Admins tasks

Three types of users have rights to perform admin tasks for an organization and its Blackbaud solutions.

  • Organization admins have full admin rights to manage all organizational tasks. They also have rights to manage users and roles within their organization’s Blackbaud solutions.

  • Solution admins have rights to manage a specific Blackbaud solution or solutions, but they don’t have rights to perform organizational admin tasks unless an organization admin assigns the required permissions.

  • Regular users can manage specific admin tasks when organization admins or solution admins assign the required permissions to perform organizational tasks or solution-specific tasks.

Organization admins can manage or delegate all admin tasks for their organization. They can perform organizational admin tasks, such as managing the organization profile, that impact the entire organization. They can also perform solution-specific admin tasks, such as managing user roles, that impact a specific Blackbaud solution.

To delegate admin tasks, organization admins can designate other organization admins, designate solution admins to handle all solution-specific admin tasks, or assign permissions to regular users for specific admin tasks.

Only organization admins can designate other organization admins or grant permissions to manage organizational admin tasks. Blackbaud recommends that organizations designate at least two organization admins to ensure access if one leaves. To designate an organization admin:

  1. On the Users page in Security, select Add user for a new user or find an existing user in the list and select Manage roles in the context menu.

  2. For a new user, enter a name and email address.

  3. Under Security, select Make organization admin.

  4. For a new user, select Send invite, or for an existing user, select Save.

Organizational admin tasks include:

  • Managing the organization profile, such as the address and other contact details

  • Tracking and managing user authentication with Blackbaud ID, including the option to enable single sign-on

  • Handling billing details, such as invoices, payment methods, and subscription renewals

  • Setting up Blackbaud Merchant Services to process and disburse funds, and managing passwords for Blackbaud services, such as Blackbaud Payment Service

  • Defining branding elements to create a familiar user experience

  • Managing access to Blackbaud ID, including adding and inactivating users

  • Designating other organization admins or assigning admin permissions to solution admins or regular users to enable them to perform specific organizational admin tasks

  • Keeping the list of active users and admins current

In addition, organization admins also perform all solution-specific admin tasks.

Solution admins can manage a specific Blackbaud solution or multiple solutions. They can access all features in the solutions where they are designated as solution admins, and they can manage all users and admins for those solutions.

By default, solution admins don't have admin rights for organizational admin tasks, such as managing the organization profile, but organization admins can assign permissions as necessary to enable solution admins to perform specific organizational admin tasks.

Organization admins can designate solution admins for any of their organization’s Blackbaud solutions, and solution admins can designate other solution admins for the solutions where they are solution admins. To designate a solution admin:

  1. On the Users page in Security, select Add user for a new user or find an existing user in the list and select Manage roles in the context menu.

  2. For a new user, enter a name and email address.

  3. Under Security, select Make solution admin for each applicable solution.

  4. For a new user, select Send invite, or for an existing user, select Save.

Solution-specific admin tasks include:

  • Access to all features within a solution, including Security where admins manage user access

  • Designating other solution admins or assigning permissions to enable regular users to perform specific admin tasks

  • Managing user roles within solutions to control the features that users can access

Regular users can manage specific admin tasks when organization admins or solution admins assign the required permissions. Organization admins can assign permissions to enable users to manage specific organizational tasks, and both organization admins and solution admins can assign permissions to enable users to manage solution-specific admin tasks.

To assign admin permissions to a regular user:

  1. On the Users page in Security, select Add user for a new user or find an existing user in the list and select Manage roles in the context menu.

  2. For a new user, enter a name and email address.

  3. Under Security, select the required admin roles.

    • For organizational admin tasks, select Blackbaud account management from the solution list on the left side of the section and then select the security roles.

    • For solution-specific admin rights to manage users and roles, select the solution from the solution list on the left of the section and then select the security roles under User management.

  4. For a new user, select Send invite, or for an existing user, select Save.