Get Started with Blackbaud Integrated Payments

Blackbaud Integrated Payments makes it easy to collect and manage transactions across your organization. This guide shows you how to set up and connect payment accounts so you can start processing payments quickly and securely.

Training: For a step-by-step eLearning course, enroll in our free Blackbaud Integrated Payments Learning Path.

Create Required Payment Accounts

To process payments, your organization creates two connected accounts during initial setup:

Blackbaud Payment Service Account

This account securely stores sensitive payment data in a PCI‑compliant vault. It replaces credit card and bank account numbers with reference tokens used by your Blackbaud solutions.

Blackbaud Merchant Services Account

This account acts as your payment gateway, processor, and merchant account. To accept payments and receive funds, you must have at least one merchant account.

Tip: View a checklist of everything you'll need.

Setup Steps

  1. From the Admin section of Blackbaud's website, select Settings, Merchant accounts.

  2. Select Add account.

  3. Agree to Blackbaud Payment Services Terms, then select Next.

  4. Under Blackbaud Payment Service Credentials, choose whether to create admin credentials.

    • If your solution is listed below, it requires these credentials during initial setup. Select We will process payments through a listed solution, then create admin credentials.

      • Blackbaud Altru

      • Blackbaud Billing Management

      • Blackbaud CRM

      • Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

      • Blackbaud eTapestry

      • Blackbaud NetCommunity

      • Blackbaud Luminate Online and TeamRaiser

      Tip: Store these credentials in a secure location so you can enter them later.

    • Solutions not listed (such as Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT) automatically connect to your Blackbaud Payment Service account, so you don't need to create credentials. If your solution isn't listed, select We will process payments through another solution and can skip this step.

  5. Select Next.

  6. Under Add merchant account, select Blackbaud Merchant Services.

  7. Under Organization and signatory information, choose an account currency, then enter details about your organization and the person authorized to sign legal documents. Major credit card companies require Blackbaud to collect this information.

  8. Under Direct deposit authorization, enter details for the bank account you use to receive disbursements from Blackbaud, then review and accept the Direct Debit Authorization.

  9. Under Account name and statement descriptor, enter:

    • Account name — Appears internally in places such as lists and reports

    • Statement descriptor — Appears on payers’ credit card and bank statements to identify your organization

  10. Under Blackbaud Merchant Services account, create a username and password for your merchant account. Some Blackbaud solutions require you to enter these to connect your accounts.

  11. To save your changes and return later, select Save and close. Otherwise, select Finish.

  12. Select Save.

After you create a merchant account, add at least one account configuration to accept payments.

Note: New accounts can process payments immediately, but Blackbaud holds deposits until verification is complete. Verification typically finishes within two business days after you submit your information.

Create Additional Merchant Accounts (Optional)

Create multiple merchant accounts if your organization needs to:

  • Accept multiple currencies.

  • Send payments to different bank accounts.

  • Display different information on supporters’ credit card or bank statements, such as a local affiliate’s name or contact information.

You can create merchant accounts at any time from the Admin section of Blackbaud's website under Settings, Merchant accounts.

Example Account Setup

A diagram showing an example account setup with one Blackabud Payment Service account, two US merchant accounts, and one Canadian merchant account.

Add Account Configurations

Account configurations determine:

  • Which card types you accept

  • Whether transactions process in live or test mode, and

  • The level of fraud protection provided with settings such as Card Security Code (CSC) and Address Verification Service (AVS)

Add account configurations from the Blackbaud Merchant Services Web Portal under Settings, or from the Admin section of Blackbaud's website under Settings, Merchant accounts. For more information, see Manage Account Configurations.

Note: Solutions that use new checkout (such as Blackbaud Donation Forms, Luminate Online, and Raiser's Edge NXT) follow industry best practice settings for AVS levels, CSC levels, and supported card types. As a result, new checkout overrides these settings you configure in the web portal. This practice reduces fraud risk while increasing payment acceptance rates for your organization.

Example Account Setup

A diagram showing an example account setup with one Blackabud Payment Service account, three merchant accounts, and multiple account configurations.

Connect to Your Blackbaud Solution

After you set up payment accounts, sign in to your Blackbaud solution to connect accounts and start processing payments. For next steps, select your solution from the following list.

  1. From Revenue, select Blackbaud Payment Service merchant accounts under Configuration.

  2. Under Tasks, select Edit Blackbaud Payment Service login.

  3. Enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials and test the connection. When it succeeds, select Save — your Blackbaud Merchant Services accounts automatically appear.

  4. Choose default settings.

    • To mark the account as the default for authorization, select the account, select Default, and select Mark as default authorization account.

    • To mark the account as the default for card-present transactions, expand the merchant account, then select Default and select Mark as default card present account.

  5. From Web, select Web payment settings under Configuration.

  6. Under Payment methods, choose which account to use for online payment processing, then save.

After you connect your accounts, you can configure online forms and payment devices, start adding payments, and more. For more information, search the Altru Help Center.

  1. From Revenue, select Blackbaud Payment Service merchant accounts under Configuration.

  2. Under Tasks, select Edit Blackbaud Payment Service login.

  3. Enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials and test the connection. When it succeeds, select Save — your Blackbaud Merchant Services accounts automatically appear.

  4. Choose default settings.

    • To mark the account as the default for authorization, select the account, select Default, and select Mark as default authorization account.

    • To mark the account as the default for card-present transactions, expand the merchant account, then select Default and select Mark as default card present account.

After you connect your accounts, you can configure online forms, add offline payments, and more. For more information, search the Blackbaud CRM Help Center.

Connect your Blackbaud Merchant Services account to process payments for your school store and application, giving, event registration, and school forms.

  1. From Core, Settings, select Payment Settings.

    Tip: Don't see this option? To connect your payment accounts, you must have the Platform Manager or Payment Services Manager role.

  2. Enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials, choose a currency, then save.

  3. From Core, Settings, select Payment Settings, then select Payment Processing.

  4. Select Add new account.

  5. Select BBMS, enter merchant account credentials and other required details, then save.

  6. After you connect your accounts, assign them to your online forms. For more information, select a form type from the following list.

    Tip: To manage forms, you must have the appropriate Manager role for the form type.

  7. Test your form:

    1. From your event registration or giving form, enter a payment using a test credit card. The payment should fail.

    2. Sign in to the Blackbaud Merchant Services Web Portal. Under Transactions, Transactions list, confirm the failed payment appears.

For more information, see the Education Management Help Center.

  1. From Management, My Organization, select Preferences.

  2. Enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials and save.

    Note: If you use Cart, Personal Fundraising, or eCommerce, or if you switch to Blackbaud Merchant Services from IATS or Sage, additional steps are required. For more information, contact Support.

  3. From Management, My Organization, select eCommerce.

  4. Under Tasks, select Add BBMS Processor.

  5. Choose whether to mark the account as the default for authorization, then enter a reference name, account credentials, and currency.

  6. Set other configuration options (such as whether to support EFT), then save.

After you connect your accounts, you can configure online forms. For more information, see the eTapestry Help Center.

  1. From Admin, Payment Settings, select Get Started in Blackbaud Payment Services.

  2. Select your merchant account.

  3. Select Enable credit card payments in Agent Portal, then save.

Tip: You need to be an Administrator in Guided Fundraising to access Payment Settings.

Note: By default, Luminate Online uses Blackbaud Merchant Services. For information on using a third-party payment gateway, contact solutions@blackbaud.com.

  1. From Setup, select Payment capabilities, then select Payment services.

  2. Select Import Blackbaud Merchant Services, enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials, and select Import.

  3. Under Payment capabilities, select Merchant accounts, then select Create account.

  4. Select your Blackbaud Merchant Services account configuration and enter required details such as tax ID, supported credit cards, and whether to process recurring transactions.

  5. Select Finish.

After you connect your accounts, you can configure settings for donation campaigns, eCommerce stores, and ticketed events. For more information, see Payment Capabilities in Luminate Online Help.

For information on how to connect your NetCommunity forms, see these Knowledgebase articles:

For information on how enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials, follow the steps under Blackbaud Raiser's Edge 7/Raiser's Edge NXT.

For information on how to set a merchant account for online forms, see How do I choose a different BBMS account to use? in Knowledgebase.

For information on how to connect payment configurations and choose fee coverage options for online forms, see the Optimized Donation Form and Standard Donation Form tutorials.

  1. Sign in to the database view as Supervisor.

  2. Under Config, General, enter your Blackbaud Payment Service credentials and test the connection.

  3. Under Config, Business rules, select Merchant accounts.

  4. Confirm your Blackbaud Merchant Services accounts appear in the list. If you don't see your accounts, contact Support.

After you connect your accounts, you can configure online forms, add offline payments, and more. For more information, see Get Started with Payment Processing in Raiser's Edge NXT Help.

Go Further

After you set up your Blackbaud Integrated Payments accounts, you can start taking advantage of exclusive features and capabilities.

To learn more, and to stay up to date on the latest features, resources, and best practices, visit the Blackbaud Integrated Payments Help Center.