Mike Gianoni
President & CEO
Blackbaud

(5.0)
Review

Awards:

  • Top SaaS CEOs 2020
  • Top SaaS CEOs 2019
  • Top SaaS CEOs 2017

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Profile

As President & CEO of Blackbaud, a Fortune Change the World company and repeat Forbes Most Innovative Growth Company, Mike Gianoni focuses on delivering unmatched value and cloud innovation to organizations that make the world a better place. Under his leadership as a top 50 SaaS CEO, Blackbaud is now the 18th largest vendor worldwide in SaaS applications revenue, as ranked by IDC, and is building a new legacy that reaches far beyond its position as the leading cloud software company powering social good—a legacy that puts customers first every time, connects them in unique ways, and puts information and innovation in their hands at a level of quality and speed that no other vendor can provide.


An experienced IT services executive, Mike’s interest in technology was sparked in high school when he took his first engineering class. Today, with degrees in both engineering and business—as well as an MBA and Honorary Doctorate from the University of New Haven—Mike has a successful track record of strong operational management of IT businesses that deliver value for customers, shareholders and employees, and is an advocate for corporate cultures that encourage employees to thrive professionally and personally while accomplishing strong top-line growth.


Mike joined Blackbaud from Fiserv, Inc., a global provider of financial services technology solutions, where he was executive vice president and group president of the Financial Institutions Group. Previously, he was president of Fiserv’s Investment Services division, executive vice president and general manager of CheckFree Investment Services, and the leader of numerous divisions at DST, where he focused on developing new platforms and ensuring stronger operational controls.


A first-generation American with a passion for veterans’ initiatives, animal welfare (especially dogs), and exploring the U.S. coastline either by sailboat or motorcycle, Mike currently serves as chairman of the board of directors for Teradata and also serves on the board of directors for the International African American Museum. Mike is a former member of the board of directors for LibertyHealth System (New Jersey), the American Red Cross Southeast County (Massachusetts) and the University of New Haven.


Reviews

6 COMMENTS


  1. In January 2014, Mike Gianoni joined Blackbaud as President and CEO. At that time, Blackbaud’s financial performance was stagnant and a large portion of the customer base was at risk of competitive defections due to an increasingly more competitive marketplace, and a market perception that Blackbaud had fallen behind on innovation, quality and customer-centricity. Immediately upon arrival, Gianoni turned the company to its core values and purpose. He reoriented the organization toward a more customer and purpose-driven vision, which produced a dramatic culture and performance change within the company—so much so that his transformative leadership was highlighted in best-selling author Lisa McLeod’s book, “Leading with Noble Purpose.” Gianoni also focused on leadership development, aligning a world-class executive team around him. He commissioned an entirely new organizational function focused on operational excellence and quality, which informed dramatic quality and experience improvements within months that were noticeable to customers. In under two years, Gianoni transitioned Blackbaud from a legacy, on-premises software company to a modern, innovative and leading cloud solution provider while growing both revenue and profitability achieving double-digit growth (where many software companies lack revenue growth during a cloud transition). Under Gianoni’s leadership, Blackbaud cast a new vision: to power an ecosystem of good that builds a better world. To accomplish this, the company now approaches its mission from the lens of “strengthening the social economy”—the system spanning the social, public and private sectors where good is produced. Today, Blackbaud’s total addressable market is $10B+ and philanthropy is large, stable and growing. Gianoni led Blackbaud to build an unmatched innovation engine exclusively for the social good community; providing the software, services, data intelligence and expertise needed to do even more good, more effectively and efficiently. This leadership has not only proven a successful business model for Blackbaud, but also delivers software solutions that serve as a catalyst for major advancements that address societal issues of every kind. Today, Blackbaud serves millions of users in more than 100 countries. Thanks to Gianoni’s vision and leadership, Blackbaud is now an end-to-end partner that builds, integrates, implements and supports its solutions—no other company in this market offers a value proposition as extensive with solutions that are designed to power organizations AND connect them in ways no provider does. Blackbaud SKY™, the company’s modern, open cloud platform which was delivered during Gianoni’s first 18 months in the company, provides industry-leading security, scale and performance. Gianoni has also created a culture in which Blackbaud’s innovation and modern engineering bring intelligent solutions with embedded analytics and mobile capabilities; delivered rapidly to improve mission impact. Under Mike’s leadership, Blackbaud is now delivering as many updates directly in its software quarterly as it did in its entire first 33 years as a company.

    Anonymous, submitted on

  2. Mike is an independent thinker. In 2014, when stepping in as President and CEO at Blackbaud, he did not see a legacy solutions provider for nonprofits with lagging innovation; he saw what could become the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. And since taking the reins he’s led his entire executive team and all employees worldwide to embrace a vision and catalyze a kind of transformation many thought would never be possible. In under two years, Gianoni transitioned Blackbaud from a legacy, on-premises software company to a modern, innovative and leading cloud solution provider while growing both revenue and profitability achieving double-digit growth (where many software companies lack revenue growth during a cloud transition). Now, just four years after joining the company, Blackbaud has grown its customer base by 20% and stock price >120%; organic growth has tripled, and revenue has grown from $503 to $790.8 million; with a market cap of $5 billion. Under Gianoni’s leadership, Blackbaud cast a new vision: to power an ecosystem of good that builds a better world. To accomplish this, the company now approaches its mission from the lens of strengthening the social economy the system spanning the social, public and private sectors where good is produced. Today, Blackbaud’s total addressable market is >$7B and philanthropy is large, stable and growing. Gianoni led Blackbaud to build an unmatched innovation engine exclusively for the social good community; providing the software, services, data intelligence and expertise needed to do more good, more effectively. This leadership has not only proven a successful business model for Blackbaud, but also delivers software solutions that serve as a catalyst for major advancements that address societal issues of every kind. Today, Blackbaud customers raise, invest, manage and award $100B+ annually. Thanks to Gianoni’s vision and leadership, Blackbaud is now an end-to-end partner that builds, integrates, implements and supports its solutions no other company in this market offers a value proposition as extensive with solutions that are designed to power organizations AND connect them in ways no provider does. Blackbaud SKY, the company’s modern, open cloud platform which was delivered during Gianoni’s first 18 months in the company, provides industry-leading security, scale and performance. No more powerful cloud for social good organizations exists. Gianoni has created a culture in which Blackbaud’s innovation and modern engineering bring intelligent solutions with embedded analytics and mobile capabilities; delivered rapidly to improve mission impact. As one example, Blackbaud’s unique approach to optimized Intelligence for Good combining AI, analytics, big data, expertise has already helped causes identify $3B+ in untapped fundraising opportunities and millions of potential advocates. Under Mike’s leadership, Blackbaud is now delivering as many updates directly in its software quarterly as it did in its entire first 33 years as a company.

    NA, submitted on

  3. Vision: In 2014, when stepping in as President and CEO at Blackbaud, he did not see a legacy solutions provider for nonprofits with lagging innovation; he saw what could become the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. And since taking the reins he’s led his entire executive team and all employees worldwide to embrace a vision and catalyze a kind of transformation many thought would never be possible. Experience: An experienced software industry executive, Mike’s interest in technology was sparked in high school when he took his first engineering class. Today, with degrees in both engineering and business – as well as an MBA and Honorary Doctorate from the University of New Haven – Mike has a successful track record of strong operational management of IT businesses that deliver value for customers, shareholders and employees. Innovative: In under two years, Gianoni transitioned Blackbaud from a legacy, on-premises software company to a modern, innovative and leading cloud solution provider while growing both revenue and profitability. Blackbaud SKY™, the company’s modern, open cloud platform which was delivered during Gianoni’s first 18 months in the company, provides industry-leading security, scale and performance. No more powerful cloud for social good organizations exists. Gianoni has created a culture in which Blackbaud’s innovation and modern engineering bring intelligent solutions with embedded analytics and mobile capabilities; delivered rapidly to improve mission impact. Under Mike’s leadership, Blackbaud is now delivering as many updates directly in its software quarterly as it did in its entire first 33 years as a company. Culture-focused: A first-generation American with a passion for veterans’ initiatives, animal welfare (especially dogs), and exploring the U.S. coastline either by sailboat or motorcycle, Mike is an advocate for corporate cultures that encourage employees to thrive professionally and personally while accomplishing strong top-line growth. He currently serves on the board of directors for University of New Haven and Teradata and is a former member of the board of directors for LibertyHealth System and the American Red Cross Southeast County. Gianoni actively championed leadership development program (i.e. instituted the company’s first matching gifts program in 2015) within the company’s employee base, and even increased employee perks and benefits. Gianoni has quickly earned a reputation of “walking the talk” with respect to the company’s mission to help power an ecosystem of good. He spends a significant amount of time talking to customers and always follows up by challenging his teams to incorporate that feedback in future innovation. He also added new fuel to the company’s CSR efforts, elevating Blackbaud to a leadership role within its community and around the world.

    Senior-level professional, submitted on

  4. Blackbaud’s mission is championed by its leadership team, including president and CEO, Mike Gianoni. Blackbaud’s swift and thoughtful response to COVID-19 is just one recent example. At the onset of the pandemic, Gianoni outlined measures to support Blackbaud’s customers, fuel critical innovation and help employees. Among the initial actions was Gianoni voluntarily forgoing his paycheck. Other examples spearheaded by leadership include: • Blackbaud opened its entire curriculum of recorded eLearning resources through Blackbaud University to all for free to make it easier for its customers to get the training and education they need. • Blackbaud created more than 100 new resources at no cost to the social good community to help them operate and pivot amidst the unforeseen challenges of COVID-19. • Blackbaud made donations to the World Health Organization and the UN Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and HNS Charities. • Blackbaud leadership expanded its employee matching gift program for the second time since January, bringing the increase to 30% in 2020. Blackbaud employees are committed to social good professionally and personally, so the increase was made to help empower employees’ drive to support causes they care about. Blackbaud also rolled out virtual volunteerism programs, which are augmenting the more than 100,000 hours its employees physically donate each year. Blackbaud leadership is also actively involved in philanthropic efforts outside of work. Gianoni, for instance, serves on boards and volunteers with organizations, including the International African American Museum, Charleston Animal Society and Clemson University. Gianoni also spearheads Blackbaud’s diversity and inclusion effort and is in the process of hiring Blackbaud’s first Chief Diversity Officer.

    Mid-level professional, submitted on

  5. NA

    Senior-level professional, submitted on

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