← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Blackbaud

“Can a nonprofit vertical SaaS company become the financial operating system for social-good organizations by embedding payments, insurance, international FX, and spend management directly into its mission-critical software suite?”

Founded1981
HQCharleston, South Carolina, USA
FoundersAnthony Bakker
Latest roundAcquired by Hellman & Friedman (formerly PE-backed, now public)
IndustryVertical SaaS / Nonprofit & Social Good

The story

Founded in 1981 as a nonprofit software company, Blackbaud evolved from a desktop fundraising database (Raiser's Edge) into a cloud-based vertical SaaS platform serving nonprofits, K-12 schools, healthcare, and other social-good organizations. Over the past decade, Blackbaud embedded financial services directly into its platform — first with payment processing (Blackbaud Merchant Services, powered by Stripe), then with purchase cards (Blackbaud Purchasing Card, powered by Visa), and in 2025 launching Blackbaud Integrated Payments as a full Payments-as-a-Service offering extended to third-party software vendors via its Payments API. The company is now strategically positioning embedded finance (payments, insurance, international FX, spend management) as a monetization and retention layer on top of its core SaaS.

Last 12 months

2024-11

Flywire and Blackbaud announced a strategic partnership to streamline international tuition payments for K-12 schools via Blackbaud's Tuition Management platform.

2025-04

Blackbaud launched Blackbaud Integrated Payments, extending payment processing to third-party software providers via its Payments API and integrating with YourCause CSR solution.

2025-07

Ramp announced a new integration with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, enabling automated sync of Ramp credit card transactions and AP invoices into Blackbaud.

2025

Blackbaud and Vertical Insure partnered to launch integrated tuition refund protection for K-12 private schools within Blackbaud's platform.

Product timeline

1981

Founded by Anthony Bakker as a software provider for nonprofit organizations.· pivot

1995

Raiser's Edge launched as flagship fundraising CRM/database for nonprofits.· banking

2014

Went public on NASDAQ (BLKB); expanded into cloud-based solutions.· ipo

2019

Launched Financial Edge NXT cloud accounting product for nonprofits.· banking

2020

Suffered significant data breach impacting nonprofit donor data; accelerated trust and compliance investments.· pivot

2022

Introduced Blackbaud Merchant Services for integrated payment processing across nonprofit solutions.· banking

2024

Partnered with Flywire to streamline international tuition payments for K-12 schools.· banking

2025

Launched Blackbaud Integrated Payments — an expanded Payments-as-a-Service platform powered by Stripe, extending payment capabilities to third-party software providers via Blackbaud's Payments API.· banking

The stack

4 layers disclosed in Blackbaud’s embedded-finance stack

Payments / PSP

Stripe ConnectBlackbaud Integrated Payments (self-operated)Blackbaud Merchant Services (self-operated)

Insurance

in the full report

FX & payouts

in the full report

Accounting

in the full report

Accounting gap: minor

4 more providers across 3 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.