Blackbaud Announces the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards Finalists Featuring Six UK Organisations
Celebrating the Organisations and Individuals Using Technology, Innovation, and Collaboration to Create Meaningful Impact
We’re excited to announce the finalists for the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards, recognising outstanding organisations and leaders who are using Blackbaud technology to advance their missions, strengthen their organisations, and deliver measurable outcomes. The awards celebrate the changemakers transforming ambition into action and demonstrating what’s possible when purpose and technology come together.
For more than four decades globally, and since 1999 in the UK, Blackbaud has partnered with organisations across the social impact ecosystem—including charities, healthcare organisations, educational institutions, foundations, and companies committed to positive social change. The Blackbaud Impact Awards shine a spotlight on customers who are embracing innovation, overcoming challenges, and delivering meaningful results for the communities and causes they serve.
“The organisations recognised this year represent some of the very best of the UK’s social impact sector,” said Matt Ravenhill, Senior Director of Customer Success and Sales, Blackbaud Europe. “What stands out is not only their results, but the way they’re achieving them: using data, collaboration and technology to build stronger relationships, uncover new opportunities and deliver lasting value for the people and communities they serve. Their stories demonstrate the creativity, ambition and leadership that exist across our sector, and we’re delighted to celebrate their achievements as finalists in the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards.”
UK Organisations and Leaders Honoured in the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards
The Blackbaud Impact Awards continue to grow as a global celebration of customer excellence. This year, we expanded opportunities for recognition across regions and are thrilled to highlight the work of six UK organisations.
These stories demonstrate how data, collaboration, digital transformation, and forward-thinking leadership can help organisations navigate complexity, respond to evolving needs, and achieve lasting impact. Whether improving supporter engagement, empowering teams with better insights, modernising operations, or exploring new technologies, each finalist reflects a commitment to innovation in service of their mission.
St. Raphael’s Hospice
St. Raphael’s Hospice is a finalist for the Changemaker Award for partnering with Blackbaud and Blackbaud partners RedArc and Omatic Software to transform their use of Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Blackbaud Integrated Payments to build a streamlined fundraising operation that saved 60 hours per week, reclaimed £120,000 in Gift Aid, and delivered a 50% increase in donations, ultimately sustaining free hospice care amid a UK-wide funding crisis.
Cash for Kids UK
Cash for Kids UK is a finalist for the Data Strategist Award, recognized for leveraging Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Blackbaud partner Zeidman Development to transform 350,000 constituent records into a living data strategy through a new four-part data operations methodology—empowering 22 local fundraising teams to surface dormant giving potential and driving toward a £1 million fundraising target through data-led action by end of 2026.
Durham University
Durham University is a finalist for the Futurist Award for using Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and Microsoft Power Automate to automate gift acknowledgement and receipting—reducing a half-day, two-person manual process to a single click, saving 5 hours per week, and establishing Durham University as a pioneer in Power Platform automation within the UK higher education fundraising sector.
Wesco International
Wesco International is a finalist for the Silo Buster Award for transforming Wesco Cares from a US-concentrated program into a globally integrated social impact strategy with Blackbaud YourCause® and Impact Edge®—embedding sustainability leadership directly into EMEA operations, formalizing governance and vetting processes, launching an EMEA Client Engagement Fund, and driving a 442% year-over-year increase in UK employee engagement—all by breaking down regional silos and uniting communications, sustainability, and business leaders around a single, data-driven global program.
Imperial College of London and St. Wildrid’s Hospice
Lauren Gooley, Head of CRM Implementation at Imperial College of London, and Hayley Kenward, Individual Giving Manager at St. Wilfrid’s Hospice, are both finalists for the Rising Star Award, which recognizes emerging leaders who are making an outsized impact.
Gooley led a complex, large-scale Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM™ implementation, with no prior higher education experience, rapidly building expertise and cross-functional relationships across Advancement, IT, and external suppliers, while driving consistency, data quality, and strategic decision-making—and becoming the recognized model for excellent delivery and collaborative working across Imperial College of London.
Kenward transformed fundraising operations through Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT—restructuring Campaign, Appeal, and Fund architecture, modernizing donation experiences, improving data governance and GDPR practices, and helping colleagues generate approximately 30% more income while supporting end-of-life care for more than 340 people across West Sussex.
To view the full list of global finalists and to read more about their impact, visit www.blackbaud.com/impact-awards.
Stay Tuned for Winner Announcements and Celebrations
Winners will be announced on Tuesday, 18th August, and will be celebrated at bbcon London, Blackbaud’s annual user conference. This year, bbcon London will take place on Tuesday 3rd November at Convene, 22 Bishopsgate. For the first time, bbcon London is being expanded to include a day of pre-conference masterclass workshops for organisations looking to accelerate their impact through Microsoft Power Platform. Learn more and register here.