7 ms·

For those unfamiliar, Blackbaud produce software that is (mainly) used for harassing^W updating alumni on university developments and asking them for money. I

by lol768 6y ago

For those unfamiliar, Blackbaud produce software that is (mainly) used for harassing^W updating alumni on university developments and asking them for money. I think Raiser's Edge is used quite a bit in the sector, though I believe there are on-prem as well as cloud variants of the software?

codeulike 6y ago
The on-prem Raiser's Edge hasn't been updated in a long time and is being phased out with the preference being for RENXT cloud version. A lot of charities use Raiser's Edge, I wonder if they are also affected? Although that BBC report says "One of the affected institutions told the BBC the hack is affecting a product called NetCommunity which Blackbaud describes on its website as an 'alumni engagement and management software system for nonprofits.'" ... so maybe Raiser's Edge was not part of the hack
- kogus 6y ago
  I believe this incident affected only customers who use classic RE hosted by Blackbaud. RE NXT is hosted in Azure and wasn’t affected.
  - croutonwagon 6y ago
    No true. Other products were definitely affected. We don’t use RE. But we do use other products and were alerted.
    - kogus 6y ago
      Good to know. BBCRM?
Nextgrid 6y ago
How does asking for money make sense in case of for-profit, paid universities? You're saying that people pay them a significant amount of money for tuition, complete it, and now the university is asking for more money?
- maccard 6y ago
  Yep. In my case, as a student, we wanted to take part in competitive programming. We won a few national competitions, and attempted an international one. We asked the department about funding for the trip (flights+hostel accom+food for 8 people), and they came back a week later saying they had spoken to some alumni who sponsored the entire trip. All they wanted im return was for us to write in the alumni newsletter about it and to consider keeping it up going forwards. 10 years later and I have no idea who it was or why they gave us the €4000.
- mbiondi 6y ago
  Yes, this a big part of how Colleges and Universities are funded. Alumni tend to contribute either to leave a legacy behind or to help the College maintain it's reputation, which in turn helps the alum's reputation for having graduated from there.
  - gruez 6y ago
    >to help the College maintain it's reputation, which in turn helps the alum's reputation for having graduated from there. Surely this can't work without some aultrism involved? I find it doubtful that any alumni can get 10k of benefit from the increased reputation that a 10k donation can provide.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > I find it doubtful that any alumni can get 10k of benefit from the increased reputation that a 10k donation can provide. Declining marginal utility, and how rich the people who tend to make big donations are, play a role here.
    - toyg 6y ago
      It’s the sort of transaction that typically lowers your taxable, effectively saving money to the donor.
      - frobozz 6y ago

by lol768 6y ago

codeulike 6y ago

The on-prem Raiser's Edge hasn't been updated in a long time and is being phased out with the preference being for RENXT cloud version. A lot of charities use Raiser's Edge, I wonder if they are also affected? Although that BBC report says "One of the affected institutions told the BBC the hack is affecting a product called NetCommunity which Blackbaud describes on its website as an 'alumni engagement and management software system for nonprofits.'" ... so maybe Raiser's Edge was not part of the hack

kogus 6y ago
I believe this incident affected only customers who use classic RE hosted by Blackbaud. RE NXT is hosted in Azure and wasn’t affected.
- croutonwagon 6y ago
  No true. Other products were definitely affected. We don’t use RE. But we do use other products and were alerted.
  - kogus 6y ago
    Good to know. BBCRM?

Nextgrid 6y ago

How does asking for money make sense in case of for-profit, paid universities? You're saying that people pay them a significant amount of money for tuition, complete it, and now the university is asking for more money?

maccard 6y ago
Yep. In my case, as a student, we wanted to take part in competitive programming. We won a few national competitions, and attempted an international one. We asked the department about funding for the trip (flights+hostel accom+food for 8 people), and they came back a week later saying they had spoken to some alumni who sponsored the entire trip. All they wanted im return was for us to write in the alumni newsletter about it and to consider keeping it up going forwards. 10 years later and I have no idea who it was or why they gave us the €4000.
mbiondi 6y ago
Yes, this a big part of how Colleges and Universities are funded. Alumni tend to contribute either to leave a legacy behind or to help the College maintain it's reputation, which in turn helps the alum's reputation for having graduated from there.
- gruez 6y ago
  >to help the College maintain it's reputation, which in turn helps the alum's reputation for having graduated from there. Surely this can't work without some aultrism involved? I find it doubtful that any alumni can get 10k of benefit from the increased reputation that a 10k donation can provide.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > I find it doubtful that any alumni can get 10k of benefit from the increased reputation that a 10k donation can provide. Declining marginal utility, and how rich the people who tend to make big donations are, play a role here.
  - toyg 6y ago
    It’s the sort of transaction that typically lowers your taxable, effectively saving money to the donor.
    - frobozz 6y ago