Best Blackbaud Grantmaking Alternatives 2026

Blackbaud Grantmaking is an enterprise grant management platform that forms part of Blackbaud's broad nonprofit technology suite. It handles the full grant lifecycle — application intake, assessment, award management, payment processing, and compliance reporting — and its primary selling point is native integration with Blackbaud's other products, particularly Financial Edge NXT for finance and Raiser's Edge NXT for donor relationship management. Blackbaud is one of the largest nonprofit technology vendors globally, and its grantmaking module is most often chosen by foundations and philanthropic organisations already embedded in that ecosystem.

The honest question for any funder evaluating Blackbaud Grantmaking is whether they are buying a grant management system, or buying continued membership of the Blackbaud ecosystem. For organisations that already rely on Financial Edge NXT and Raiser's Edge NXT, the integration value is real. For those starting from scratch, or those running UK grant programmes that need built-in Charity Commission and OFSI compliance checks, the value proposition becomes harder to justify against a market that has moved on considerably.

What does Blackbaud Grantmaking actually do?

Blackbaud Grantmaking covers the standard grant management workflow from end to end. Funders can build online application forms, configure multi-stage review workflows, manage assessment panels, track awards and payments, monitor compliance, and produce reports. The platform supports multi-fund management and is designed to handle complex, multi-year grant programmes.

The most genuinely useful feature is its native data integration with the rest of the Blackbaud suite. If your organisation uses Financial Edge NXT, payments and budget data flow without manual re-entry. If you use Raiser's Edge NXT, donor relationships and grant history sit in the same data environment. This matters at scale, where manually reconciling grant payments against finance records is a real administrative burden.

Beyond ecosystem integration, the platform offers what most enterprise grant management systems offer: configurable forms, workflow automation, compliance tracking, and reporting. The application and reviewer experience is delivered through separate portals rather than a unified interface — a design decision that adds navigational complexity for teams managing both sides of the process.

Who is Blackbaud Grantmaking designed for?

Blackbaud's natural home is the large, professionally-staffed philanthropic foundation, particularly in the United States. Organisations in this category typically have dedicated grants administrators, IT resource to manage a complex system, and existing Blackbaud contracts across fundraising and finance.

For UK funders, the picture is more nuanced. Blackbaud has a meaningful UK presence — it is listed on the UK Government Digital Marketplace — but the platform's compliance assumptions are primarily US-centric. There are no built-in Charity Commission checks, no Companies House verification, and no OFSI sanctions screening. UK funders who need those checks as part of their due diligence workflow will need to run them separately.

The platform is not well suited to small or medium-sized funders, to organisations deploying their first dedicated grant system, or to teams that need to be operational within weeks rather than months.

What are the main features?

Blackbaud Grantmaking covers these areas of the grant lifecycle:

• Application intake: Configurable online application forms with an applicant-facing portal. Applications can be tracked through status workflows and assigned to reviewers.
• Assessment and review: A separate reviewer portal where panel members can score and comment on applications. Conflict of interest logging is available.
• Award management: Grant agreements, payment scheduling, and instalment tracking. Payments link to Financial Edge NXT where that product is also in use.
• Compliance tracking: Monitoring requirements, milestone tracking, and grantee reporting. The platform can send automated reminders for outstanding reports.
• Reporting: Built-in reports and dashboards. Users frequently note that producing custom outputs requires workarounds or additional tools.
• Financial Edge NXT and Raiser's Edge NXT integration: The headline integration that differentiates Blackbaud Grantmaking from standalone alternatives.

What the platform does include in terms of third-party compliance integrations: Candid tax status verification (for US charity status checks) and CSI WatchDOG® sanctions/watchlist screening are available as built-in integrations. These address US compliance requirements — they do not cover Charity Commission registration, Companies House, or OFSI, which are the relevant checks for UK funders.

What the platform does not include as standard: AI-assisted assessment, automated due diligence against UK regulatory databases, AI-generated impact reports, or built-in UK compliance checks. Blackbaud has announced AI capabilities across its suite, but grantmaking-specific AI features that are in production and documented for user reference remain limited as of early 2026.

How does Blackbaud Grantmaking compare with enterprise alternatives?

All three platforms sit at the enterprise end of the market. They share similar limitations for UK funders: no native Charity Commission, Companies House, or OFSI integration; long implementation timelines; and costs that place them beyond reach for most smaller foundations. The key differentiator for Blackbaud specifically is its ecosystem — it only makes strong sense if you are already using Financial Edge NXT or Raiser's Edge NXT.

What does Blackbaud Grantmaking cost?

Blackbaud does not publish its pricing publicly. Obtaining a quote requires engaging with the sales team. What is publicly available is the UK Government Digital Marketplace listing at £2,565.75 per licence per year, though total cost of ownership substantially exceeds the licence fee.

Implementation typically runs 3–6 months and involves a consulting engagement, adding significantly to first-year costs. Users and industry commentary consistently describe Blackbaud products as sitting at the premium end of the market. Contract terms have also attracted comment: customers report limited exit options once embedded, and some describe agreements with no effective out clause.

For funders building a budget case for technology investment, the inability to get a transparent number without a sales process is itself a practical obstacle. It makes comparative evaluation harder and creates information asymmetry at the procurement stage.

What are the main limitations?

Vendor lock-in is the most commonly cited concern. Once an organisation has its grants data, finance data, and donor data all running through Blackbaud products, the cost and disruption of leaving is high. This is a deliberate commercial model, and it is worth understanding before committing.

The interface is dated. User reviews on Capterra and G2 consistently describe the Blackbaud Grantmaking interface as outdated and unintuitive. The multi-portal architecture — separate interfaces for administration, applicants, and reviewers — adds navigational friction. A task that should take minutes can require significantly more steps than equivalent actions in newer platforms.

US-centric compliance assumptions. The platform was built primarily for US foundations. UK-specific regulatory requirements (Charity Commission reporting, OFSI screening, Companies House verification) are not built in. For UK funders managing grant due diligence, this means supplementing the platform with separate manual processes.

AI features are primarily aspirational. Blackbaud has made broad announcements about AI across its suite. The grantmaking-specific AI functionality that is in production and usable today is limited.

Not appropriate as a standalone product. If you do not use Blackbaud's other products, the integration benefits disappear and you are left paying enterprise prices for a grant management system that competes with purpose-built alternatives offering more modern interfaces, faster deployment, and lower costs.

Is Blackbaud Grantmaking right for UK funders?

For the small number of large UK foundations that are already embedded in the Blackbaud ecosystem — using Financial Edge NXT for finance and Raiser's Edge NXT for donor management — Blackbaud Grantmaking has a genuine case. The integration value is real, and changing a well-functioning financial system alongside a grant system introduces unnecessary risk.

For UK funders without that ecosystem context, the case is much weaker. Built-in Charity Commission and Companies House checks are increasingly expected as standard functionality. The automate-due-diligence approach is now deliverable by purpose-built platforms at lower cost and in far less time. Funders starting fresh, or those reconsidering an existing system, have better options available.

For UK funders who need AI-assisted assessment and due diligence today — not as a roadmap item — platforms built specifically for the UK grantmaking context, such as Plinth, offer Charity Commission, Companies House, and OFSI checks built in, alongside working AI for application scoring, risk assessment, and impact report generation. Plinth also has a free tier, which Blackbaud does not.

Frequently asked questions

Is Blackbaud Grantmaking available in the UK?

Yes. Blackbaud operates in the UK and is listed on the UK Government Digital Marketplace. However, the platform's compliance features are primarily built around US regulatory requirements. UK-specific checks — Charity Commission registration verification, Companies House data, OFSI sanctions screening — are not built into the standard product.

How long does it take to implement Blackbaud Grantmaking?

Typical implementation runs 3–6 months. This reflects the platform's complexity and the consulting engagement usually required to configure it for a specific organisation. Funders with a grant round approaching within that window should plan carefully or consider faster-deploying alternatives.

Can I use Blackbaud Grantmaking without the other Blackbaud products?

You can, but the primary value proposition — native integration with Financial Edge NXT and Raiser's Edge NXT — disappears. Without those integrations, you are paying enterprise prices for grant management functionality available from purpose-built competitors at lower cost and with shorter deployment times.

What do users say about Blackbaud Grantmaking?

User feedback is mixed. Review aggregators show scores in the 3–3.5 out of 5 range. Positive feedback typically centres on feature depth and integration with other Blackbaud products. Critical feedback focuses on interface complexity, the learning curve, customer support response times, and the difficulty of making changes to forms and workflows without technical help.

What are the best alternatives to Blackbaud Grantmaking?

For large foundations needing enterprise depth: Fluxx Grantmaker and SmartSimple are the main comparable alternatives. For mid-sized foundations: Foundant GLM is widely used and better regarded for usability. For UK funders needing built-in compliance and AI-assisted assessment: Plinth is purpose-built for the UK context with Charity Commission, Companies House, and OFSI checks built in and working AI features in production. For fast deployment: Submittable can be operational within weeks.

Does Blackbaud Grantmaking have AI features?

Blackbaud has announced AI capabilities across its suite, with broad messaging about future use cases. Grantmaking-specific AI functionality that is in production and available to users today is limited. For funders where AI-assisted assessment, due diligence automation, and AI-generated impact reports are genuine requirements — not aspirational ones — it is worth asking Blackbaud to demonstrate specific working features in a live environment.

How difficult is it to leave Blackbaud once you are using it?

This is a legitimate concern raised by multiple customers and supported by industry commentary. Once grants, finance, and donor management are all running through Blackbaud products, the data and process interdependencies make switching expensive and disruptive. Contract terms have also been noted as limiting, with some customers describing agreements that offer limited exit options. Evaluating exit costs before signing is advisable.

Recommended next pages

• Grant Management Systems Compared — A side-by-side review of 16 grant management platforms including Blackbaud, Fluxx, SmartSimple, Foundant, and Plinth.

• Blackbaud vs Plinth: A Thorough Comparison for UK Funders — A detailed head-to-head comparison of both platforms across pricing, AI capabilities, implementation, and UK-readiness.

• How to Automate Due Diligence in Grantmaking — Why built-in compliance checks matter and how automation changes the due diligence workflow.

• AI for Funders: The Future of Grantmaking — How AI is changing application assessment, monitoring, and impact reporting for grant-makers.

• Best Grant Management Software for UK Funders in 2026 — An updated shortlist of the best-fit platforms for foundations, trusts, and public sector funders operating in the UK.

Last updated: February 2026