Blackbaud Makes a Strategic Investment in Student First to Bring Stronger Connected Campus Experience to Higher Education Institutions

Partnership Will Enable Higher Education Customers to Pair Student First's Future-Ready Student Information System with Blackbaud's Leading Financial Management and Fundraising Solutions to Unify Back-Office Operations and Power Student Success

CHARLESTON, S.C., May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world's leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact, today announced a strategic investment in Student First, the provider of the most modern, AI-enabled student information system (SIS) designed to simplify administrative workflows and enhance the student experience for higher education institutions.

With this investment, Blackbaud and Student First will deliver a best-in-class Connected Campus experience that reduces complexity and campus silos, unifying enrollment, financial aid, scholarships, advancement and finance into a single operating model. Blackbaud customers will be able to leverage Student First's flexible, student-centric SIS, which will natively integrate with Blackbaud's industry-leading solutions for financial management, fundraising, award management and payments to advance student success.

"By joining forces with Student First, we're enabling college and university teams to connect the financial side of their operations to the student information side," said Mark Davis, vice president, education products, Blackbaud. "This kind of data flow creates a connected campus experience that ties student lifecycle activity to the dollars that fund it—linking student and donor activity through advancement, awards, and the general ledger—so institutions can operate smarter, strengthen stewardship, and have the visibility needed to align resources to fuel student success."

"Student First was developed as a unified, cloud-native SIS for higher education, and this partnership with Blackbaud is a natural extension of that platform strength," said David Meek, CEO, Student First. "Together, we help institutions operate smarter in a challenging financial environment by strengthening stewardship, compliance, and long-term sustainability. Joint customers get a comprehensive technology suite built on industry-leading systems, and students get a single, seamless experience."

Key Benefits of the Partnership:

• Student First brings a modern, AI-enabled, student-centric SIS, while Blackbaud delivers leadership in purpose-built fund accounting, fundraising, award management, and payments and billing solutions.
• The partnership connects student enrollment, tuition and donor activity directly to the general ledger, giving institutions a single view that provides greater visibility, accountability and confidence in financial decision-making.
• Blackbaud's Intelligence for Good® AI capabilities will bolster Student First's student-centric SIS to drive intelligent action across institutions.
• Institutions gain choice without compromise—modernizing their SIS while leveraging Blackbaud's trusted financial and advancement ecosystem.

The two companies will collaborate on product direction and go-to-market strategy to expand and enhance how they serve higher education institutions. This connected campus model replicates the success Blackbaud has already achieved with its Total School Solution approach for independent K–12 schools, offering a complete suite of integrated products purpose built for the unique needs of education institutions.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world's leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Serving nonprofits, educational institutions, companies committed to corporate social responsibility, and individual change makers, Blackbaud propels impact at scale with the sector's most intelligent solutions for fundraising and engagement, education solutions, financial management and CSR and grantmaking. With the deepest expertise powered by the world's largest philanthropic data set, the most connected workflows, and the most powerful impact network, Blackbaud's solutions are building a future where resources are unleashed at the speed of need. Blackbaud has been recognized by Fast Company, Newsweek, Quartz, Forbes and more for AI innovation, responsible leadership and workplace excellence. Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

About Student First
Student First is an AI-enabled, cloud-native Student Information System designed specifically for the full spectrum of higher education, from career colleges and community colleges to four-year institutions and online programs. Student First delivers a unified platform spanning recruiting and admissions, advising, academic operations, financial aid, student billing, and more. Institutions move beyond the limitations of legacy systems with a solution that simplifies operations, improves data accuracy, and surfaces actionable insight across every function. The result is less administrative burden, smarter decision-making, and a seamless experience for students at every stage of their journey. For more information visit www.studentfirst.com.

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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; 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.

SOURCE Blackbaud