Oct 28, 2026 earnings call — Platform for Good and AI product rollout
Q3 revenue grew 4.1% to $293 million as Blackbaud rolls out Platform for Good and Lantern with AI features coming in 2027.
Revenue $0.3B (est $0.3B) · EPS $1.36 (est $1.33)
Key quotes
"A single connected operating system in which our products, data, AI, and expertise work together learning from every interaction and getting smarter with every product that runs on it."
"During the first 9 months of 2026, including the net share settlement of employee stock compensation, we repurchased just over 7% of our outstanding common stock as of 12/31/2025."
Analyst Q&A 4
AI product monetization and transactions
Q (Brian Peterson · Raymond James): He asked how Blackbaud plans to monetize AI products and what revenue path looks like. He also asked whether any viral giving helped transactional revenue in Q3 and how to think about long-term transactional growth.
A: Management said AI products are already generating interest and early revenue, with development agent in market and other AI solutions in early adopter programs moving to general availability early next year. They said the new platform fee began in Q3 and will continue, and transactions are healthy though they vary by type; embedding transactions with core platforms makes those platforms stickier.
"And so we have got new revenue lines being built by these new solutions." — Michael Gianoni (CEO·CHAIR)
Lantern model and colo data centers
Q (Parker Lane · Stifel): He asked why domain-specific models (Lantern) matter for their sector and when those models will be available in 2027. He also asked Chad about timing and size of financial benefits from closing colo data centers.
A: Management said Lantern is embedded in their platforms, trained only on philanthropy and fundraising, and uses synthetic data rather than customer specific data, which supports trust and sector relevance. They said Lantern-powered capabilities will begin in 2027, and the colo closures will simplify operations with financial benefits that blend into the model starting in 2027.
"It uses synthetically created data that mimics customer data." — Michael Gianoni (CEO·CHAIR)
Drivers of organic growth step up
Q (Peter Burkly · Evercore): He asked what drove the uptick in organic growth this quarter and whether the Q4 exit rate is a durable base for 2027. He wanted a bridge across items like platform fee, holiday giving, seasonality, and renewal timing.
A: Management said Q3 lacked much holiday giving or viral transaction events and that growth was moderated by a much larger renewal cohort this year. They noted they started working renewals months in advance, the renewal work is largely behind them, and they expect a strong finish to the year with revenue and adjusted EBITDA in the upper half of guidance.
"We are happy with the growth but it is a bit moderated because of a large cohort of renewals we have this year, right?" — Michael Gianoni (CEO·CHAIR)
Renewals, pricing, and product attach rates
Q (Peter Burkly · Evercore): He asked how renewal rates, price increases, and product attachment at renewal are tracking versus plan and what supports a path back to historical gross retention of 91%–92%.
A: Management said renewals are going as planned but the volume this year is high, and they are beginning to attach new AI solutions at renewal conversations as early adopter programs expand. They expect attachment opportunities to increase because customers showed strong interest in the data health product and the new marketing platform, supporting future retention improvement.
"We will be talking to customers about the data health agent at renewal." — Michael Gianoni (CEO·CHAIR)