Unsuccessful Blackbaud Data Breach

We deeply value our relationship with our donors and supporters, and the trust you put in us to protect your privacy and security. In keeping with our culture of transparency and open communication, we want to share that Mercy Housing was recently contacted by Blackbaud, the donor management software company that hosts our fundraising database, regarding an unsuccessful attempted data breach involving confidential and protected donor information. This was a widespread breach that has affected thousands of nonprofit organizations and universities around the world.

Blackbaud notified us that it discovered and stopped a ransomware attack in May 2020. Though the perpetrators may have had limited access to Mercy Housing’s fundraising data, such as donor names, they did not gain access to bank account information, usernames, passwords, or social security numbers stored in Mercy Housings database because they were encrypted and/or because we do not store that information in our database. None of Mercy Housing’s data was lost or corrupted as a result of this incident.

Mercy Housing’s Information Security team will continue working closely with Blackbaud to make sure that donor information remains secure, which is of the upmost importance for us. Mercy Housing has obtained assurances from Blackbaud that it has taken all appropriate measures to prevent similar events from happening in the future.

If you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Tom Maynard, Vice President of Information Security at tmaynard@mercyhousing.org