Blackbaud Integration Guide

Overview

BetterUnite’s Blackbaud integration allows you to sync fundraising transactions directly into your Blackbaud instance. Once connected, you can:

Map BetterUnite campaigns to Blackbaud funds
Review and filter transactions before syncing
Automatically match or create contacts in Blackbaud
Sync donations individually or in bulk

Setup Connection

Click on Settings and select Integrations -> Blackbaud Set Up as shown below.

Once you are on the set up page, follow the instructions to setup your Blackbaud connection.

To connect to your blackbaud account click Login Blackbaud to Continue.

Enter your credentials for Blackbaud to sign in.

Once you login, the page will ask you to Authorize BetterUnite to access your Blackbaud Data. Click on Authorize to enable this.

Syncing Donations from BetterUnite to Blackbaud

Step 1: Connect BetterUnite to Blackbaud

Once you have established a connection between BetterUnite and your Blackbaud instance, your BetterUnite account will have access to Blackbaud settings required for donation syncing.

This connection enables BetterUnite to:

Look up contacts in Blackbaud
Create new contacts when needed
Create donation records tied to the correct fund

Step 2: Map Campaigns to Blackbaud Funds

Each BetterUnite campaign must be mapped to a Blackbaud fund.

Donations in BetterUnite are always associated with a campaign
Donations in Blackbaud are associated with a fund
Mapping ensures each donation syncs to the correct fund

You can update campaign-to-fund mappings at any time.

Step 3: View Transactions Ready for Sync

From the campaign view, click View Transactions to see all donations associated with that fundraiser.

You can:

Filter transactions (default is the last 3 months)
Adjust or remove date filters
Review which transactions are ready to sync

Step 4: Contact Matching Behavior

When syncing a transaction, BetterUnite attempts to match the donor to an existing Blackbaud contact.

Here’s how matching works:

Exact match found → That contact is used
Multiple matches found → You’ll select the correct contact from a dropdown
No match found → A new contact is created automatically

Once a BetterUnite contact is matched to a Blackbaud contact, the Blackbaud contact ID is stored in BetterUnite. All future donations from that person will sync to the same Blackbaud contact.

Tip: You can run contact searches ahead of syncing to preview how contacts will be matched.

Step 5: Exclude $0 or Unwanted Transactions

Some transactions—such as free event registrations—may have a $0 amount and should not be synced.

You can:

Mark all $0 transactions as “Do Not Sync”
Exclude transactions individually on a per-transaction basis

This gives you full control over what data enters Blackbaud.

Step 6: Sync Donations

When you’re ready, you can:

Sync all transactions at once, or
Sync individual transactions one at a time

During sync, BetterUnite:

Matches or creates the contact in Blackbaud
Creates the donation record
Stores the Blackbaud donation ID for reference

Once completed, the transaction will show as successfully synced.

Step 7: Re-Syncing Donations (If Needed)

If a transaction needs to be re-synced:

Reset the sync status in BetterUnite
Sync the transaction again

⚠️ Important: Before re-syncing, ensure any duplicate donation records are removed from Blackbaud to avoid duplication.

Step 8: Donation Amount Options

By default, BetterUnite syncs the intended donation amount (for example, a $100 donation).

You can also choose to sync:

Gross amount (before fees), or
Net amount (after fees)

This setting gives flexibility depending on how your organization records revenue in Blackbaud.