Protecting the security and privacy of personal information is of the utmost importance to us. Children’s Home Society of Washington was recently informed by Blackbaud, one of our software application vendors, that they experienced a ransomware event in May 2020 which affected some of our donor database information. Blackbaud is one of the world’s largest providers of education administration, fundraising and financial management software for non-profits. Children’s Home Society of Washington was one of many organizations impacted by this occurrence.

Upon learning of the issue, we immediately engaged cyber security professionals and commenced an internal investigation to analyze any information that had been stored within this vendor’s applications, and to determine if any personal information is at risk. Our investigation is ongoing; however, we have been assured by Blackbaud at this time that no sensitive data was compromised due to encryption. We will provide further updates as appropriate.

We are taking this matter very seriously and continue to take significant measures to protect the personal information entrusted to us by you. We are sharing this information in an effort to be transparent with our valued donors. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Chief Development Officer, Jason Keen: Jason.Keen@chs-wa.org; (206) 584-0022.

Thank you for your continued support of our mission to serve children and families in Washington state.