Beneath the shiny exterior, a cesspool thrives - Anonymous employee Blackbaud Employee Review

2.0
May 11, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Policies are generally very employee-friendly. PTO allotments at more than generous. Stress levels are generally pretty low. Serving the social good market feels good.

Cons

You may notice that there is a recent batch of highly positive reviews from current employees. That is really emblematic of what Blackbaud is. You see, the company recently strongly encouraged current employees to write favorable reviews on Glassdoor to boost the ratings. You know, to enhance the company's image. There is a lot of window dressing at Blackbaud and the recent activity here is a PERFECT example. The company tends to treat its customers as adversaries, not partners. "The contract is the contract," is often said, without consideration for how Blackbaud may have wronged the customer. The company NEVER takes responsibility for when it is wrong. The internal culture is one that lacks any accountability. No one feels empowered to accomplish anything or make decisions, so, things are rarely accomplished. Even very basic tasks move at a glacial pace. Timelines drift. Execution is poor to non-existent. Nobody seems to care. There are essentially 25 people that get things done in the company. In the Pros section, I mentioned employee-friendly policies, which is very true. However, these policies when paired with a culture of no accountability leads to an employee base stuffed with complacent, 15-20 year employees that never leave and never accomplish anything. Oh, and they love to celebrate "boomerang" employees that leave and return. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. These folks left, were asked to produce in their new roles and were like "nah bro, I'm going back to the 'baud." This cycle also leads to practically no new ideas from the outside. If the idea didn't come from Daniel Island, it's not valid. If you’re a high-performer with career growth ambitions, this morass of sloth around the org will be highly frustrating and serve as a roadblock to your development. Should we talk about the products? One of the main products is essentially sold with a bait-and-switch demo. I hope you like the "database view" that you never see in the demo. The "web view" is mostly fairy tale. Another product is built on ancient web technology that is not supported by any modern browser. Awesome stuff, really. There's no appetite to really invest in products. The company spends an embarrassingly low portion of its revenue on R&D for a supposed cutting-edge SaaS company. Senior leadership essentially prints money for themselves via gaudy stock awards. A couple years ago, several leaders were cashing huge stock checks, but there were no raises for middle managers. Way to lead by example. Oh, and there are annual layoffs, because nobody in leadership is capable of reacting to poor sales performance in a timely manner. The same pattern emerges every year. It's disgraceful. Office politics are out of control. Everyone has their fiefdoms and woe unto you should you step on anyone's toes, especially if you're trying to help a customer. Silos are EVERYWHERE. Look, some people love it here, but don't let the shiny exterior fool you. This place will crush your soul if you aren't willing to sell it.

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Blackbaud Response
7y
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your experience working at Blackbaud. We are happy to hear you enjoyed the unique benefits we offer as well as the clients you got to work with. We pride ourself first and foremost, on our people. We appreciate your feedback and advice. If you would like to share more about your experience, please contact us at blackbaudrecruiting@blackbaud.com. Thank you again for sharing your feedback. It helps us make Blackbaud a better place.

Explore other reviews about Blackbaud

5.0
Jan 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Was able to grow professionally, and be pushed to be the best employee possible

Cons

Honestly, at the time there weren’t many cons.

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Blackbaud Response
5mo
Thank you for your positive feedback! We’re thrilled to hear that you were able to grow professionally at Blackbaud and felt supported in becoming the best employee you could be. Investing in the growth and wellbeing of our people—emotionally, socially, financially, physically, and intellectually—is core to who we are.
1.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible remote work environment and good PTO

Cons

Extremely toxic sales culture here with boys club and clear favoritism. Sales director and VP are the reason for this as they are extremely unprofessional. Mass exodus is for a reason and unsure why HR is ignoring claims on sexism and favoritism with every female employee that seems to be leaving. No career growth or opportunities unless you are part of the boys club here as it is apparently and obvious. Ask the right questions before considering a job here. You are unable to be successful here with onboarding because of completely out of touch and delusional sales trainers. Seems like we are in a complete clown show here!

4
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Blackbaud Response
1w
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and perspective. We appreciate your recognition of the breadth of our product portfolio and the opportunities that can come from supporting a wide range of solutions and customers. We’re sorry to hear that your experience with management and organizational dynamics did not meet your expectations. We remain committed to fostering a culture where teams feel supported, work is meaningful, and people are connected through a shared purpose of driving social impact together.
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