Assessing your Blackbaud contract: Do you know what you have in your contract?

Dariel Dixon 2 · July 2021

Greetings Community!

I was wondering how many of us here have access or have seen what is in our organization's Blackbaud contract? Do you know what features or add-ons you have? Do you have an idea of what they cost?

The first day I started my position here, I reached out to my Blackbaud account manager and got a detailed copy of our contract. I don't know how common this is (it should be pretty common in my opinion), but I went down the line a took a look at what features we had, and what we were actually using. There were several surprises in the contract that even the people who signed it didn't know about. After several months and before the renewal, I took an assessment of the contract. What I felt we should drop, and what I felt that we should add, and what I felt would be better served by another vendor. And I do this annually at least.

When was the last time you took a look at the contract and really assessed what you're paying for, and what things did you keep, and what did you drop off?

JoAnn Strommen · July 2021

Great post, @Dariel Dixon

We've actually been trying to get the details on what “enhanced” services lump charge entails on on contract renewal. LOL.

So agree that we should all know what we're paying for, using, not utilizing.

Tom Klimchak · July 2021

Great advice!

And even if you've been in your position for a while you should probably double-check it (and even compare contracts from year to the next) every so often.

We have OFTEN used our agreements to push for things with Blackbaud one way or the other. We've used them to educate the revolving door of “Customer Success” agents about what we are and are not actually paying for. We've been told that fixes to certain modules “weren't a priority” because “they're included for free” but had to then essentially prove to Blackbaud that they were incorrect.

Heather MacKenzie · July 2021

I agree with and second your post! At my previous org, I was very much involved in this and we also reviewed annually. At my current spot, I'm not involved in it (yet, I hope!), but I know it's being reviewed by my boss at least annually.

Dariel Dixon 2 · July 2021

I guess I can answer my own questions!

The first year I looked at the contract, I was surprised to see that we had a starter subscription to ResearchPoint. I took a look and we had not used any of the searches that we had. We also had a training pass, and I was looking to see how we used it. After a year, we had one member that had taken any courses…me. So we cancelled it and just put aside a portion of those funds for training as needed.

Also, we rearranged the data analytics package so to better suit our needs. Added a deceasing service one year, and some other services here and there.

If you don't know what you're paying for, you might be surprised what you have access to that you're not using.

Bobby Steurer · July 2021

Wish I could give this a million Likes, Dariel.

I highly recommend that everyone make this request at some point, especially if your organization has been with Blackbaud for quite some time. I also can't express enough how crucial/helpful it is to maintain a relationship with your Blackbaud Account Executive, even if it's just to send an email quarterly to keep contact.

Karen Diener 2 · July 2021

I do this with every client. We ask a bunch of questions at the beginning and most of the time they have NO idea what they have. Or if they have it, they don't know how to use it. Once we work with them awhile and get a better understanding of their situation, we often suggest they don't renew certain things.

Before I did consulting work, I made sure I reviewed contracts whenever I started working for a new organization. It always surprised me how difficult that was for the organization to find and share. I also asked to to review every renewal or invoice.

EXCELLENT question - thank you for posting it!

Karen

Dariel Dixon 2 · August 2021

UPDATE: I just had my new renewals person get in contact with us to take a look at the renewal. The contract doesn't expire until the end of the year, but that does allow us to take a look at the services provided and make some decisions. I definitely will be looking at some other offerings from other vendors for some things like deceasing services and other appends.

The point still remains that this is something that needs to be done whenever your contract is up for renewal. Please don't just renew the contract without taking a look at what is in it and what you're paying for.

Dariel Dixon 2 · April 2022

Just a bump up to get more eyes on this. This needs to happen more often.

Dariel Dixon 2 · October 2022

Greetings and Salutations Community!

I wanted to provide a bit of an update for this topic as I'm doing my annual check of the contract. I've recently moved to another organization, but as always, one of the first things I did was reach out to the account rep and see what was in the contract. Recently, the way Blackbaud has structured the contracts has changed and it is becoming more and more difficult to be able to cultivate the product in a unique way that provides what the organization needs. That's disappointing. Organizations evolve over time, and may outgrow, or find new tools and features needed. Things should not stay static at all times.

That said, I'm curious to anyone who has looked over their contract recently, have you had any issues removing or adding features or functionality?

Daniel R. Snyder · October 2022

@Dariel Dixon This is a really great topic and worth all of our time to consider and some great advice from a Green Ninja! #gninga

Lauren Carll · May 2024

@Dariel Dixon I have been so frustrated with the customer service around this. Invoice details are so limited and getting any sort of clarity has been really challenging, even having billing rep claim responses were sent that I never received. Also, renewal notices are unclear and they build in terms for automatic renewal while making very little effort to actually connect and review--I received two notice within a week of each other in November for an April renewal and not other contact. RE/BB must know that with turnover, some additional support is needed when renewals come up, but it is just easier to let things renew, as it's covered in contract language current staff may have no awareness of. I'm especially disappointed because my current account rep was the rep at a previous organization, and I thought that at least there would be some continuity of a relationships, but she just tries to upsell me or pass me off to other departments.

Dariel Dixon 2 · May 2024

@Lauren Carll This is so disappointing, but not surprising. In the vertical structure that Blackbaud uses, I've found that some are better than others. Healthcare for instance, was much more stable than Higher Education in regards to keeping the same account rep. I went through 4 reps in 3 years at one organization.

The timing is paramount. If you are looking at your contract less than 3 months before a renewal, it's not going to be as beneficial as looking at it at the 6 month period. I think it's imperative that you try to talk to your rep around then and put a reminder on the calendar somewhere. Also, I think some services should not be set to auto renew, and that's something that needs to be addressed with your representative. The price is always increasing, and the level of service seems to be headed in the opposite direction.

Lee Grisham · May 2024

@Lauren Carll we just went through our renewal process. It was stupid, plain and simple. It is not in the interest of the organization at all.

When we pointed out a list of inconsistencies with the “Order Form” (as they aren't contracts) the response was that they are not able to change the language within the form. Don't worry, you won't have to acknowledge that. I believe I have posted before about the issue with their renewal emails not being descriptive (i.e. missing a PRODUCT NAME) and the fact that they are using that as an “agreement” that is binding is ridiculous.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't understand how any of this would hold up in court. There is no way to actually understand what you are paying for as they are not listed in detail anywhere, only visible to your account rep. I have started cc'ing anyone I have at Blackbaud on all communications so that someone will be able to see the information. That is the only way to ensure that something gets done. Find your success rep, renewals rep, account rep, and anyone else and add them to every email you send, regardless of the conversation.

If you aren't the CEO at your organization, it is embarrassing to have that conversation that makes you look like you don't know what you are talking about. There really isn't a way to know!

Assessing your Blackbaud contract: Do you know what you have in your contract?

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