically lagged, hitting multiyear lows in recent years.

"The companies in the January 2026 cohort are seriously impressive, with 12 globally distributed teams collectively bringing decades of lived experience working with and for top nonprofit organizations and technology companies," said Lizzie Schaffer, General Manager of Blackbaud's Social Good Startup Program, in the company's press release. She added that these founders are "shaping the future of how technology serves purpose-driven organizations."

The program's impact extends beyond initial selection. Blackbaud reports an 86% success rate for its accelerator graduates since 2020, with 66 of 77 participating startups still operating today. This figure stands in stark contrast to the typical startup failure rate, where over 65% of companies fail within a decade. Top-tier accelerators like Y Combinator and Techstars also boast survival rates far above the average, but Blackbaud's focus on a niche, purpose-driven sector makes its success particularly noteworthy.

Participants receive non-dilutive grant funding, promotional opportunities, and tailored access to Blackbaud's vast resources. This structured support system provides a critical runway for early-stage companies, particularly those led by founders who may face systemic barriers in traditional funding environments. Startups like Kindora, which uses AI to democratize grant discovery for under-resourced nonprofits, and Untapped Solutions, which builds infrastructure for organizations serving underserved communities, directly embody the program's dual focus on technological and social equity.

A Strategic Play for Platform Dominance

While the program's mission is rooted in social good, it is also a shrewd strategic initiative for Blackbaud. By incubating startups that build on and integrate with its core platforms, the company strengthens its market position and expands its product ecosystem without bearing all the research and development costs.

Several startups in the cohort are explicitly designed to enhance Blackbaud's flagship products. SwiftGrants is a grant management platform built to operate directly inside Raiser's Edge NXT, replacing disparate spreadsheets and emails with a streamlined workflow. Aqueduct Analytics offers a solution to deliver a comprehensive Raiser's Edge NXT dataset into a secure data warehouse, enabling more robust business intelligence and reporting.

This strategy creates a powerful feedback loop. Blackbaud gains innovative features and new reasons for customers to stay within its ecosystem, while the startups gain immediate access to a massive, targeted customer base. This "moat-building" is crucial as Blackbaud, which holds a commanding 11.9% of the global nonprofit software market, faces increasing competition from tech giants like Microsoft and Salesforce, who are also making inroads into the lucrative social impact sector.

"The Social Good Startup Program is more than an accelerator—it's a catalyst for innovation in the social impact space," noted Rosalyn Lemieux, Director of Product Management and Strategy at Blackbaud. "By connecting these visionary founders with Blackbaud's ecosystem, we're helping them scale solutions that empower nonprofits and socially responsible organizations to achieve more than ever before."

The 12 startups will spend the coming months refining their products and growth plans with Blackbaud's guidance. They will have the opportunity to pitch their solutions at the annual Blackbaud Social Good Startup Showcase and will be invited to the company's major tech conference in the fall, further embedding them within the network that is shaping the future of purpose-driven technology.