Case Study: Royal Belfast Academical Institution achieves rapid alumni database growth and stronger fundraising with Blackbaud eTapestry

Royal Belfast Academical Institution - Customer Case Study

Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI) is a leading Northern Ireland grammar school with a history of more than 200 years, educating boys aged 11–18. After launching a Development & Alumni Relations office in 2013, a two-person team faced the challenge of building a sustainable fundraising programme and engaging alumni worldwide without heavy capital expenditure—needs that larger, enterprise solutions weren’t right-sized to meet.

RBAI implemented eTapestry, a cloud-based, leased fundraising system offering intuitive journals, powerful query and analysis tools, and remote access. The platform let the small team scale their database from roughly 1,000 to over 6,500 records in three and a half years and now underpins bursaries, scholarships and capital projects while strengthening donor relationships globally.

Royal Belfast Academical Institution

Peter Anderson

Director of Development and Alumni Relations