Warren and Tim are packing their bags for Columbus. From 29 September to 1 October you will find SmartTHING on stand K19 at bbcon 2026, with the three things we do: import, integrate, and now AI. There will also be a small pile of very English treats.
bbcon is where the Blackbaud community gets together, and this year it is in Columbus, Ohio. We will be there for all three days on stand K19. No appointment needed, no badge scanning ritual, just come over and start a conversation.
Import, integrate, and now AI
Raiser’s Edge NXT specialists, over 20 years with Blackbaud products. When data needs to move in or out, that is the work we do.
You build it. Self-service imports. Import data from files, applications, web forms and more, one way into Raiser’s Edge NXT. Build as many profiles as you need yourself using our wizard, data transforms and mapping tools. You build and own your import routines, and your configurations stay yours.
We do it. Let us connect your applications. Managed integrations: 80+ ready-made connectors, or custom-built for you. Designed with you, tested, deployed and maintained by us, keeping Raiser’s Edge NXT the system of record.
AI maps your data automatically in SmartIMPORT, works as a data assistant inside SmartSYNC flows, and connects your applications to Claude and other AI chat tools.
Who you will find on the stand
Warren started SmartTHING and has spent more than twenty years around Blackbaud products, which is long enough to have firm opinions about fund and appeal coding. He is the one to ask about integrations, about the transition to web view, and about the AI work.
Tim knows the import engine inside out and can usually work out, in about a minute, whether your spreadsheet problem is a spreadsheet problem or a mapping problem. Bring him your worst file. He has seen worse, and he will say so kindly.
If importing is the thing that eats your week
Importing is the job most Raiser’s Edge NXT teams have quietly built a routine around: the spreadsheet somebody reformats every Monday morning, the event export that needs three passes before it will load, the finance file only one person knows how to handle. That is the work SmartIMPORT is built for, and Tim will happily sit down and go through yours.
What the AI actually does
AI is all over the bbcon programme this year, and for once we do not think that is hype. A good deal of the daily work around fundraising data is description: explaining what should happen, to which records, and when. That is exactly the kind of work that is getting easier, quickly. It now turns up in three places across what we do, and all three will be on the screen at the stand.
Mapping that does itself. SmartIMPORT reads your file and proposes where the columns belong, so you are checking a mapping rather than building one from scratch.
A data assistant inside your flows. Ask what a SmartSYNC flow is doing, or why a record did not come through, in plain English rather than in logs.
Your applications connected to AI chat tools. Claude and others, so someone on your team can ask a question of your data and get an answer back without exporting anything first.
Bring a question you would normally have to build a query for, or a file you dread mapping. On a screen, against a demo environment. No slides.
Where our clients are
It is a fair assumption at a US conference that a British accent means a small British supplier. We have worked with Blackbaud products for over 20 years, we host regionally in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, and our clients run from single-person fundraising teams to large international organisations. Come and ask us who we work with.
Free English treats
We are bringing a few quintessentially English treats with us. They are free, they will not last all three days, and you are under no obligation to listen to anything about integrations before you take one. Come early.
Finding us
29 September to 1 October 2026, Columbus, Ohio. Full programme and registration on the bbcon 2026 site. If you would rather book a time than take your chances on the stand, drop us a line and we will put something in the diary.
Not making it to Columbus
That is no problem at all. The same conversation works just as well from your desk. Tell us what you are trying to connect, or which import is eating your Mondays, and we will set up a call with one of our Raiser’s Edge NXT specialists.
A short, no obligation conversation with one of our Raiser’s Edge NXT specialists. Tell us what you have, what it connects to, and what is not working as well as you would like. Nothing to prepare.
SmartTHING is ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified and a member of the Blackbaud Partner Network. Trusted by 100s of organisations worldwide.
