bbcon 2023: The Must-Attend Grantmaking Sessions for Leaders

When you are working on a tough issue or an innovative solution, sometimes it helps to learn from others who have tackled that problem or are working on a similar idea. From gathering demographic data to understanding your grantees’ experiences, grantmaking organizations have been working through many multifaceted conundrums this year.

That’s why we’re excited for bbcon 2023 to be back in person, where we can learn from our amazing grantmaking community face to face!

If you are headed to Denver for bbcon 2023, below are the grantmaking sessions you want to make sure are on your agenda. While we hope to see you in person October 22-24, a selection of these sessions will be available online for you to watch from the comfort of your office.

Collecting Demographic Data with Requirements

Veteran grantmakers Sue Fulton and Andie Hession from the Endowment for Health highlight their efforts to better understand the diversity of those they serve, and what they learned along the way. Using their own experience as a case study, they will show their process for collecting and managing the information, including how they created and distributed the survey through Blackbaud Grantmaking.

Mastering Dashboards in Blackbaud Grantmaking: Insider Tips and Best Practices from the Experts

Go beyond the typical Blackbaud University course and learn about two instructors’ favorite functionality in our grantmaking solution. Blackbaud University’s Henry Wiencek and Chrissy Haskell will do a quick overview of the different chart types, including how you can use them, and they will even build a few from scratch. Get an inside look at how to build and customize dashboards, including organizing your information and building unique parts. Come prepared to get excited about dashboards and share your favorite dashboard tips.

Non-Profits and Corporate Grantmakers: Partnerships Powering DEI Initiatives

Prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in your grantmaking is the right thing to do for grantmakers. But the efforts can also have a quantitative—and qualitative—impact on your communities. Blackbaud’s Laura Sonnee and Nichols Condon will lead a discussion with both corporate and nonprofit grantmakers on how they are advancing DEI initiatives and the impact these initiatives have made on their work.

Powering your Impact: How Blackbaud Can Help You Achieve More

Blackbaud Grantmaking clients Nicole Calvillo and Rupinder Kaur discuss how they were able to be more efficient in their grantmaking, which led them to better meet the needs of their communities.  In this session, Nicole and Rupinder are joined by Blackbaud’s Nick Mills and Ryan Turner to explore real-world examples of how customers have utilized Blackbaud’s Professional Services teams to build integrations and streamline workflows. You’ll learn how working with services can save you time and help you make the most of your grantmaking software, ultimately driving more impact and better meeting the needs of your community.

Trends in Impact and Outcomes Reporting in Grantmaking

Measuring the impact of your grantmaking can be difficult and time-consuming. You also don’t want to create an undue burden on your grantees for extensive reporting. In this session, Blackbaud Senior Product Manager Brenda Noiseux will walk through some best practices to measure impact in meaningful ways without requiring mounds of paperwork from your grantees. She will discuss insights from our own research and discovery programs on the grantee experience, as well as conversations we’re listening to in the wider philanthropic space.

Still More on the Mainstage 

While our grantmaking sessions will get you excited about making your grant programs even better, the main stage presentations will inspire you as a human helping other humans. Don’t miss the conversation with Olympian and cancer survivor Chaunte’ Lowe, and check the bbcon website for more great mainstage speakers.

Check out the Session Catalogue for more information on other tracks that you might find useful, including Sector Leadership and Trends and Tech Innovation.