Users of Blackbaud school administrative software or any of their other services can connect with other users through the Blackbaud User Society. Maintained by volunteers, it was developed by Blackbaud users to provide an informational resource separate from the company itself.

The user society includes many items that help school and non-profit administrators maximize the usefulness of their software products. Forums are available for each of Blackbaud's products, including the Raiser's Edge, Education Edge, Intelligence Edge, etc. Users can post questions regarding specific issues that are then addressed by others.

For instance, one recent post was from a college administrator having a difficult time importing test scores into their Blackbaud database. With a quick post to the forum, they received many helpful responses to their inquiry.

The Blackbaud User Society also includes news releases from the company and other topics of interest - with RSS feed capability so users can have those directly downloaded to their desktops.

Another great feature of the society is the user suggestion area. Each year, members from the society meet with developers from Blackbaud to share their insights and suggestions for making their products better. Suggestions are organized into several different categories and ranked by other users.

While the user society is free, you must create an account to fully utilize the site.