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U.K. Charities and Universities Select Blackbaud Software to Maximise Impact

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With Recent Enhancements for Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Blackbaud Grantmaking™, Organisations Can Raise More Funds and Drive More Impact

LONDON, July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the leading provider of software for powering social impact, is helping U.K. customers maximise their impact with technology innovations that enable charities and universities to raise more funds and streamline their operations.

Blackbaud’s recently announced enhancements for its flagship fundraising product Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® illustrate the cutting-edge technology available to help fundraisers engage donors, save time, and deliver remarkable outcomes for their organisations. New features that will be available to all users at no extra cost, include:

Powerful new fundraising AIA streamlined Raiser’s Edge NXT user experiencePersonalised productivity dashboardsTop-performing donation forms

In addition, new capabilities are being rolled out for Blackbaud Grantmaking™, including a new applicant-centric portal. This portal allows grant applicants to view and edit applications across funders that use Blackbaud Grantmaking. The submission process has been streamlined with features that enhance communication, enabling both grantmakers and applicants to save time. In addition, new AI features allow users to translate application forms to over 25 languages, including French, Spanish, Welsh and more, which will help reduce barriers to funding and increase accessibility.

Enabling Impact
Charities and organisations across the U.K. and around the world are leveraging Blackbaud software to increase their impact and achieve their missions.

Martlets provides round-the-clock hospice care and essential services to people who are terminally ill in Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, and surrounding areas. Donations that used to require five to six processing steps with the hospice’s previous technology now can be processed in batches with a single click with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT for fundraising and Blackbaud Merchant Services for payment processing. “I love Raiser’s Edge NXT and the way it has transformed our workings,” said Claire Docteur, Donations Processing and Data Officer.

Oxford Brookes University, set in a historic student city, is one of the UK’s leading modern universities and is amongst the world’s top universities in 21 subject areas. To fully engage the university’s community of graduates across the world, their alumni relations team realised they needed to streamline how they capture, store, and apply alumni information by modernising their database and reimagining their processes. The university adapted their use of Raiser’s Edge NXT to leverage the system’s purpose-built modern capabilities. “We’ve really streamlined our processes and realised a lot of information we were capturing wasn’t serving us or our objectives,” said Anne Cossutta, Senior Alumni Manager. “Now, we have data that’s easily accessible that we actually need.”

The British Film Institute (BFI) is a government-supported charity that administers grants worth tens of millions of pounds for film production, distribution, education, audience development, and marketing intelligence and research. In 2023-24, BFI distributed £43 million in grants to support film and moving image activity across the UK. “We couldn’t deliver our grants program without Blackbaud Grantmaking working as well as it does,” said Paul Richardson, Head of Counter Fraud, Scrutiny and Risk for BFI. “It is absolutely a key, essential part of our grantmaking.”

Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC) pursues a multi-faceted mission to care for older age veterans, improve relationships within naval families, assist those in time of need, help sailors and marines transition into civilian life, and improve morale of those serving and deployed. By switching their CRM database to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT and creatively collaborating with Blackbaud specialists, RNRMC is advancing fundraising growth needed to achieve “a world in which UK sailors, marines, and their families are valued and supported, for life.” Now, four years later, they are bolstering their capacity to support the UK’s naval community through an even deeper partnership with Blackbaud’s teams for customer success, professional services, and training.

Other organisations that have recently chosen Blackbaud solutions include:

BeyondAutismSmart Works CharityThe Japan SocietyThe Myalgic Encephalopathy AssociationThe Royal NAAFI

CIOF Annual Convention
This week, Blackbaud will be a sponsor of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF)’s annual convention, taking place in London July 3-4, 2024. At the fundraising convention, Blackbaud will lead a workshop entitled “Maximising Your Fundraising with Technology: Why Creating a Failure-Friendly Culture is Key to Innovation” and will also be sharing a new eBook, “The Importance of Charity Fundraising Technology.”

“We are excited to interface with customers and those interested in learning more about Blackbaud solutions at the CIOF convention this week,” said Dan Keyworth, Vice President and Managing Director, Customer Success, Blackbaud. “With our recent advancements to Raiser’s Edge NXT, Blackbaud Grantmaking, and other technological innovations, charities and universities across the U.K. and around the world can implement the best solutions to meet their goals. As a leading software provider, we’re committed to helping these organisations improve their fundraising and engagement, and increase efficiency, so that they can remain focused on their mission.”

To learn more about Blackbaud at the CIOF convention, stop by stand 9 in the expo hall, or attend Blackbaud’s workshop on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at 10:45 AM BST.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the leading software provider exclusively dedicated to powering social impact. Serving the nonprofit and education sectors, companies committed to social responsibility and individual change makers, Blackbaud’s essential software is built to accelerate impact in fundraising, nonprofit financial management, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management. With millions of users and over $100 billion raised, granted or managed through Blackbaud platforms every year, Blackbaud’s solutions are unleashing the potential of the people and organisations who change the world. Blackbaud has been named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies, Quartz’s list of Best Companies for Remote Workers, and Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers. A remote-first company, Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.co.uk or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media Inquiries
media@blackbaud.com

Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

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Ellucian Recognizes Partner Award Winners

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Key Highlights:

Ellucian honors eight strategic partners for exceptional collaboration, innovation, and measurable impact on customer success across the global higher education ecosystem.Award winners demonstrated leadership in advancing SaaS adoption, delivering seamless integrations, and enhancing the student and institutional experience.The Ellucian Partner Network continues to drive shared success through deep alignment across technology, services, and go-to-market execution.

RESTON, Va., April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, announced the winners of the 2025 Ellucian Partner Awards. The annual awards program recognizes Ellucian Partner Network (EPN) members for their collaboration and impact in delivering excellent customer experience to higher education institutions.

“Our partners play a critical role in helping institutions navigate transformation and deliver better outcomes for students, faculty, and staff,” said Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Ellucian. “The 2025 Partner Award winners exemplify what’s possible, and also the strategic expansion of our partner program as whole. We are proud to recognize their contributions and the meaningful impact they continue to drive across the higher education community.”

Celebrating Excellence Across the Partner Ecosystem

Ellucian’s Partner Awards program recognizes industry partners for outstanding achievements across categories including Innovation Excellence, Sales Excellence, Integration Excellence, Customer First, SaaS Transformation Leader, Most Enabled Partner, Service Partner of the Year and EPN Partner of the Year.

The Ellucian 2025 Partner Award Winners are:

EPN Partner of the Year: TouchNet, A Global Payments Company
Driving scale, adoption, and shared customer success
TouchNet achieved a major milestone in 2025 by surpassing 1,000 mutual customers and successfully supporting Ellucian SaaS implementations to live status. Their deep collaboration on integrations and consistent execution has strengthened the overall SaaS ecosystem and elevated the customer experience.

Service Partner of the Year: Strata Information Group (SIG)
Outstanding delivery and commitment
SIG was recognized for outstanding delivery across both sales and services, consistently ensuring smooth implementations and high customer satisfaction. Their commitment to quality and operational excellence has made them a trusted partner for institutions navigating transformation.

SaaS Transformation Leader: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Accelerating cloud adoption and modernization
AWS continues to play a pivotal role in enabling institutional transformation through scalable cloud infrastructure and close collaboration across Ellucian teams. Their expertise helps institutions reduce migration complexity and confidently adopt SaaS solutions.

Innovation Excellence: Entrinsik, Inc.
Elevating product excellence through innovative technology
Entrinsik’s Informer AI platform brings governed, personalized AI assistants into the Ellucian ecosystem, transforming how students, faculty, and staff engage with institutional data. Their innovation enables real-time, contextual insights to enhance decision-making and student success.

Sales Excellence: Emburse, Inc.
Delivering aligned, high-impact co-selling execution
Emburse demonstrates exceptional collaboration with Ellucian through a highly coordinated co-selling approach that strengthens pipeline conversion and customer confidence. Their ability to align strategy, execution, and customer engagement has driven measurable outcomes and competitive wins.

Integration Excellence: Illumia (formerly Transact)
Most inventive and extensible integration
Illumia delivers a robust, real-time integration with Ellucian SaaS solutions ensuring continuous synchronization of student financial data. This approach enhances data accuracy, reduces manual processes, and strengthens trust in institutional systems.

Customer First: Evisions
Prioritizing collaboration and customer success
Evisions exemplifies a customer-first mindset through proactive collaboration and rapid response to shared customer needs. The strong partnership with Ellucian ensures institutions receive timely support, reliable solutions, and a consistently high-quality experience.

Most Enabled Partner: Ferrilli
Investing in expertise, training, and ecosystem readiness
Ferrilli demonstrates a strong commitment to enablement through deep investment in training, certifications, and product expertise. Their readiness and knowledge empower institutions to maximize the value of Ellucian solutions and accelerate success.

Driving Impact Through the Partner Ecosystem
Ellucian works with approximately 3,000 higher education institutions around the world supporting more than 21 million students on their education journey. The Ellucian Partner Network focuses on shared success through joint marketing, sales collaboration and technology enablement. With more than 150 members, Ellucian maintains one of the largest networks of strategic partners providing solutions specific to the needs of higher education.

To learn more about the Ellucian Partner Network, visit: https://www.ellucian.com/partners

WHAT IS ELLUCIAN
Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian’s AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrolment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian’s innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

Media Contacts
Greg Giangrande, Chief Marketing Officer
Greg.Giangrande@Ellucian.com 

Jess Weston, Manager, Communications
Jess.Weston@Ellucian.com

 

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SOURCE Ellucian

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Lorex for Business Launches X Series: AI-Powered Security for Modern Businesses

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TORONTO, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Lorex Technology announced the launch of the new X Series, a line of AI-powered security cameras and Network Video Recorders (NVRs) designed for professional security applications. The X Series combines high-performance video surveillance with AI-powered analytics, helping businesses not only capture critical evidence, but also gain insights to improve security, operations, and day-to-day decision-making.

As AI continues to reshape how businesses operate, security systems are evolving beyond basic monitoring. The X Series brings together reliable wired hardware, AI-powered analytics, and the new Lorex Connect app into a single, connected system that helps businesses monitor, manage, and respond in real time.

Built for both installers and business owners, the X Series is designed to be easy to deploy, scalable, and reliable in demanding environments. From retail stores and warehouses to gyms, convenience stores, and construction sites, it combines dependable performance with AI-driven capabilities to support and improve a wide range of business operations.

“At a time when businesses are facing more complex operational and security challenges, the X Series represents a shift from passive monitoring to intelligent protection,” said Steve Hong, VP, Global Sales and Marketing at Lorex Technology. “We’re enabling businesses not just to see incidents, but to understand, respond, and even prevent them.”  

X Series: Clear Visibility and Proactive Protection

The X Series delivers high-performance video surveillance designed for demanding environments. Combining crystal clear 4K video with proactive deterrence, it provides clear, reliable footage while helping businesses actively prevent incidents before they occur. 

X Series: AI-Driven Security and Business Intelligence

Beyond video surveillance, the X Series uses AI to help businesses better understand and manage their environments. By analyzing activity in real time, it provides actionable insights that improve security, support faster response to incidents, and enhance day-to-day operations. From identifying people, vehicles, and behaviors such as loitering and line crossing to delivering insights through people counting and heat mapping, it enables a more proactive and informed approach to security and operations. 

Lorex Connect: A Unified Platform for Control and Insight

At the center of the X Series is the Lorex Connect app, providing instant access to your system from anywhere. It enables businesses to monitor live and recorded footage, receive intelligent real-time alerts, and view multiple cameras at once, helping them stay connected, respond faster, and maintain control at all times.

X Series: A Comprehensive Lineup for Every Business Environment

X5 4K PoE Fixed Cameras (Bullet & Turret)

Delivers top-tier surveillance with the most advanced AI capabilities, built for environments where visibility, awareness, and prevention are critical. Featuring real-time 4K at 30 FPS and True AI Color Night Vision (AI-ISP), it provides smooth, clear video with enhanced detail, helping capture more accurate evidence at any time of day. Combined with Advanced Deterrence, including a built-in siren, white-light illumination, red and blue strobe lights, and 2-way talk, it not only records incidents but actively helps prevent them by drawing attention and discouraging unwanted activity in real time.

X3 4K Motorized Varifocal Cameras (Bullet & Turret)

Along with 4K video and Color Night Vision, the X3 delivers added flexibility through its motorized varifocal lens, allowing users to remotely adjust the field of view using its 4× optical zoom to capture detail at a distance without sacrificing image quality. With built-in white-light deterrence and audio capabilities, including two-way talk on bullet models and listen-in audio on turret models, it adds an extra layer of awareness and control.

X PTZ 4K Dome Camera with 30× Zoom

Equipped with 4K resolution and 30× optical zoom, it enables operators to monitor large areas and capture fine detail from a distance. With pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities, it supports active monitoring by allowing users to follow movement and respond to activity in real time. Built for wide-area coverage, it is ideal for environments where visibility and control across large spaces are critical. 

X Series Network Video Recorders (NVRs)

Provide secure, centralized recording and system management across deployments of all sizes. Built to support advanced and evolving AI analytics, they enable smarter monitoring, improved awareness, and more informed decision-making for businesses. Available in 8, 16, and 32-channel configurations.

Together, the X Series combines reliable hardware with AI-powered intelligence, helping businesses move beyond monitoring to smarter, more proactive operations. Now available on pro.lorex.com.

About Lorex Technology

Lorex is a leading provider of smart security and monitoring solutions, with over 30 years of experience delivering reliable video surveillance across North America. Founded in Canada, Lorex offers a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions for both residential and commercial applications. Lorex for Business, its professional division, supports security installers, integrators, and business owners with scalable, professional-grade systems that combine proven reliability with intelligent features to enhance visibility, streamline operations, and support growing businesses.

To learn more, visit Lorex.com

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SOURCE Lorex Technology

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CANADIAN FIBER OPTICS COMING SOON TO WHITECOURT ALBERTA

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Select Homes and Businesses to Receive 100% Pure Lightning-Fast Fiber Internet

CALGARY, AB, April 20, 2026 /CNW/ – Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation (CFOC), a leading Alberta-based fiber broadband provider, today announced plans to invest in a state-of-the-art fiber optic network to over 1,500 businesses and residences in Whitecourt, Alberta. Construction will start immediately with service expected to be available before the end of the summer.

“Whitecourt is a vibrant, growing community, and we’re proud to be building a world-class 100-percent pure fiber network to support their momentum,” said Jodi Bloomer-Kaput, Co-Founder and Executive at Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation. Added Bloomer-Kaput,” Thank you to the Whitecourt Town Council and Mayor Hilts for the encouragement and support.”

Whitecourt Mayor Ray Hilts added, “I am delighted that Canadian Fiber Optics has chosen to invest millions of dollars in our town, to bring world-class fiber optics to residents and businesses, enabling different connectivity options and availability of service throughout the community. This investment supports our growing community and aids in our economic development and growth.”

Construction of the fiber network will commence right away, with construction crews showing up on select streets of Whitecourt starting this month. While there will be some disruption to traffic, by the end of summer roads will be properly restored and fifteen hundred residences and businesses will be able to enjoy ultra-fast, reliable and affordable Internet.

Bloomer-Kaput added: “We are looking-forward to bringing more reliable, faster fiber internet services at affordable prices to Whitecourt. Being an Alberta-based company, we know what powerful world-class infrastructure means to our local communities and our growing Alberta economy. We can’t wait to start offering fiber services to our neighbours later this summer.”

To stay current on our construction progress, or to learn more about our products and service availability dates for Whitecourt, Alberta, please visit our service brand website at www.northernlightsfiber.ca

About Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation

Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation (CFOC), is a privately-owned and operated Alberta-based fiber broadband provider, offering internet connectivity over its 100% pure fiber optic network. Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation designs, builds, owns, and operates fiber optic networks, providing symmetrical, multi-gigabit bandwidth services to residential, business and enterprise customers in rural communities. The flagship brand, “Northern Lights Fiber” (www.northernlightsfiber.ca) provides internet to its retail customers. For more information about Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation please visit www.canadianfiberoptics.ca.

Why this Announcement Matters for Whitecourt

The construction of this new fiber network is important because across parts of the town of Whitecourt, many residents and businesses still rely on outdated cable or copper infrastructure, which were never designed to handle today’s internet needs and speeds. With our true end-to-end fiber network, Canadian Fiber Optics Corporation is ensuring towns and communities like Whitecourt have world-class, state-of-the-art infrastructure needed to support today’s digital demands and the capacity for generations to come.

SOURCE Canadian Fiber Optics Corp.

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