KindCon Partner Spotlight: Elevating event impact and eliminating data silos with Blackthorn

For mid-to-large advancement teams, healthcare foundations, and nonprofit leaders, events are far more than just logistical milestones or annual galas—they are high-value, emotional touchpoints in a constituent’s lifelong relationship with your organization. Yet, all too often, the incredible engagement generated in the room becomes trapped in a post-event maze of disconnected spreadsheets, tedious manual data exports, and clunky third-party tools.

How do we bridge the gap between memorable human connection and clean, actionable CRM data? The answer lies in true integration. We are thrilled to feature Blackthorn, a Gold Sponsor for KindCon 2026 and a deeply valued partner to the Kindsight ecosystem. Blackthorn is fundamentally changing how mission-driven organizations approach event management by building infrastructure directly inside Salesforce. By making event interactions a seamless extension of the core constituent record, they help organizations capture every moment of impact without the administrative headache.

We recently sat down with Matt Frank, Alliances & Tech Evangelism lead at Blackthorn, to discuss their core mission, the critical distinction of being natively built on Salesforce, and how forward-thinking fundraising teams are successfully scaling their event programs to drive measurable growth.

Q: Tell us about your company. What’s your mission?

Matt Frank: Blackthorn builds event management software that lives entirely inside Salesforce. Not connected to it, not synced with it, but truly native to it. Our mission is simple: help organizations stop losing event data to spreadsheets, exports, and disconnected tools, and start using that data to drive real impact. For nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, that matters more than most. When a constituent registers for your event, that moment should connect directly to their record in your CRM. Their giving history, their engagement, their journey with you—we make that happen, without the manual work.

Q: What types of organizations do you work with?

Matt: We work across higher education, nonprofits, healthcare, financial services, and more, but the common thread is Salesforce. If your organization runs Salesforce and runs events, we’re built for you. In the nonprofit space specifically, we work with organizations like PMD Alliance, which serves the Parkinson’s disease community, and Purdue for Life, which grew event registrations by 40% and generated over $500,000 in donations directly from event registrations.

All tracked inside Salesforce. These are teams that needed their events to do more than fill seats. They needed to prove mission impact, connect to donors, and scale without adding headcount.

Q: What sets your company apart from others in the industry?

Matt: One thing: we’re the only event management platform that’s truly native to Salesforce. Your event data doesn’t live in a third-party tool that exports into Salesforce once a day. It is your Salesforce data. The same records, the same reports, updated in real time. No duplicate contacts. No manual reconciliation. No wondering if your numbers are current.

We’re also the #1 most recommended event app on G2. The proof is in what our customers can do now that they couldn’t before. Ohio State eliminated manual data exports entirely. Western Michigan replaced five disconnected tools with one platform. Colorado State went from flying blind to tracking exactly who attended, when they gave, and how events influenced their pipeline. If your organization lives in Salesforce and needs your events to prove their worth, that’s exactly what we’re built for.

Q: Can you share a story, example, or milestone of a positive impact achieved through our partnership?

Matt: Kindsight and Blackthorn have grown together over the years, first partnering with each of the former companies (UC Innovation & Affinquest) and then building on that partnership to create a new, formidable connection for fundraising organizations looking to adopt Salesforce. In 2026, we hit a major milestone by surpassing 100 opportunities worked on together. That’s a true testament not only to the partnership between our organizations, but also to the value that best-in-breed technologies can bring to this market when they work together.

Together, we’ve been able to modernize the fundraising practices of organizations across a number of industries and geographies, and that impact has led to greater giving and stronger connections to each organization’s community. We couldn’t be prouder to support this mission-driven community.

Q: What was the best part of KindCon 2025? And what are you most excited for at KindCon 2026?

Matt: Meeting and engaging the community of users and partners around Kindsight is the best part of the conference, no matter the year! It’s always a fantastic opportunity to learn what’s actually on everyone’s mind (and on the horizon).

Q: What trends or changes are you seeing in your industry that excite you the most?

Matt: A few things are happening right now that we think are changing how organizations approach events. The biggest one: leadership is finally asking events to prove their worth. For years, events were treated as a cost center. You ran them, people showed up (hopefully), and that was the measure of success. Now we’re seeing fundraising teams, advancement offices, and nonprofit leaders ask harder questions: Who came? Did they give? Did they renew? How did this event move the needle? That shift is exciting to us, because it’s exactly what we’re built to answer.

We’re also seeing organizations move away from one or two big annual events toward more frequent, smaller, targeted programs. That’s great for constituents, but it puts real pressure on event teams who are already stretched thin. The organizations winning right now are the ones who’ve built infrastructure to run more events without adding more manual work.

And then there’s AI. We’re building an intelligence layer into our platform, including predictive no-show detection, smart scheduling recommendations, and automated post-event summaries. The goal is to take administrative weight off planners so they can focus on what actually matters. We’re not just interested in AI; we’re interested in what it frees people up to do. For mission-driven organizations especially, all of these point in the same direction: events are becoming one of the most powerful tools for building relationships, proving impact, and driving revenue. We think that’s long overdue.

Q: What exciting projects or goals are you currently working on?

Matt: We’re currently working on a number of projects under the banner ‘Blackthorn Boost’. This includes an incredibly flexible, brandable page designer, a revolutionary new planner interface called Forge, and an AI layer called Beacon that can help light the way. With each of these upgrades, the goal is to create a user experience that’s not just simple to grasp but also inherently powerful and meaningfully actionable. These should be rolling out over the next few months, and we can’t wait to show off the latest and greatest at KindCon!

Q: If you could leave KindCon attendees with one key takeaway about your company or mission, what would it be?

Matt: Events & engaging experiences don’t have to be hard to plan, execute, or report on, and the technology is there to support this! They can be simple and beautiful without needing a developer or a data science degree. Data can be readily available, invitation lists can be easily curated, and all of your follow-ups can be done in one system. All of your data can be in one place at one time, without onerous manual syncs or lag.

Strengthening the connected donor experience

A great event is about more than just filling seats or running a smooth check-in; it’s about making moments that actually help you build deeper donor relationships. Blackthorn’s approach of building everything directly inside Salesforce—instead of using messy, delayed data syncs—means you always have a clear, real-time look at how your community is engaging with your mission. Figuring out these operational shifts together—whether that means proving the true ROI of your events or using AI tools to take administrative paperwork off your team’s plate—is exactly why our user community is so important.  

If you want to see how other nonprofits and foundations are getting rid of spreadsheets, making the most of their CRM setup, and testing out intuitive new tools, there’s no better place to learn than KindCon 2026.  Head over to the KindCon website today to check out the details and grab your spot!

Matt Frank leads Blackthorn’s Alliances and Tech Evangelism efforts across the world. He’s worked in education, nonprofit program management, and technology for nearly 20 years and can’t wait for the next 20! Matt works with Blackthorn’s revenue and product teams to help provide an unforgettable experience for their customers.

Jill Mccarville

Jill Mccarville is a marketing leader and content creator. She's been working with nonprofits, healthcare and higher education for 10 years, helping to share their stories and tactics for more effective and efficient fundraising.

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