Rachel Hutchisson is Helping Power an Ecosystem of Good® at Blackbaud
I help good take over by empowering our people to be agents of good. - Rachel Hutchisson, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, Blackbaud (Charleston, SC)
Blackbaud employees are committed to doing good both at work and in their personal lives.
The following Q&A with Rachel Hutchisson, who empowers people to be agents of good every day in her role as vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy at Blackbaud, was featured in the 2019 Blackbaud Social Responsibility Report.
Q: What do you do on a daily basis?
A: I work every day to ensure that we are not only powering an Ecosystem of Good® at Blackbaud, but also actively participating in that Ecosystem.
Q: What’s your professional background?
A: I began my career in communications, building and leading a number of key functions, including market research, public relations, events, and strategic brand relationships. It was a privilege to shift from marketing to corporate philanthropy, formalizing how we invest and creating a connection between what we do as people and as a company.
Q: When did Blackbaud formalize its corporate citizenship and philanthropy, and how has it evolved?
A: When I joined Blackbaud, we were quite small, and companies in general weren’t talking a lot about philanthropy or CSR. Of course, Blackbaud is a different kind of company, because our business focus has always been around driving the impact of social good organizations. I became Blackbaud’s first corporate philanthropy leader about 12 years ago and have evolved the function into a broader CSR approach that now includes sustainability.
Q: How do you measure success in your role?
A: I do admit that having 89% of our people volunteer and 22% leverage our matching gift program (more than 2.2 times the national median) makes me proud. But true success is more about employee engagement, so we make it a point to celebrate what our people choose to do as agents of good.
Q: What excites you most about coming to work every day?
A: When my colleagues walk in the door every morning, they’ve shown up to do good things in the world, as professionals and as people—and they challenge us to make sure we are doing our part. I love connecting with our people based on what they’re passionate about versus “what they do for a living.” We’re all human—and together, we can do great things.
