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the official blackbaud style guide graphic guidelines | trademarks | grammatical styles | commonly used terms The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 introduction / table of contents

Why do we need a style guide? Because we strive for excellence at Blackbaud, we need a style guide to help everyone in the company present a consistent image, tone, and style in all of our communications. Otherwise, our clients might be confused or even get the perception that we don’t value professionalism. They may think we’re sloppy, that we can’t communicate internally, and that we can’t possibly be as bright as we say (and know) we are. For example, while the correct usage of “affect versus effect” might not seem terribly important, the wrong choice will stand out like a sore thumb to a school or university. And when we’re inconsistent about how we write and treat product names, you’d better believe that our clients notice and wonder where else in the company carelessness is tolerated.

Please study this guide and refer to it whenever you have a question about grammar, trademarks, word choice and usage, sentence structure, spelling, format, or graphic design. We may revise, update, or add standards from time to time, so check meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates for the most recent version.

Resources include The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed) and the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (3rd ed). table of contents

Graphic and Logo Guidelines...... 3 Introduction to the Blackbaud Logo...... 3 General Blackbaud Logo Specifications...... 3 Colorization of the Blackbaud Logo...... 3 Size and Staging of the Blackbaud Logo...... 3 Registered Trademark Symbols...... 4 Incorrect Blackbaud Logo Usage...... 4 Introduction to the Target Analytics Logo...... 5 General Target Analytics Logo Specifications...... 5 Additional Logo Guidelines...... 6 Electronic and Print Media Guidelines (Logo Types/Wallpaper & Tiles/Animation)...... 6 For More Information...... 6 Colors...... 7 Branding Elements...... 7 (Print/Web)...... 8 Microsoft® PowerPoint® Presentations...... 9

Checklist of Errors...... 10

Blackbaud Trademarks...... 11

Grammar, Word Usage, and Style...... 14 Capitalization...... 14 ...... 15 Spelling...... 18 Grammar and Usage...... 18 and ...... 24 Formatting...... 25 Addresses...... 27 Correspondence...... 27 Terminology...... 28 Numbers and Symbols...... 29 Reference...... 30

2 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines blackbaud graphic and logo guidelines

Introduction to the Blackbaud Logo

The Blackbaud logo is an integral part of our communications strategy at Blackbaud. The proper display and application of our logo assists in providing a consistent and appropriate image to our clients and the general public. This guide is intended to help with the appropriate application of our logo Blackbaud Logo by explicitly showing proper usage it in print and electronic communications.

General Blackbaud Logo Specifications

There are two main elements of the Blackbaud logo: Word “Blackbaud” 1. The word Blackbaud 2. The registered

This is the approved and final form of the logo.

Registered Trademark Symbol

Colorization of the Blackbaud Logo

The color for the Blackbaud logo is black.

There is also a reversed-out version of our logo for use on black or darkly colored backgrounds.

Size and Staging of the Blackbaud Logo

You may scale the logo proportionally. Press and hold the shift key as you resize the logo to constrain its proportions.

“Staging” refers to the area directly surrounding the Blackbaud logo. around the Blackbaud logo should be equivalent to 1/2 the depth of the logo at a minimum.

Note: Logos are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 3 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

Registered Trademark Symbols

The logo should never be used without the ® symbol. This symbol identifies our logo as a registered trademarked image and protects it under current trademark laws.

Incorrect Blackbaud Logo Usage

The logo may not be printed in any other colors than those approved. If you want to adjust colors for appropriate use in a presentation, web page, or print material, please consult the Marketing Department.

The logo should not bump up against other logos or be overlapped by other graphics or words. The

Lore consequismodipit exero eugait ate dunt lan hent praese tatis nullan he The logo should not be placed within running copy. nit landit autpat dolore dolore magna commolor si ese commy

You may not stretch, skew, or rotate the logo.

You may not re-create the logo. Blackbaud

You may not place the logo within a shape.

Note: Logos are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 4 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

You may not overlap other graphics onto the logo.

You may not add a drop shadow to the logo.

Introduction to the Target Analytics Logo

The Target Analytics logo is the official logo used for all communications involving Target Analytics, a Blackbaud Company. This includes, but it not limited to, company documentation, collateral for products and services belonging to Target Analytics, direct marketing vehicles, presentations, Target Analytics Logo and software. The Target Analytics logo should be used in its whole form, unless present with the Blackbaud logo (for instance, in an advertisement); in this situation, the Target Analytics logo will be used without the “a Blackbaud Company” tagline. Note: All documents related to Data Enrichment Services™ products and services will use the corporate Blackbaud logo and branding.

General Target Analytics Logo Specifications

There are three main elements of the Blackbaud logo: Words “Target Analytics” 1. The words Target Analytics 2. The words a Blackbaud Company 3. The trademark symbol

This is the approved and final form of the logo.

Words “a Blackbaud Company” Trademark Symbol The Blackbaud logo’s colorization, size and staging, trademark symbols, and incorrect usage guidelines also apply to the Target Analytics logo.

Note: Logos are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 5 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

Additional Logo Guidelines

Blackbaud logos may not be distributed externally without the permission of the Marketing Department.

To make a logo request, please contact: Bill Fryman, Manager — Corporate Communications 843.216.6200, ext. 2260 [email protected]

This guide must be distributed with our logos. Specialty printing companies may not re-create our logos without permission/ approval of the Marketing Department. Blackbaud logos may not be used for merchandising without express permission of the Marketing Department.

Electronic and Print Media Guidelines

Most of the requirements for print use of Blackbaud logos also apply to digital use of Blackbaud logos. logo types wallpaper / tiles The Blackbaud logos may be used in email and on websites Do not use the Blackbaud logos as patterned or tiled with permission of the Blackbaud marketing team. There are backgrounds. separate versions of the logos for digital use. These logos have the extension of .gif or .jpg. These logos are not to be used in animation printed materials, as the resolution is too low to provide an Do not animate the Blackbaud logos without permission of the excellent reproduction of the image. There are also several Marketing Department. versions optimized with transparency for use on colored backgrounds. These are particularly helpful for use with many Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation templates. Please consider readability of the logos at all times.

For More Information

For questions regarding the use and distribution of Blackbaud logos, please contact: Bill Fryman, Manager — Corporate Communications 843.216.6200, ext. 2260 [email protected]

Note: Logos are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 6 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

Fonts

Fonts play an important part in Blackbaud communications by enhancing readability and providing a consistent look and feel to our marketing campaigns. Blackbaud uses two basic sets of fonts — fonts for print materials and fonts for our web pages and electronic materials.

print Title subtitle Fontin Sans is the core used in Blackbaud print materials. This versatile font, available in sans-serif, works equally well in headers and Header Text (20pt, Fontin Sans, BB Blue) Subheader Text (15pt, Fontin Sans Regular, subheads. =58 M=24 Y=13 K=47, 50% tint)

body text header (14pt, fontin smallcaps, bb blue)

Body text should be set at Fontin Sans Regular except when there Body Text (Warnock Pro Light, 10pt or smaller, Black) Spacing between lines should be at least 15pt

are large amounts of body copy in documents such as brochures and  Bullets  Sub-bullets “Call Out Text (12pt, datasheets. In that case, should be used for the body copy. Fontin Sans Regular, BB Warnock Pro Uptate minisciduis nit utat, quisismodit nostrud modipit il ut nonsect etumsandre eratue Blue). Advantage Priority do odigna consent aci bla augiat. Od tat. Re faccum eugait augait la alisi tet ullaorem irilis at ® ® Support has proven to be If working in a document, use the font if Fontin adio conum et dolor sed magna conullamet, vel etum velesto dolor sis eniam, si. exactly what we needed. This is a great service.” Sans and/or is not available. Exception: Pisis dolorem volor ilisit augait ipit nullaore minibh ero erat acincidunt alis doloreet lutatio Warnock Pro dolobor sequamcons alismolorem zzrit nit praestions augiam dolor sed tisim aliquat prat — Ina Clark, San Francisco ad magna aut wis nis atum ing ex eugait, sequisit nos dit velit velit, sumsandreet dignibh et University High School should be used in letters. wisi.

Issi euisisi tie consequat num in vero coreetue dunt vel iliquat wisim zzrit, susci et nos ad dolore volorer si. Ibh eu faci el utpat, volore verciduis eliquam consequiscin ulput delit 800.443.9441

ecte veliquip ex et dolor ip eniam, commod exer si blaortinibh et, si bla alissim ip euipit ad [email protected] Helvetica Black (-75 tracking) is a sans-serif font that was used in our tet, sequis amconulla commy nosto eriusci ex exercin ver sumsan enim vullut nulluptat, www.blackbaud.com qui tio eliquam nullaore moloborperos aci blan vullaor periustis ad modolore dolessis ecte feuguercilis exero consecte etum quat adigna acil ut utat. © Blackbaud, Inc. logo for the word Blackbaud. 2000 Daniel Island Drive Charleston, SC 29492 Gait iustion henim init velenia mconulluptat utpate dignim velit loreros aliqui et velessequam quis auguerosto dolore min vulput exerat velesed modiamcore diat, velit nisisissim eliquat lor ad dolor inim in hent la conullam aliquis am adit pratisl do del ut Top-level bullets should be open circles and sub-level bullets should be luptatie magna feugiatum dolortisl enisi.

Sit augiam eraesto consequat iuscip ea core dolestrud eu feum iure modit ad tat incidunt alit closed circles. See example: nullaor iriure feugait eu feugait vel doluptat adipisl iliquissi. Conullu msandre tisl irillutat lortin hendrem zzrilis augue dolestrud magna facing el ut accummodip eu feugait in er inim  This is a top-level er adiam, consequip et nulla ad tat. Ut vercipit adit ilisit alisisismod ex exerosto od molut eugiam dio od eraesed er irit wisi. Wisim in ut augait irilit lut ing ent irit.  This is a sub-level bullet

web Call to action goes here! 10pt, Fontin Sans Regular, C=58 M=24 Y=13 K=47, 50% tint Fontin Sans should be used on web ads and Blackbaud web pages for header and subhead graphics.

Arial, a contemporary sans-serif font, is the font chosen for setting all web paragraph text.

Arial is also the chosen font used in our PowerPoint® Presentations. Arial can also be used in Microsoft® Word® documents if Fontin Sans is not available.

Note: Fonts and datasheet templates are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 7 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

Colors

Blackbaud communications are additionally enhanced through the use of the Blackbaud Color Palette in our marketing materials. The use of this palette provides a consistent look and feel to our marketing materials. Colors within the palette are as follows.

web / microsoft® print office® documents

CMYK values Pantone values RGB/HEX values

primary primary primary

C90 M70 Y46 K38 PMS 7546 R33 G60 B81 #213c51

accents accents accents

C20 M8 Y5 K16 PMS 5435 R173 G188 B199 #adbcc7

C58 M24 Y13 K47 PMS 5405 R65 G101 B122 #41657a

C61 M10 Y9 K0 PMS 2985 R87 G182 B215 #57b6d7

C42 M15 Y85 K0 PMS 7495 R161 G182 B84 #a1b654

C10 M0 Y78 K0 PMS 101 R236 G234 B92 #ecea5c

C9 M25 Y85 K0 PMS 142 R233 G188 B69 #e9bc45

Branding Elements

The following elements are approved for use in documents.

Note: Branding elements are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 8 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 graphic and logo guidelines

Microsoft® PowerPoint® Presentations

Presentation Title or Product Name

Title subtitle

Date Presenter’s Name

Presentation Title or Product Name

Font and Color Palette

| Use Arial Font | Use the accent colors for graphs, tables, and diagrams | To change the title on presentation slides, choose from menu above and select and then . x Secon d bull et ex am pl e • Third bullet example • Fourth bullet example

Primary Color Accent Colors

Red 33 Green 60 Blue 81

Presenter’s Name | Page #2 © 2008 Blackbaud

Note: PowerPoint® templates are available for download on meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates 9 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 checklist of errors checklist of errors Use this checklist to ensure you catch the most common errors.

 Use bold for all product names and module/sub-product names in marketing materials, except when they appear in headlines or quotes. Do not italicize product names.  Check product trademarks and make sure they are current.  Use the appropriate ® or ™ symbol for the first reference to a product on each page.  Change the spelling of e-mail to email and Web site to website.  Change the style of internet to Internet.  Use a “.” instead of “-” in phone and fax numbers. For example, write: 843.216.6200.  Make sure bulleted items end in a period only if they are complete sentences (with both a subject and verb).  Include “http://” in a web address only if it does not start with ”www”.  Underline web addresses only if they appear within running text.  When listing items in a series, do not omit the before the conjunction in a list of three or more items. For example, write: Blackbaud provides software, services, and support.  Place an after a word (if the is on the word) or at the end of a sentence after the period (if the emphasis is on the sentence).  Include Blackbaud’s positioning statement and copyright information on all materials: positioning statement: copyright information:

Blackbaud is the global provider of software and © Month 2008, Blackbaud, Inc. services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, This (document type) is for informational purposes only. Blackbaud enabling them to improve operational efficiency, build strong makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this summary. The relationships, and raise more money to support their missions. information contained in this document represents the current Approximately 19,000 organizations — including the American view of Blackbaud, Inc., on the items discussed as of the date of Red Cross, Dartmouth College, the WGBH Educational this publication. Foundation, Episcopal High School, Lincoln Center, Cancer Research UK, Special Olympics, and Arthritis Foundation — use All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks one or more Blackbaud products and services for fundraising, or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc. The names of actual constituent relationship management, financial management, companies and products appearing herein may be the trademarks direct marketing, school administration, ticketing, website of their respective owners. management, prospect research, consulting, and analytics. ® Since 1981, Blackbaud’s sole focus and expertise has been *NOTE: In documents containing Microsoft product names, place partnering with nonprofits and providing them the solutions the following information in the boilerplate: they need to make a difference in their local communities and Microsoft, Encarta, MSN, and Windows are either registered worldwide. Headquartered in the United States, Blackbaud also trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United has operations in Canada, the , and Australia. States and/or other countries. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

 Format Blackbaud’s contact information as follows:

Blackbaud, Inc. 2000 Daniel Island Drive Charleston, SC 29492 © Month 2008

Toll-free: 800.443.9441 Fax: 843.216.6100 Email: [email protected] Web: www.blackbaud.com 10 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 blackbaud trademarks blackbaud trademarks

General  RE:WriteBack™  Read-Only Database Assistance™ (RODBA) ® Blackbaud  Recurring Gifts Management™ ™ Blackbaud Europe  Blackbaud GiftAid™ (for UK customers) ™ Blackbaud Pacific  for Applications™ (VBA) Conference for Nonprofits™ Target Analytics, a Blackbaud Company The Raiser’s Edge® for Windows® (Use only for 6.x versions) The Raiser’s Edge® Enterprise™ Products Blackbaud Insight™ for The Raiser’s Edge® ™ ® enterprise Data Health Center for The Raiser’s Edge Blackbaud Direct Marketing™ The Raiser’s Edge® Custom Modules Blackbaud Enterprise CRM™  Volunteer Time System™ Blackbaud Infinity™  Call Center™ The Raiser’s Edge® Enterprise  MapPoint® Integration ™ fundraising  ZIPFinder Radius Search  Duplicate Constituent Merge™ The Raiser’s Edge® (The Raiser’s Edge® 7 and above)  Advanced Import  Address Validation™  Guest Management™  Application Programming Interface™ (API)  Present Value of Pledges™  CounterPoint SQL (CounterPoint SQL is owned by Synchronics, a division of Radiant Systems) ™  MaestroSoft® GiftMaker Pro  AuctionMaestro Pro® ®  MaestroWeb® Team Approach  PaperSave®  Point of Sale™ business intelligence ™  Postal Discounts™ The Information Edge  RE:Alum®  RE:Anywhere™ financial management ™  RE:API™ The Financial Edge ™  RE:EFT™  Accounting Forms ™  RE:Event®  Accounting Queue ™  RE:Event® plus Auction-Tracker®  Accounts Payable ™  RE:Express™  Accounts Receivable ™  RE:Member®  Advanced Budget Management ™  RE:NetSolutions™  Advanced Security ™  RE:NetAdvocacy™  Allocation Management ™  RE:NetDirectories™  Application Programming Interface (API) ™  RE:NetDonors™  Budget Management ™  RE:NetEvents™  Cash Management ™  RE:NetMail™  Cash Receipts ™  RE:NetMembers™  Consolidation Management  RE:NetVolunteers™  CounterPoint SQL (CounterPoint SQL is owned by Synchronics, a division of Radiant Systems)  RE:PlannedGiftTracker™ (US) / RE:Legacies™ (UK)  Electronic Funds Transfer™  RE:Queue®  eRequisitions™  RE:Search™  Fixed Assets™  RE:Tribute®  General Ledger™  RE:VBA™  Payroll™  RE:Volunteer® 11 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 blackbaud trademarks

 PaperSave® Education Administration™  Point of Sale™  Academy Manager™  Project, Grant and Endowment Management™  Admissions Office™  Purchase Orders™  Automated Master Schedule Creation™  School Store Manager™  Automated Student Scheduling™  Student Billing™  Data Entry Scanning™  View-only Licenses™  EA:Open™  Visual Basic for Applications™ (VBA)  Faculty Access for Windows and the Web™  NetClassroom™ Accounting For Nonprofits™  Registrar’s Office™  Accounting Forms™  School Store Manager™  Accounts Payable™  Accounting Open™ prospect research  Accounting Queue™ Target Analytics, a Blackbaud Company  Accounts Receivable™  donorCentrics™  Bank Reconciliation™  Target Tags™  Budget Management™  Blackbaud Custom Mail Services™  Electronic Funds Transfer™  Fundraising Right™  Fixed Assets™ Right people. Right plan. Right now.  General Ledger™  The Researcher’s Edge™  Interest Income Allocation™  PeopleLink™  Miscellaneous Cash Receipts™  ProspectPoint®  Payroll™  WealthEstimator™  Point of Sale™  WealthPoint®  Project, Grant and Endowment Management™  WealthPoint® Advantage  Purchase Orders™  WealthPoint® Online  School Store Manager™  WealthPoint® Screening Indicator  Student Billing™  WealthPoint® for The Raiser’s Edge®  WealthPoint® for The Researcher’s Edge™ school administration Total School Solution™ ticketing Blackbaud Student Information System™ Blackbaud’s Arts and Cultural Solution™ Total Campus Solution™ The Patron Edge® Online Campus Community™  Access Control™  NetConnection™  CRM™  Event Planning and Definition™ The Education Edge™  Memberships and Subscriptions™  Admissions Office™  Merchandise™  Application Programming Interface™ (API)  Single Tickets™  Faculty Access for the Web™  Ticket Design™  NetClassroom™  Venue Configuration™  NetInquiry™  Online Admissions™ The Patron Edge® Online  Read-Only Database Assistance™ (RODBA)  Agent™  Registrar’s Office™  CRM™  School Store Manager™  Discounts™  Student Billing™  Membership & Renewals™  Visual Basic for Applications™ (VBA)  Merchandise™  Restrictions™  Single Tickets™  Subscription & Renewals™ 12 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 blackbaud trademarks internet solutions  AddressFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge® Blackbaud Analytics™  AgeFinder™  WealthPoint® Online  Blackbaud Connects™  Blackbaud ListFinder™ Blackbaud® NetCommunity™  CongressionalDistrictFinder™  Blackbaud® NetCommunity™ Advanced Edition  CountyFinder™  NetAdvocacy™  DeceasedRecordFinder™  Online Campus Community™  EmailFinder™  NetConnection™  GenderFinder™  TeamFundraising™  ImportAccelerator™  TrueCRM™  LegislativeDistrictFinder™  MatchFinder® Plus The Education Edge™  PeopleFinder™  Faculty Access for the Web™  PeopleFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  NetClassroom™  PhoneFinder™  NetInquiry™  PhoneFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  Online Admissions™  PostalDiscounts™ (for Canada)  Online Campus Community™  NetConnection™ Educational Services (is not trademarked, but is the preferred usage phrase)  Blackbaud Training Pass™ The Financial Edge™  eRequisitions™ Blackbaud OnDemand Services  School Store Manager™ The Blackbaud Advantage™ The Patron Edge® Online  Advantage™  Agent™  Advantage Professional™  CRM™  Advantage Priority™  Discounts™  Membership & Renewals™ The Raiser’s Edge® Web Services  Merchandise™  AddressAccelerator™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  Restrictions™  AddressFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  Single Tickets™  DeceasedRecordFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  Subscription & Renewals™  PeopleFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  PhoneFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge® The Raiser’s Edge®  WealthPoint® for The Raiser’s Edge®  RE:Anywhere™  RE:NetSolutions™ Data Health Center™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  AddressAccelerator™ for The Raiser’s Edge® Professional Services  AddressFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge®  DeceasedRecordFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge® ™ Blackbaud Forms  PhoneFinder™ for The Raiser’s Edge® Consulting Services (is not trademarked, but is the preferred usage phrase) Blackbaud Staffing Solutions™ Other

Data Enrichment Services™ Complete Church Management Solution™  DELIVER Suite Blackbaud’s Complete Faith-Based Solution™  AddressAccelerator™  AddressFinder™  PostalSaver™  AddressAccelerator™ for Canada  AddressAccelerator™ for The Raiser’s Edge®

13 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 capitalization grammar, word usage, and style

Refer to this guide with any style and writing questions. It is divided into sections with terms listed alphabetically. Where formatting styles vary, we have made notes so that you can refer to your department’s specific requirements. Examples that illustrate the rule are printed in orange text. capitalization Avoid the unnecessary use of capital letters. If there is no listing in this style guide for a particular word or phrase, see Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

ActiveX One word, capital X proper Proper nouns are always capitalized. If you are not sure, see Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. century Lowercase, spelling out numbers less than 10: the first century, the 21st century. query, Query Do not capitalize query when using it as a common : I am creating a query. company and corporation names On the first reference to Capitalize Query when using it as an area of our programs: I am a company, use the company’s formal name. On subsequent working in Query. In Documentation, Query is capitalized and references, lowercase the words the company, the corporation, italicized. or the association. Spell out and lowercase the words company, corporation, and association when they are used without the name regional training Do not capitalize regional training: For The of the company. Raiser’s Edge®, we offer regional training classes. See also product names, third-party products. seasons Lowercase the names of the seasons unless they are part computer-based training The following examples represent the of a formal name or designate an issue of a periodical: Winter correct ways to hyphenate and capitalize or lowercase computer- Olympic Games, the Autumn 1985 issue of Poetry, He will graduate based training: in the spring. We offer computer-based training for General Ledger. For our users, we offer General Ledger Computer-Based Training. Social Security Number Always initial-capped For our users, we offer General Ledger CBT. state names Capitalize the names of states; lowercase the word We offer CBT for General Ledger. state: the state of New York. Names of states, territories, and possessions of the United States should be spelled out in full in departments Capitalize department names. running text. The Marketing Department generates leads for the Sales Some nouns and adjectives referring to regions within states are Department. capitalized; others are not: The Marketing Department generates leads for Sales. Upper Michigan the Upper Peninsula northern Michigan Exception: New economics often face the task of staffing their the South the Southwest the south of France marketing departments. southern southwestern See also addresses on envelopes and postcards. geographic names Capitalize popular and legendary names: the Bay Area, the Big Apple, the Delta, the Lone Star State, Twin Cities, the tab Initial cap the tab name but not the word tab: The Org 1 tab West Side, the Windy City, the States. Do not place them within appears on a constituent record in The Raiser’s Edge®. quotation marks. See also state names. titles (people) Capitalize formal titles only when they are used directly before a name or as forms of address: gift-in-kind, gifts-in-kind When gift-in-kind is used in a heading President Bush Senator Edwards Pope John Paul II that is initial capped, capitalize both the G and K but not the I: General Clark Dean Welch Professor Knight Gift-in-Kind. Coach Spurrier headlines See titles. Do not capitalize occupational identifiers, whether they are used before or after a name: Assistant vice president for finance Dan home page Two words, both lowercase. Ritter supported the plan. In many cases, constructions like these would be less awkward if the title came after the name: Dan Java Capital J Ritter, assistant vice president for finance, supported the plan. Lowercase and spell out all titles not used with an individual’s Lowcountry When referring to this area in South Carolina, use one name: The president conferred with the secretary of state and the word and a capital L. chair of General Motors Corporation. Lowercase and spell out all titles that are set off from a name months Capitalize the names of months. by : The vice president, Dick Cheney, presided over the Senate; Roberta Escala, the chief executive officer, made the notepad, Notepad Store your comments in the convenient notepad. announcement. The Notepad feature is useful for recording miscellaneous comments. 14 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 capitalization / punctuation titles (job) Do not capitalize job titles unless they directly precede a When hyphenated words appear in titles, headlines, and other person’s name. Examples: forms requiring capitalization, always capitalize the first element; A customer support analyst will return your call. capitalize the second element if it is a noun or proper adjective, or if it seems of equal importance to the first element: Blue-Green, Customer Support Analyst Clark Smith will give you a call. Non-Denominational, Seventeenth-Century Literature. Clark Smith, a customer support analyst, will give you a call. Spell out and lowercase references to parts of a book: part I, page CSA Clark Smith will give you a call. vii, chapter 3. Clark Smith, a CSA, will give you a call. See also italics. See also military titles. web Do not capitalize the w when referring to the web, web page, or titles (written works) Capitalize the first letter of each word in website. titles except articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet), and prepositions (at, in, to, with). web- Words beginning with the prefix web- are common nouns and appear in lowercase. Normal rules of capitalization apply in titles See also . and at the beginning of a sentence. titles (written and artistic works) When writing book titles, Right: The webcast is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. movie titles, play titles, poem titles, opera titles, song titles, TV Wrong: The Webcast is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. program titles, the titles of lectures and speeches, and works of art: web page Two words. Both lowercase. Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters. website One word. Use website instead of Web site or web site. The w in web is lowercase. Also: Capitalize articles a, an, and the and prepositions and conjunctions of fewer than four letters if they come at the beginning or end of webcentric webcam webcast webmaster the title. webzine

World Wide Web Initial capped punctuation accent mark As foreign words and phrases become familiar, they , braces Brackets look like this: [ ]. Braces look like this: { }. tend to lose the accent marks they once had. Do not use accent See also parentheses. marks on the following words: cliche, detente, expose, resume. Retain accent marks only as needed to indicate pronunciation. co- See hyphens, hyphenated words. Use accent marks in names when it is the preference of the The colon is a mark of anticipation. It indicates that what individual: Gabriel García Márquez, Galapágos. follows the mark will complete or amplify what came before it. addresses Use a comma in running text to separate elements of an Use a colon to introduce a list or series: The CEO mentioned three address: Barker comes from Jacksonville, Florida, and now lives in likely candidates for the award: Shriver, Gomez, and O’Bannon. Hartford, Connecticut. Do not use a colon between a verb and its complement or object: In addresses on envelopes, there is no comma between the state Right: The three candidates are Shriver, Gomez, and O’Bannon. and postal code. Wrong: The three candidates are: Shriver, Gomez, and O’Bannon. Use a colon to introduce a long quotation. African American Do not hyphenate this phrase. African American students volunteered to work with children in local schools. Use a colon to introduce word groups that begin with for example, for instance, that is, and namely: The campaign established some See also ethnic and racial designations. important principles: for example, the concept of “one person, one apostrophe To make a singular noun , add an apostrophe vote.” and an s: Phyllis’s mother lives in New York City with Laura’s Capitalize the first letter of the first word when a complete cousin. sentence follows a colon. If a sentence does not follow the colon, do not capitalize the first letter of the first word.Her achievement If a noun is and already ends in s, add only the apostrophe: remains etched in memory: It has not been surpassed in 50 years. Both actresses’ parts were humorous. The database includes three components: reports, forms, and Avoid common misuses of apostrophes, such as using an tables. apostrophe with nouns that are not possessive. and commas are the usual link between independent Right: Some outpatients are given special treatment. clauses. However, a colon can be used when the second clause explains or amplifies the first. Wrong: Some outpatient’s are given special treatment. See also comma, . Form the plural of a single letter by adding an apostrophe and an s. The letter itself (but not the s) is italicized: x’s comma Use a comma to separate elements in a series: He has taken Its is a possessive pronoun. No apostrophe: A book cannot be exams in algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. Remember to place judged by its cover. It’s is the for it is and it has: It’s a a comma before the and. long book. It’s all been said before. See also & . 15 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 punctuation

Use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by and, but, foreign words and phrases See accent mark. for, or, nor, yet, or so: You should congratulate her, for she has performed splendidly. geographic names Do not place popular and legendary names If the clauses themselves contain commas, use a semicolon within quotation marks: instead of a comma: The president, Nancy Olsen, gave a persuasive the Bay Area the Big Apple the Delta the Lone Star State presentation; but the employees, weary of the issue, remained the States Twin Cities the West Side the Windy City unpersuaded. See also state names. Use a comma after a long introductory word group: After completing his most difficult examination, he went to a movie. gift-in-kind, gifts-in-kind Hyphenated. Use this term instead of in-kind gifts. When the term is used at the beginning of a sentence, If the introductory element is short, you can omit the comma: capitalize only the G, i.e., Gift-in-kind. After the examination he went to a movie. But use the comma if the sentence would be confusing without it: The day before, he healthcare One word. spent six hours reviewing his notes. Use a comma in direct address: Nancy, please hand me the however Use a semicolon before however and a comma afterward newspaper. to link independent clauses connected by however: That legendary Use a comma between proper names and titles: Jane Barker, race seems as vivid as yesterday; however, it took place 50 years president of Zenith Inc., chaired the meeting. ago. Use a comma in running text to separate elements of an address: , The trend currently is away from Barker comes from Jacksonville, Florida, and now lives in Hartford, hyphens hyphenated words hyphenation. Connecticut. In addresses on envelopes, there is no comma between the state abbreviation and postal code. Even when a prefix ends and a word begins with the same , words tend to be written as one: Commas always go inside quotation marks, both single and double. cooperate cooperative (but co-op) preeminent reelect reevaluate See also colon, semicolon. Some technical terms are hyphenated: company and corporation names Use the (&) and 16-bit 32-bit double-click left-click plus sign (+) only when they are part of the company’s name or right-click drop-down list drop-down menu abbreviation: AT&T, Gulf + Western, Procter & Gamble. If you are Some other words with the include gift-in-kind, grant- not sure, consult the company, the company’s annual report, or maker, in-house, on-site. Standard & Poor’s Register. nouns: Many compound nouns are hyphenated: compounds See hyphens, hyphenated words. brother-in-law, ex-president, follow-up, one-half, well-being, 18-year-old. course names Do not place course names in quotation marks: Most Many compound nouns are not hyphenated: high schools require four years of English. day care lowest common denominator decision making problem solving vice president dates When a date consists only of a month and year, do not use a comma between them: March 2005. Many compound nouns are written as one word: In running text, when a phrase refers to a month, day, and year, copyediting courseload coursework database statewide use commas after the date and year: February 19, 2005, was their workforce workplace workstation worldwide wedding date. Exception: World Wide Web See also times. Compound adjectives: Some compound adjectives are hyphenated: 10--pole 17th-century philosophy decades There is no apostrophe before the s: the 1950s, the ‘60s. all-inclusive standards cost-effective procedures decision-making process in-house job drop-down list Hyphenated matter-of-fact statement problem-solving techniques third-party software two-thirds majority drop-down menu Hyphenated Some compound adjective forms are not hyphenated: bluish green Normally, an ellipsis is three spaced periods. When an ellipsis paint, on screen procedures follows a period, leave a space and then attach the ellipsis: Some compound adjective forms are written as one word: catlike He felt it was too late to go back. . . . movements, tenfold increase, statewide referendum Use an ellipsis to indicate the omission of one or more words in a A hyphen is used between a prefix and a proper name: mid- quotation: Atlantic, pre-Cambrian, pro-Doonesbury “Ask . . . what you can do for your country.” Words with prefixes: When a prefix stands alone, it carries a hyphen: over- and underused, macro- and microeconomics email No hyphen Words formed with co- also are usually spelled without a hyphen. For more examples and lists, see Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate for example A comma is usually used after such expressions as for Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/) or The Chicago Manual of Style. example, that is, namely, i.e., and e.g. Use a colon to introduce clauses and phrases that begin with for example: The campaign enabled the school to make important progress: for example, to create two new professorships. See also e.g., i.e. 16 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 punctuation

Capitalization: When hyphenated words appear in headlines and Enclose a word in quotation marks to show that the speaker or titles, always capitalize the first element; capitalize the second writer is not using it in its conventional sense: His “X-ray” eyes element if it is a noun or proper adjective, or if it seems of equal could see the far horizon. Words used in an ironic sense should importance to the first element.Blue-Green, Non-Denominational, also be enclosed in quotation marks: Their “dialogue” resulted in a Seventeenth-Century Literature. boisterous free-for-all. Do not capitalize the second element if it modifies the first Commas always go inside quotation marks, both single and element or if the two elements together form a single word in a double. headline or title: English-speaking Peoples, E-flat Minor. Semicolons go outside quotation marks. Brian bored his friends See also ethnic and racial designations. with memories of long-forgotten “triumphs”; yet, his friends were understanding. Jr. Use no comma between the name and Jr.: Harry Jones Jr. Colons and question marks go outside quotation marks unless Latino/Latina See ethnic and racial designations. they are part of the quotation: The dean promised “never to relent until we have proved ourselves”: that is, not before the three goals months Do not use a comma between the month and the year: He have been achieved. graduated in May 2004. All classes held after September 2004 must Quoted matter may stand by itself, as in the examples, or worked run at least 2 hours and 55 minutes. into your own sentence: Baker said that “the lessons of the past are a warning.” moreover Use a semicolon before moreover and a comma afterward to link independent clauses connected by moreover. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations: Baker said, “It was an Inca who observed, ‘The lessons of the past nevertheless Use a semicolon before nevertheless and a comma are a warning.’” afterward to link independent clauses connected by nevertheless. When a quotation is longer than one sentence, introduce it with a colon. When a quotation is longer than one paragraph, use Native American See ethnic and racial designations. quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph but only at the end of the last paragraph. Block quotations, material set off on-site Use a hyphen in on-site: The on-site visit was useful for the from the rest of the text, are indented, left and right, and not customer. The CSA went on-site to give customer training. enclosed in quotation marks. Quoted matter included within a block quotation should be enclosed in double quotation marks. Use a semicolon to link independent clauses connected otherwise See also ellipsis. by otherwise. re- See hyphens, hyphenated words or Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate parentheses Use parentheses to add useful information for the Dictionary. reader: Gresham’s Law (that bad money drives out good) applies as usual in this case. semicolon Use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses Use parentheses to enclose letters or figures that mark items in a but keep them more tightly linked than they would be as two list: The additions may include (1) illustrations, (2) definitions, or sentences: She achieved every objective; we were all impressed. (3) information thrown in for good measure. Use semicolons to separate the elements in a series when they are See also brackets, braces. punctuated internally: I cannot remember whether the opinion was expressed by Sundstrum, the chairperson; or Cline, the pre- The trend is moving away from using hyphens. If you are presiding officer; or Romero, the secretary. not sure whether a word uses a hyphen, see Merriam-Webster’s Use a semicolon to link independent clauses connected by Collegiate Dictionary. however, moreover, therefore, consequently, nevertheless, and See hyphens, hyphenated words. otherwise. See also colon, comma. prefixes See hyphens, hyphenated words. smart quotes Word® 97 and Word® 2000 and above automatically quotation marks Use quotation marks to enclose a direct use smart quotes. Make sure they are turned on in your quotation. Notice the placement of the comma in the two preferences. examples: He said, “I’m doing my best.” Sr. Use no comma between the name and Sr.: Harry Jones Sr. “I’m doing my best,” he said. therefore Use a semicolon before therefore and a comma afterward In running text, quoted words, phrases, and sentences are to link independent clauses connected by therefore. She excelled in enclosed in quotation marks: Baker observed, “The lessons of all that she did; therefore, she attained the highest honors. the past are a warning.” He said and all its variations are set off by commas from the quoted text: “The lessons of the past,” said parts of a book Do not use quotation marks in references to parts Baker, “are a warning.” of a book: part I, page vii, chapter 3. Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of short works: web address Avoid ending a sentence with a web address. If the articles essays poems short stories songs address must end a sentence, put a period after the address. chapters and parts of longer works columns and departments in magazines and newspapers OK: Our website is www.blackbaud.com. episodes of radio and TV programs Better: Visit our website at www.blackbaud.com for more information.

white See ethnic and racial designations. 17 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 spelling / grammar and usage spelling Be careful when using your spelling checker. Sometimes, we get click-happy with suggested replacements and end up with sentences such as: Job queries are based on the job record and are available only if you have the optional module Revolutionary. Last time we looked, the module was still called RE:Volunteer. acknowledgement Spell acknowledgement with the e. into One word canceling One L it’s, its It’s = it is; its is a possessive pronoun. cannot One word judgment Spell judgment without the e. catalog In the US, use catalog instead of catalogue; in the UK, use Knowledgebase One word catalogue. millennium Two l’s, two ’s dependant, dependent Dependent is the correct adjective form. She has three dependent children. sense, since She hasn’t missed a day of work since she started, but Dependent is the preferred noun form. I claim one dependent on my it doesn’t make sense to come in sick. income tax form. grammar and usage a, an Use a before sounds: a header file, a one-time check, assure, ensure, insure Assure means to make (a person) sure of a user guide. something or to convince. The news assured us. Use an before vowel sounds: an open record, an honors Ensure means to make certain or safe. We have taken measures to calculation, an EFT notice. ensure accuracy. Insure has to do with insurance. The property is insured in case of add‑on This phrase is no longer used at Blackbaud. Use optional fire. module to describe modules sold with our main products. barcode One word affect, effect Affect means to influence and is always a verb. Bright light affects the eyes. because, since Use because to answer why: Because you are going Effect as a noun means a result. The drug had a cathartic effect. to Mt. Pleasant, I will ride with you. Effect as a verb means to bring about or to accomplish. The duty of Use since to designate a sense of time: Since you left, the house is the legislature to effect the will of the citizens. empty. all right Two words beside, besides The preposition beside means by the side of, as in beside the road. It is also used in idioms like beside the point and although See while. beside myself with rage. The preposition besides means other than or except, as in The alumna/alumnus, alumnae/alumni Use alumnus and alumni to president remained silent on the issue; besides that, she had come refer to both males and females unless you know all alums are to enjoy herself. females: The alumni gave generously this year. Use alumna/alumnae in a scenario or example that is specifically between, among See among, between. female. between you and me Never use between you and I. a.m. See times. birth date Two words. Birthday is one word. among, between Among implies more than two objects: They distributed the food among the refugees. black See ethnic and racial designations. Between is used for two: They divided the prize between Sharon and me. bring, take Bring implies motion toward the speaker or writer: Bring the disk to me when you come. ampersand (&) Use the ampersand (&) only when it is an official Take implies motion away from: Take it with you when you leave. part of the name or title: AT&T, Simon & Schuster, Procter & When the point of view does not matter, either term can be used: Gamble. Silkworms were brought [or taken] from China to France. Never use in running text. cannot One word and/or Avoid this construction. When used as a noun, check mark is two words: To appendices, appendixes Use appendixes. unmark all check marks in the Assign column, click Deselect All. As a verb, it is one word: Checkmark your selections in the list. Asian See ethnic and racial designations.

18 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage choose, select Use select instead of choose when describing how to database One word access menu items, tabs, or fields. day care Two words circumlocution Circumlocution is a roundabout way of saying something. decades Use words or numbers consistently in a sentence: He For information and examples, see . graduated in the 1950s, but in the ‘60s he had his true education. The seventies and the eighties were tremendous times of change. See also wordiness. There is no apostrophe before the s. cliches Avoid using trite expressions or cliches such as acid test, crack of dawn, generous to a fault, leading-edge technology, on the dependant, dependent Dependent is the correct adjective form. She cutting edge, the picture of health, state-of-the-art. has three dependent children. Dependent is the preferred noun form. I claim one dependent on click Use click instead of click on, push, or select. Users click a button my income tax form. on a screen. To print your document, click Print. Also, use double- click, right-click, or left-click. disabilities The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps has developed guidelines, which state, in part: client One for whom services are rendered. The organization. Be Words such as the handicapped and the retarded should never be consistent within an or newsletter; do not interchange used as nouns. In general, phrases such as persons with severe client, user, customer, or organization within the same document. disabilities and children with autism are appropriate, emphasizing See also customer. the person first, instead of the disability. For more information about handicaps and disabilities, contact coed, coeducational Do not use coed as noun: use female student. the American Association for Persons with Disabilities (AAPD): In an informal style, coed may be used as an adjective in place of [email protected]; http://www.aapd.com; 1629 K Street NW, Suite coeducational, such as coed housing. 503, Washington, DC 20006; 202.457.0046 (V/TTY); or 800.840.8844 (Toll Free V/TTY); or the National Rehabilitation Association: info@ compose, comprise Compose means to form by putting together. The nationalrehab.org; 633 South Washington Street, Alexandria, VA United States is composed of 50 states. 22314-4193; or 703.836.0850. Comprise means consists of or includes, as in The whole comprises its parts. email Use lowercase and no hyphen: email Use email to refer to an electronic mail program, as in check your congressman, congresswoman Use politically correct terms, such email for messages, but use email messages or notes to refer to as member of Congress or representative. pieces of email. Do not use emails. consensus Agreement of opinion. Consensus of opinion is, therefore, You may use email as a verb, as in email the file. redundant. Use Email at the beginning of a sentence or in headings. Word® 97 and Word® 2000 and above will automatically make an consist Include: This novel consists of 23 chapters. email address a hyperlink, which also underlines the phrase. See also comprise. email address Avoid ending a sentence with an email or web constitute To make up or include: Fifty states constitute the United address: You can reach me at [email protected] during the States. day. If an email address must end a sentence, put a period after the contractions Contractions are verb forms in which apostrophes are address: During the day, you can reach me at jane.doe@blackbaud. substituted for one or more letters of the standard spelling: can’t, com. you’re, I’m, don’t, they’ve. Contractions are not appropriate in formal writing. entitled This means deserving or having the right. It does not mean bearing the title. A book is titled, not entitled: Professor Marsh criterion, criteria Criterion is singular; criteria, plural: A decision wrote a book titled English in the College Classroom. Everyone is can be based on a single criterion or on several criteria. entitled to excellent health care. See also plurals. e.g., i.e. The abbreviation e.g. stands for the Latin words meaning for cubemate One word example: She gave several reasons for opposing the project: e.g., its high cost and limited appeal. currently, presently Currently means now; presently means soon. Such as is an appropriate substitution for e.g. She gave several reasons for opposing the project, such as high cost and limited customer One who buys goods or services. The end user. Be appeal, to persuade her colleagues not to vote for the it. consistent within an article or newsletter; do not interchange client, user, customer, or organization within the same document. The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin words meaning that is: She gave two reasons: i.e., its cost and limited appeal. See also client. et al. A Latin abbreviation meaning and others. It is most appropriate data Use data with a plural verb when using the term to mean more in formal and academic styles. There is a period after al. but not than one: The data are complete. after et, which is a complete word: Professors Ruiz, Randall, Use data with a singular verb when using the term to mean only Swenson, et al. were present at the meeting. one piece of data: The data is complete. See also Latin plurals. 19 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage etc. A Latin abbreviation used in English to mean and so on. It should fund raise, fundraising, fundraiser Use the verb and noun forms be used only when readers can continue the thought or series for correctly: themselves: Each song in the cycle celebrates a day of the week The mission of this organization is to fund raise for the homeless. — Monday, Tuesday, etc. Otherwise, it is apparent that the writer Fundraising is our largest job. cannot think of anything else to add. A fundraiser is a person or event. Avoid etc. in running text, but if you must use it, place a comma before it and do not italicize it. girl, lady, woman Use woman when you refer to a female 18 years old or older. exhibit, exhibition Use exhibit as a verb, exhibition as a noun: She exhibited paintings in the Everson’s New Artists Exhibition. graduated Use graduated from instead of be graduated from: He graduated from State University in 1997. Do not write She due to Do not use due to when you mean because of: He was graduated college or The college graduated 50 students. dismissed because of that escapade. gridline One word either…or, neither…nor When one element of a compound subject joined by either…or or neither…nor is singular and the other is he, she To avoid sexist language or cumbersome construction, try plural, the verb agrees with the subject closer to the verb. to rewrite the sentence to avoid the use of he, she, or he or she. If Neither he nor his children are healthy. this is not possible, use you to speak directly to the reader. As a Neither his children nor he is healthy. last option, use the phrase he or she instead of simply he or she. Wordy: If an employee needs information about his or her W2 elected officials See congressman, congresswoman. form, he or she should check with HR. Better: If you need information about your W2 form, check with ensure, assure, insure See assure, ensure, insure. Human Resources. ethnic and racial designations National-origin identifiers such Best: Employees should check with Human Resources for as Italian American, Polish American, and Japanese American are information about W2 forms. appropriate. (Do not hyphenate these words even when they are used as adjectives: the Polish American Hour, a Japanese American historic, historical Historic means known or established in the past. newspaper.) Historical is based on history, relating to or having the Use ethnic designations, African American, Asian, Latino/Latina, and of history. Native American instead of other identifiers. See http://www.eeoc. We keep inactive records in our database for historic purposes. gov/stats/census/asciiformatslayouts/fmt_eeorace.txt for a more World War I was a great, historical war. complete list of correct designations. hours See times. fewer, less Use fewer when referring to objects you can : We have fewer students this year. Fewer than 100 members voted. ID Use IDs instead of ID’s. Use less when there is no specific number:I had less than $50 in See also plurals & possessives. my pocket. They gave me less than their best. i.e., e.g. See e.g., i.e. follow-up, follow up Follow-up is a noun. This report is a follow-up from the last one. if, whether If introduces one condition only. Whether introduces Follow up is a verb. Follow up with your manager to make sure all alternate conditions. tasks are finished. If we try hard, we can do the work. We were wondering whether we could do the work. foreign student Use international student. impact Do not use impact as a verb. Use affect or influence. foreign words and phrases Some foreign words and phrases It is correct to write His decision had a great impact. His decision are universally accepted in English; they may be used without affected our lives, but not His decision impacted on our lives. explanation if they are clear in the context: bon voyage, versus. Many foreign words and phrases are included among the general imply, infer Imply means to suggest: The evidence strongly implied entries in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and in the her guilt. section titled Foreign Words and Phrases. Infer means to draw from: They inferred from the evidence that she fractions When a fraction appears in running text, spell it out: was guilty. one-half half an inch in order to This is never necessary. two-tenths one-twentieth one twenty-first one-hundredth two-hundredths two one-hundredths Write To write a clear sentence, we do this instead of In order to 20 one-hundredths nine-thousandths write a clear sentence, we do this. When a fraction appears as part of a full number, it should be in the course of Use during. expressed in figures: 5 1/3, 3½ by 2½, 3.5 by 2.5. Word® 97 and ® Word 2000 and above will automatically correct some fractions. indices, indexes Use indexes. One word freelance insure, ensure, assure See assure, ensure, insure.

20 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage irregardless Both the prefix -ir and the -less are negative. The Col. David B. Berg, U.S. Army (ret.), director of the Army correct word is regardless. Comptrollership Program Colonel Berg the colonel its, it’s Its is a possessive pronoun. Like the other possessive pronouns (his, her, our, your, and their), its has no apostrophe: A Col. Eugene J. Famulare, commander of Air Force ROTC, book cannot be judged by its cover. Detachment 535 It’s is the contraction for it is or it has: It’s a long book. It’s all been professor of aerospace studies said before. Colonel Famulare Professor Famulare the colonel keyboard One word Sgt. John Macy a noncommissioned officer (NCO) the sergeant Latin plurals User the newer, anglicized endings. Abbreviate military titles when they are used with full names: Brig. Singular Plural Gen. Robert Tellius, Pvt. Mildred Madigan. appendix appendixes See also titles. indexes memorandum memorandums money Use figures in references to money: prospectus prospectuses $9.50 $1,300 $20,000 $3 million $1.5 billion A dollar total with no cents expressed is usually set without the launch Use start instead of launch when referring to fields on a decimal point or zeros: Admission is $2 on Saturday. screen that lead to another screen or application. To start the installation program, click OK. Ms. Ms. is a substitute for both Miss and Mrs. in correspondence if the woman’s first name is used after it: Ms. Jane Doe. legislative titles See names of people. multimedia One word less, fewer See fewer, less. names of people Individuals are entitled to be identified in the let’s Avoid the construction. manner they prefer. login, log in Use login as a noun or an adjective. The login is really Use the middle initial whenever an individual prefers it and to add simple. You must enter a login name and password for the server. formality and in personal names used as the titles of buildings and Use log in as a verb. You can log in on the computer. professorships: Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw, the John G. Alibrandi Jr. Catholic Center, the Jeannette K. Watson Professorship. logon Use login instead of logon. Use Jr., II, 3rd, and similar only with the person’s complete name. The abbreviations are not preceded or followed by a log on Use log in instead of log on. comma: Martin Luther King Jr., Jacob A. Jacobs 2nd, Henry Wrisley II. lookup, look up Use lookup as a noun. The lookup helps you locate Consult the Biographical Names section of Merriam-Webster’s a specific person. Collegiate Dictionary for the correct form and spelling of many Use look up as a verb. You can look up the ZIP® Code in the historical and contemporary names. telephone book. When persons are referred to by initials only, no periods are used: JFK, FDR. Lowcountry When referring to this area in South Carolina, use one word and a capital L. Use a maiden name when a woman prefers that use: Hillary Rodham Clinton. Use hyphens if that is preferred: Winnie machine Use computer instead of machine. Madikizela-Mandela. If a nickname is used following a person’s first name, place it in me, myself See the Elementary Rules of Usage chapter, Section 10 quotation marks; familiar nicknames used in place of first names (Use the proper case of pronouns) in The Elements of Style. are not placed in quotation marks: Chancellor Kenneth A. “Buzz” Shaw, Seymour “Cy” Leslie, Babe Ruth. media, medium It is acceptable to use media as singular in the On second and subsequent references to persons, use only their reference to mass communication: The media is always under last names. Use professional or courtesy titles only when there is a scrutiny. compelling reason to do so: Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi. memoranda, memorandums Use memorandums. See also plurals & possessives. nonprofit Use nonprofit instead of non-profit. midnight See times. military titles The examples illustrate how various military titles nonsexist language In general, remember that persons, people, and and offices might appear in running text. human beings are common substitutes for man, men, and mankind when both sexes are intended. Use substitutes for the -man words General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff — businessperson, firefighter, police officer, letter carrier, line worker, General Myers the general for example. Adm. John Paul Jones, the chief of naval operations Use homemaker instead of housewife. Admiral Jones the admiral See also coed, coeducational, congressman, congresswoman, girl, he, she, Ms., woman.

21 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage

noon See times. Another category of exceptions includes nouns of more than one with an unaccented ending pronounced -eez: Socrates’ not only Not only should be followed with but also: She is not only theories, Euripedes’ plays, Ramses’ tomb, R. S. Surteess’ novels. the fastest runner in the world, but also the oldest. plus Do not use plus as a substitute for besides, and, also, or in o’clock See times. addition. on screen Two words politics Politics is usually treated as singular: Politics is a controversial subject. on-site Use on-site as an adjective or adverb, and use a hyphen. The When politics is used to mean principles or activities, it may be on-site visit was useful for the customer. The CSA went on-site to treated as plural: Her politics were offensive to him.Avoid treating give customer training. the word both ways in the same passage. only The placement of the word only can change the meaning of the pop-up, pop up Use pop-up as a noun: Pop-up help defines the field. sentence. Make sure it modifies and emphasizes the word you want: Although pop up is a verb, we avoid using it. This message is only displayed if you have Event Management. Right: The help screen appears when you press F1. This means the message is not printed or anything else — it is only Wrong: The help screen pops up when you press F1. displayed. prepositions Most of us have honored the rule that we should This message is displayed only if you have Event Management. This not end a sentence with a preposition [terminal preposition]. means having Event Management is the only way you will get this This is a good rule of thumb. Today, however, it is acceptable to message. In other words, if you do not have Event Management, allow a terminal preposition when the structure is clearer and you will not get this message. less confusing for the reader. Before ending a sentence with a preposition, we suggest that you: p.m. See times. Rewrite the sentence so the issue does not come into play. people, persons People refers to nameless masses, as in We, the Run it by other editors. people. Allow the terminal preposition only if nothing else works. When referring to more than one person whose names are known (or could be), use persons: missing persons, persons with presently, currently See currently, presently. disabilities, American Association of Retired Persons, persons with AIDS. preventive Use preventive instead of preventative. percent, percentage Use percent in running text and the percent print Use print instead of print out. sign (%) in scientific and statistical copy. The noun in the “of phrase” determines whether the verb is prior to Use before instead of prior to. singular or plural: Twelve percent of the members were present. A small percent of the membership was present. pronouns See the Elementary Rules of Usage chapter, Section 10 (Use the proper case of pronouns) in The Elements of Style. plurals & possessives Form the plural of an or abbreviation by adding an s with no apostrophe: EFTs, ATPs, FAQs, proved, proven Use proved instead of proven: Her conclusions have APIs. proved correct. Form the plural of a single letter by adding an apostrophe and an s. The letter itself (but not the s) is italic: x’s minority, minorities Use when referring to groups, organizations, or results that are not in the majority. Our views were in the Form the plural of a number by adding an s: 1950s, 486s, 1099s minority compared to the group’s views as a whole. The names of persons with other proper nouns form the plural in the usual way, by adding s. When the noun ends with an s, x, or z, select, choose See choose, select. add es: keeping up with the Joneses. To make a singular noun possessive, add an apostrophe and an s: setup, set up Use setup as a noun: The setup helps you decide how Phyllis’s mother lives in New York City with Laura’s cousin. you want to see the fields. If a plural noun already ends in s, add only the apostrophe to make Use set up as a verb: The systems analyst will set up the hardware it possessive: Both actresses’ parts were humorous. components. Joint and closely linked proper names may be treated sexist language See nonsexist language. as a unit in forming the possessive; use an apostrophe with the last noun only: since, because Use since to designate a sense of time: Since you left, Jo and Mary’s flower garden the house is empty. Rodgers and Hart’s musicals Use because to answer why: Because you are going to Mt. Tampa and St. Pete’s transportation system Pleasant, I will ride with you. Jack and Jill’s house To show individual possession with closely linked proper names, so-called When so-called is used with a word or phrase, it implies make all nouns possessive: Phil’s and George’s jobs. that something is popularly or mistakenly given that designation: Exceptions to the general rule for forming the possessive are the the so-called champion. The designation itself should not be names Jesus and : in Jesus’ time, Moses’ tribulations. enclosed in quotation marks or set in italics. 22 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage standalone, stand alone Use standalone as a noun or adjective: The Do not capitalize occupational identifiers, whether they are used standalone computer is not connected to the network. before or after a name: Assistant vice president for finance Dan Use stand alone as a verb. You can stand alone in a crowd. Ritter supported the plan. The award was given to professor of biology Lyn Carnes. In many cases, constructions like these would submenu One word be less awkward if the title came after the name: Dan Ritter, assistant vice president for finance, supported the plan. take, bring See bring, take. Lowercase and spell out all titles not used with an individual’s name: The president conferred with the secretary of state and the teammate One word chair of General Motors Corporation. Lowercase and spell out all titles that are set off from a name One word textbook by commas: The vice president, Dick Cheney, presided over the Senate; Roberta Escala, the chief executive officer, made the the fact that See circumlocution, wordiness. announcement. that, which Use that to refer to an inanimate object or an animal If a title applies to only one person in an organization, insert the without a name and to introduce an essential clause: The reason word the in a construction that uses commas: Jane Smith, the that the course was canceled was lack of attendance. I like to do deputy vice president, spoke. needlework that has intricate designs. See also military titles, capitalization. Use which to introduce a nonessential clause that refers to an inanimate object or an animal without a name: German 101, toward Use toward instead of towards. which the school initiated only last fall, has been canceled. United States, U.S. Use United States as a noun and U.S. as an Avoid using that unnecessarily. The program posts the transaction adjective: Many opponents of the United States applauded the U.S. the first time the process runs instead of The program posts the vote in the United Nations. transaction the first time that the process runs. user, you When you have a choice between the user and you, use that is (i.e.) The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin words meaning you. that is: She gave two reasons: i.e., its cost and limited appeal. See also e.g., i.e. utilize Try use. Right: He used his knowledge to solve the problem. theater Use theater instead of theatre unless theatre is part of a proper name. Wrong: He utilized his knowledge to solve the problem. their, there, they’re Their is a possessive pronoun: Their house is whether, if Whether introduces alternate conditions, usually with or next door. not expressed or implied. If introduces one condition only. There is an adverb referring to a particular location: Sit over there. We were wondering whether we could do the work. They’re is a contraction for they are: They’re coming home If we try hard, we can do the work. tomorrow. Word 97 and Word 2000 and above automatically correct each which, while See that, which, wordiness. For a complete discussion version to a point. and examples, see the Misused Words and Expressions chapter in The Elements of Style. times Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes: 3:30 p.m. white paper Two words When the exact moment of time is important, use figures with who, whom See Elementary Rules of Usage chapter, Section 10 (Use a.m. or p.m. The abbreviations a.m. and p.m. (ante and post the proper case of pronouns) in The Elements of Style. meridian) are always lowercased with periods: The seminar meets Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.; The course meets on Tuesday, April 21, at whose, who’s Whose is a possessive pronoun that can refer 9:00 a.m.; The interview was broadcast at 8:45 p.m. to persons or things: She’s the woman whose book caused a Never use a.m. with morning, or p.m. with evening; never use sensation. That’s the book whose sales skyrocketed. o’clock with a.m., p.m., or figures; and never use the forms 12 a.m. Who’s is a contraction of who is: Guess who’s coming to dinner! or 12 p.m. Follow these examples: noon, midnight, 3:00 a.m., three o’clock in the morning, 9:45 p.m. Never use 12 midnight or 12 noon. wordiness Eliminate unnecessary articles (a, an, the). Use 12:01 p.m. to denote one minute past noon. Change prepositional phrases into one-word modifiers. titles (people) Formal titles denote status or authority and seem Delete unnecessary that, who, and which clauses. as much a part of an individual’s identity as a proper name itself. Avoid overusing it is, there is, and there are (weak expletives) at the In fact, they are often used as forms of address: President Bush, beginning of sentences. Governor Pataki, Pope John Paul, General Clark, Dean Welch, Use active instead of passive verbs. Professor Knight, Coach Spurrier. Delete unnecessary infinitive phrases (to + verb). Other titles serve primarily as occupational descriptions or identifiers; they are seldom, if ever, used as forms of address: Omit words that explain the obvious. assistant associate dean for academic affairs Omit words which repeat, or add nothing to your message except chief executive officer professor of biology words. secretary for economic affairs For examples, see The Elements of Style. Capitalize formal titles when they are used directly before a name. See also circumlocution. 23 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 grammar and usage / abbreviations and acronyms workers’ compensation Plural possessive. Be sure to use workers’ Use write off as a verb: To write off a pledge, follow this procedure. instead of workman’s. you, user When you have a choice between you and the user, use workforce One word you. workplace One word ZIP Code® All three letters in ZIP and the C in Code are capitalized: She wrote the ZIP Code® on the envelope. ZIP Codes® are workstation One word necessary for correct addresses. ZIP Code® and ZIP+4® are registered trademarks of the United write-off, write off Use write-off as a noun or an adjective: Enter a States Postal Service. date on the Pledge Write-Off report. See also addresses on envelopes and postcards. abbreviations and acronyms Use standard abbreviations when it is customary to abbreviate. See Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary or go to http://www.m-w.com for an extensive listing of standard abbreviations. Frequently used standard abbreviations include: A.D. Mr. Mrs. Ms. B.C. NFL a.m. p.m.

Some names are usually abbreviated on first reference, including the names of government agencies, associations, service organizations, and unions. These abbreviations are full caps with no periods: AFL-CIO NATO CIA YMCA NAACP Increasingly, periods are omitted from abbreviations. If an abbreviation can be used with or without periods, use it without. Form the plural of an acronym or abbreviation by adding an s with no apostrophe: EFTs, ATPs, FAQs, APIs.

ACD Automated Call Distribution e.g., i.e. The abbreviation e.g. stands for the Latin words meaning for example: She gave several reasons for opposing the project: e.g., its acronyms Acronyms are words formed from the initial letter high cost and limited appeal. or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term: NATO, radar, snafu. Such as is an appropriate substitution for e.g. She gave several reasons for opposing the project, such as high cost and limited Acronyms for agencies or organizations — spell out on first use appeal, to persuade her colleagues not to vote for the it. with its acronym in parentheses: European Union (EU). The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin words meaning that is: Commonly used acronyms have entries in this style guide. She gave two reasons: i.e., its cost and limited appeal.

ATP Agreement to Purchase etc. A Latin abbreviation used in English to mean and so on. It should be used only when readers can continue the thought or series for company and corporation names In running text, spell out themselves: Each song in the cycle celebrates a day of the week company and corporation. Inc. and Ltd. are usually dropped: The — Monday, Tuesday, etc. Otherwise, it is apparent that the writer Boeing Company, Microsoft Corporation. Exception: Corning cannot think of anything else to add. Incorporated. Avoid etc. in running text, but if you must use it, place a comma Acronyms of five letters or more may be spelled with only the first before it and do not italicize it. letter. One exception is USLife for USLIFE. In lists and notes, abbreviations may be used when they occur FAQs Frequently Asked Questions. Use FAQs instead of FAQ’s. at the end of the name but not within the name: Ford Motor See also plurals, acronyms. Co., Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Corporation for Public Broadcasting. GPA Grade point average. Write figures to at least one decimal point: Do not abbreviate association, associated, or associates: The 3.0, 2.8, 2.75. Reader’s Digest Association; Networks Associates Technology, Inc. ID, IDs Identification. No apostrophe in the plural form On the first reference to a company, use the company’s formal name. If you are not sure, consult the company, the company’s i.e., e.g. The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin words meaning annual report, or Standard & Poor’s Register. On the second that is: She gave two reasons: i.e., its cost and limited appeal. reference, spell out company, corporation, and association when they are used without the name of the company. The abbreviation e.g. stands for the Latin words meaning for example: She gave several reasons for opposing the project: e.g., its Use the ampersand (&) and plus sign (+) only when they are part high cost and limited appeal. of the company’s name or abbreviation: AT&T, Gulf + Western, Procter & Gamble. Such as is an appropriate substitution for e.g. She gave several reasons for opposing the project, such as high cost and limited CPU Central Processing Unit appeal, to persuade her colleagues not to vote for the it. days Do not abbreviate days of the week, except when necessary in months Do not abbreviate the names of months in running text. tables. Never abbreviate March, April, May, June, July.

MS — plural is MSS 24 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 abbreviations and acronyms / formatting

NCOA National Change of Address RAM Random Access Memory. Depending on the audience, it may be a good idea to spell it out the first time it is used, followed by the OLE Object Linking and Embedding abbreviation: Random Access Memory (RAM).

versus Write the abbreviation vs. with the period. formatting area code Every department shall use periods to separate parts of a foreign words and phrases Many foreign words and phrases are telephone number. included among the general entries in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and in the section titled Foreign Words and Phrases. Blackbaud products When the name of one of our products Italicize isolated foreign words and phrases if they are too appears for the first time in a published document, the trademark uncommon to treat as English words: faux pas, perestroika, pro ® ( or ™) symbol should appear with it. This can be covered on forma, tête-à-tête. the copyright pages of documentation or the first time a product name is mentioned in a letter. The use of trademarks may be Do not italicize words and phrases commonly used and familiar handled differently within each department. If you are unsure of to your readers: alma mater, boutique, cum laude, debris, magna the way to use trademark symbols, see your manager for specific cum laude, summa cum laude. instructions. grid Documentation formats the names of grids in bold. General rule of thumb: If in doubt, use it. italics Use italics for emphasis and for obscure foreign words and ® ® Avery Avery is a registered trademark of the Avery Dennison phrases. Do not italicize words and phrases commonly used and Corporation. familiar to your readers: box A box is a large field from which you select an item or in which alma mater boutique cum laude you enter text. magna cum laude summa cum laude debris When a box has a title, format the title in bold and use an exact Italicize the names of long works and compositions, including the screen match: Select a user’s name in the Member of box. titles of books, magazines, pamphlets, long poems, plays, movies, television series, symphonies, and operas. If a box does not have a title, you can create one based on its functionality. Do not format or capitalize in this case: Enter notes If running text appears in italics, place titles and other words in the text box. usually in italics in plain type: Jane Austin wrote Sense and Sensibility. button Write buttons in bold; use an exact screen match, minus any Italicize isolated foreign words and phrases if they are too punctuation. To save your changes, click OK. uncommon to treat as English words: faux pas, perestroika, pro forma, tête-à-tête. captions A caption may be a complete sentence or a tagline (name Do not italicize proper names: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Timbuktu. only or name and title). Do not use a period with a tag line. A caption should never begin with spot directions. keys Use bold and small caps to indicate a key on the keyboard. CTRL. Education Design uses a graphic of the key. checkbox Mark a checkbox instead of checking it or turning it on. To print headings, mark Print report heading on each page. letter grades Do not italicize letter grades. Do not use apostrophes Write checkboxes in bold; use an exact screen match. for plurals: Frank received one A and five Bs. course names Do not italicize or place course names in quotation names (of things) Italicize the names of spacecraft, planes, ships, marks: Most high schools require four years of English. and trains: the space shuttle Challenger, U.S.S. Iowa, the 20th Century Limited. dates Use figures, without –st, –nd, –rd, or –th: November 3, Do not italicize proper names: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Timbuktu. 2005. In running text, dates should be written in the sequence month- optional module An optional module is a module that is not day-year: April 20, 2005, or in the sequence day-date-time: Tuesday, included with the program; use the word optional. April 20, at 9:00 a.m. In Marketing, Consulting, and Support Information Avoid the following forms in running text: 4/20/05, 4-20-05, 20 Management, write references to optional modules in plain April 2005. When a date consists only of a month and year, use no text. In Documentation, write module names in italics. See your comma between them: March 2005. department’s individual style guide on how to format modules for When a phrase refers to a month, day, and year, set off the year your department. with commas: February 19, 2005, was their wedding date. See also titles, titles of compositions, quotation marks. See also times. photo credits The name of the photographer should run vertically dialling code Write numbers dialed from outside the UK as follows: along the right-hand margin of the photo with the last name +44 (0) 207 921 9600. ending flush with the top of the photo. Write UK local rate numbers with spaces: 0845 658 8590. Do not place telephone numbers or dialling codes in parentheses. product names In Marketing and Consulting, write product names in bold. In Documentation, write product names in bold and See also area code. italics. See your department’s individual style guide on how to format product names for your department. 25 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 formatting

When directly preceded by a possessive noun, pronoun or Fahrenheit, Celsius, and their abbreviations are capitalized; indefinite article or used as an adjective, format product names centigrade, sometimes used in place of Celsius, is lowercase. according to your department’s style. If referring to a specific item in the software, the item is titles (written works) Italicize titles of: capitalized. If you are referring to its function, it is not capitalized. books collections of readings journals magazines I am working in Query. I am creating a query. movies newspaper sections operas pamphlets Do not use abbreviations for products in customer-ready paintings poems (long, epic) statues radio documentation or correspondence, i.e., REWIN, GLWIN, RE 7. programs television series symphonies works of art Please refer to the product names on page four to use when corresponding, communicating, or documenting anything for Spell out and lowercase references to parts of a book. Do not use clients. The list uses Marketing style. Be sure to check with your italics or quotation marks: part I, page vii, chapter 3. department style guide for formatting. Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of poems, articles, stories, and TV show episodes. query, Query Do not capitalize query when using it as a common See also italics, capitalization. noun: I am creating a query. Query is an area of our programs and is capitalized. I am working Knowledgebase One word in Query. optional module In Marketing, Consulting, and Support registration, ® If a product has been officially registered with the Information Management, write references to optional modules Securities and Exchange Commission, use the ® symbol after in plain text. In Documentation, write module names in italics. the name. For more information about product registration, go See your department’s individual style guide on how to format to http://www.sec.gov/. In Documentation, this requirement is modules for your department. satisfied on the copyright page. See also module. screen Use screen instead of dialog. The name of a screen is an exact trademarks Anyone who claims rights in a mark may use the ™ screen match, but not formatted in any way: On the New Actual (trademark) or SM (service mark) designation with the mark vs. Target Report screen, mark Create output query. to alert the public to the claim. It is not necessary to have a registration, or even a pending application, to use these spot directions Spot directions — which locate and identify people in designations. The claim may or may not be valid. a photo — are placed in parentheses when they appear in captions: The registration mark, ®, may be used only when the mark is Company founders (from left, Miller, Davis, and Smith) meet once registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office each year. (USPTO). It is improper to use this symbol at any point before If there are only two persons in a photo, it is not necessary to use the registration issues. Go to http://www.uspto.gov/ for more both left and right: Mary Hazelton (left) and Larry Bourke review information about patents and trademarks. plans for this year’s Strawberry Festival. Trademarks are proper nouns and should be capitalized; they Do not use spot directions to begin a caption. should not be used in the possessive form; they are never verbs. Examples of registered trademarks include Fiberglass, Frisbee, telephone numbers Formatting requirements for your department Jeep, Kleenex, Liquid Paper, Velcro, Walkman, and Xerox. Go to may vary from these examples. See your department’s individual http://www.trademarks.com/ for more information about US and style guide if you are not sure. international trademarks. US: Write the entire number, including area code, with hyphens. Do not place telephone numbers or area codes in parentheses: type Type that a user actually enters is written in Courier New font 843-216-6200. and one point smaller than regular text: Enter D:\SETUP.EXE –R at Marketing uses periods to separate parts of a telephone number: the DOS prompt. 843.216.6200. When using your extension, type ext. in lowercase Education Design uses italics: Enter D:\setup.exe –R at the DOS with the period and then a space: 843-216-6200 ext. 2820 or prompt. 843.216.6200 ext. 2820. ® ® UK: Write UK local rate numbers with spaces: 0845 658 8590. Do Windows 98/2000/XP Do not use a combined Windows 98/2000/ not place telephone numbers or dialling codes in parentheses. XP format. Use Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Put a nonbreaking space between Windows and 98, between Windows Write numbers dialed from outside the UK as follows: and 2000, and between Windows and XP. +44 (0) 207 921 9600. Windows® NT Put a nonbreaking space between Windows and NT. temperature Do not use plus signs, minus signs, or the degree We are using Windows NT. symbol when expressing temperatures in nontechnical copy. Use scale designations (Fahrenheit, Celsius) when necessary to avoid confusion. Follow the example appropriate to your context: The temperature fell to minus 20. The temperature reached seven below zero. The temperature was 20 degrees Celsius. The temperature was 20 degrees C. It was 98 degrees Fahrenheit. It was 98 degrees F. 26 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 addresses / correspondence addresses addresses in text Use a comma in running text to separate A good guideline is 4-6 lines. To access short, useful elements of an address: Barker comes from Jacksonville, Florida, urls for your autosignature, go to http://atlas/divisions/ and now lives in Hartford, Connecticut. customer+support/support+information+management/web+site/ support+site+short+urls.htm. addresses on envelopes and postcards The U.S. Postal Service Be careful with sayings and quotes to make sure they are requires addresses on envelopes and postcards to be in all capital appropriate. Check with your manager before adding sayings or letters with no punctuation. Be sure to use the two-letter postal quotes. code for states; use ZIP+4® codes whenever possible. It is not necessary to use the autosignature each time you reply to JOAN DOE a client after the initial exchange. 188 MAIN ST To see the Blackbaud standard autosignature, please refer to the ORANGE NY 13000‑0000 reference section of this guide. autosignatures In general, autosignatures should include your state names When addresses are listed line by line, use the postal name, title, email address, and Blackbaud’s name, address, and code for the state name: web address. Include the http:// for email systems that will automate the link for our customers. BLACKBAUD, INC. 2000 DANIEL ISLAND DRIVE Do not label the lines in your email address except ones that may CHARLESTON SC 29494-7541 be confusing (i.e., the fax number line). For addresses on envelopes, use the two-letter postal code with You can align your signature to the left, right, or center but do not ZIP Codes®. There is no comma between the state abbreviation use fancy fonts or strange characters as a separators. Fonts and and postal code. formatting may not come across on the receiver’s computer the same as you see it and may add to the size of the email. See the reference section in this guide for a table of postal Feel free to personalize your autosignature (for example, code abbreviations. by adding links to other website resources or highlighting a promotion), but keep it short, concise, and professional. correspondence Customers receive correspondence from many departments within Blackbaud, and we should look as consistent as possible. We use the left- aligned, block form for a letter. address block Name, title, and complete address. Use this same Paragraph(s) address on the envelope. Follow with one return. Closing cc: cc: Two lowercase c’s and a colon. Encl. If there is a list of names, tab after the colon and type the first Initials name, press return, tab once, and type the next name. This will margins If the letter is only one page, center it vertically. If you are make your list of names align correctly. If the names are not using Word, you can do this from the menu by selecting File, within Blackbaud, include the title and company name of each Page Setup. On the Layout tab, in the Vertical alignment field, person after each name. Follow the last name with one return. select “Center”. closing Use Sincerely. Follow with four returns and type your name, Margins in should be as follows: and then your title on the next line (do not abbreviate). Follow Top 1 with one return. Left 1.25 Right 1.25 date Spelled out (i.e., June 13, 2005). Follow with two returns. Bottom 1 If you are using Blackbaud letterhead, increase the top and bottom Encl. Tells the recipient to look for something else in the envelope. margins to 1.25. You can abbreviate or spell out Enclosure. If there is more than one enclosure, enclose the number in parentheses. For example: paragraph(s) One return after each paragraph. No tabs. Left Enclosure (3). You can also follow Encl. with a list and short aligned. description of each. Follow with one return. salutation Use formal name (no suffixes) and a colon afterward font Times New Roman, Size 12 (i.e., Dear Mr. Jones:). The writer can then “informalize” the letter Note that Times New Roman is only used in letters. In all other by crossing out this line to hand write something more personal, marketing collateral, Frutiger should be used. See the fonts section such as Hi, Bill. Follow with one return. for more details. initials Use this only if you are typing a letter for someone else. layout Flush left, in this order: Uppercase initials for the person who signs the letter, followed by Date a (/) and your initials (preferably three letters) in lowercase Address block (i.e., JD/mjs means Mary Jane Smith typed a letter for Jane Doe Salutation who will sign the letter). 27 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 terminology terminology add‑on This phrase is no longer used at Blackbaud. Use optional down menu instead of drop-down field. A drop-down menu has module to describe modules sold with our main products. menu items you can select. See also drop-down list. ATP Agreement to Purchase. field Use field instead of section. In the Date to field, enter Avery® Avery® is a registered trademark of the Avery Dennison “06/01/2005”. Corporation. See also box, checkbox, button, option, frame.

Blackbaud University Capitalize: We offer training at Blackbaud frame When referring to a frame, write the name of the frame in University. We offer Blackbaud University training. bold. Four options appear in the Selected Students frame. See also box, checkbox, button, option. button A button has words or a picture on it to give direction for another action. To save your changes, click OK. grid Shown on screens as a table of fields. Documentation formats Write buttons in bold; use an exact screen match, minus any the names of grids in bold. punctuation. See also box, checkbox, click, frame, radio button, option. help file A file containing instructional information about a program that can be accessed from within the program. To access help files client/server Lowercase client/server when in running text: A client/ for The Education Edge, press F1 anywhere in the program. server version of The Raiser’s Edge is now available. Capitalize only the C in Client when client/server begins a sentence: historic We use historic in our products: historic entries, historic Client/server products offer increased speed and flexibility. grades. Capitalize both words when in a headline or title: Client/Server Home page Two words with the in Home capitalized. Version Now Available install Use install instead of load: Install the program from the CD. computer-based training These examples represent the correct ways to hyphenate and capitalize or lowercase computer-based Internet Capital I. training: We offer computer-based training for General Ledger. Internet addresses Avoid ending a sentence with an Internet For our users, we offer General Ledger Computer-Based Training. address: Visit our website at www.blackbaud.com for the latest documentation and information. For our users, we offer General Ledger CBT. If an Internet address must end a sentence, put a period after the We offer CBT for General Ledger. address: For the latest documentation and information, visit our website at www.blackbaud.com. computer terminology The list represents the correct way to write computer-related terms: Java Capital J ASCII bandwidth barcode baud BBS BinHex bit BITNET machine Use computer instead of machine. bps browser byte CD CPU cyberspace domain name download megabyte MB. A standard for measuring data capacity. email ethernet FAQs flame FTP home page host HTML megahertz MHz. A standard for measuring CPU speed. http hypertext Internet intranet IP number IRC Java kilobyte (KB) menu items When describing specific menu items, use bold: From LAN listserv login mallist the menu, select New or Save. megabyte (MB) megahertz(MHz) modem Mosaic netiquette Netscape network OLE module In Marketing, Consulting, and Support Information online password POP PPP Management, write references to optional modules in plain RAM search engine server SLIP text. In Documentation, write module names in italics. See your spam standalone T-1 T-3 department’s individual style guide on how to format module TCP/IP telnet terminal UNIX names for your department. upload URL usenet WAIS See also optional module. WAN web page website workstation WWW online One word Go to http://www.whatis.com/ for more information and definitions of some of these terms. option Use option instead of radio button. Write options in bold; use an exact screen match, minus any dialog See screen. punctuation. See also box, button, checkbox, frame. drop-down list Hyphenated. Use drop-down list instead of drop- down field. A drop-down list shows items associated with a field. query, Query Do not capitalize Query when using it as a common See also drop-down menu. noun: I am creating a query. drop-down menu Hyphenated. You can simply use menu: From Query is an area of our programs and is capitalized. I am working the Format menu, select Font. If you must, however, use drop- in Query. 28 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 terminology / numbers and symbols radio button This term is no longer used. web Do not capitalize the w when referring to the web, web page, or See option. website. screen Use screen instead of dialog. The name of a screen is an exact web- Words beginning with the prefix web- are common nouns and screen match, but not formatted in any way: On the New Actual appear in lowercase. Normal rules of capitalization apply in titles vs. Target Report screen, mark Create output query. and at the beginning of a sentence. Right: The webcast is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. submenu One word Wrong: The Webcast is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. trademarks Anyone who claims rights in a mark may use the ™ web page Two words. Both lowercase. (trademark) or SM (service mark) designation with the mark to alert the public to the claim. It is not necessary to have website One word. Use website instead of Web site or web site. The w a registration, or even a pending application, to use these in web is lowercase. Also: designations. The claim may or may not be valid. The registration mark, ®, may be used only when the mark is webcentric webcam webcast webmaster registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office webzine (USPTO). It is improper to use this symbol at any point before the registration issues. Go to http://www.uspto.gov/ for more World Wide Web Initial capped information about patents and trademarks. ZIP Code® All three letters in ZIP are capitalized because it is an Trademarks are proper nouns and should be capitalized; they acronym. She wrote the ZIP Code® on the envelope. ZIP Codes® are should not be used in the possessive form; they are never verbs. necessary for correct addresses. Examples of registered trademarks include Fiberglass, Frisbee, Jeep, ® ® Kleenex, Liquid Paper, Velcro, Walkman, and Xerox. Go to www. ZIP Code and ZIP+4 are registered trademarks of the United trademarks.com for more information about US and international States Postal Service. trademarks. See also addresses on envelopes and postcards. numbers and symbols

16-bit, 32-bit Hyphenate money Use figures in references to money: $9.50 $1,300 $20,000 $3 million $1.5 billion 401(k) No spaces, lowercase k A dollar total with no cents expressed is usually set without the 1990s, 90s There is no apostrophe before the s. decimal point or zeros: Admission is $2 on Saturday. See also decades. numerals vs words Spell out one through nine and first through ninth, and use numerals for higher numbers: the third man, the 95/98/2000/XP Do not use this format after product names. Instead, 21st victory of the year. use Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Follow the same rule for round numbers in the millions and ages Always use numerals: He has a 3‑year‑old son. billions: eight billion people, 11 million people. Use words for even hundred thousands: The population of Zenith company and corporation names Use the ampersand (&) and is about two hundred thousand. plus sign (+) only when they are part of the company’s name or When the numbers are not round, use numerals: 2.5 million abbreviation: AT&T, Gulf + Western, Procter & Gamble. people. area code The general rule at Blackbaud is to use periods to separate Use words for quantitative expressions used in an imprecise, parts of a telephone number. See your department’s individual colloquial way: It was a hundred degrees in there. I wouldn’t style guide if you are not sure. For example: touch it with a 10-foot pole! 843.555.1212 Treat numbers consistently in a given context: See also dialling code. There are 8 graduate students in philosophy, 6 in math, and 17 in business. dialling code Write numbers dialed from outside the UK as follows: There are eight graduate students in philosophy, six in math, and +44 (0) 207 921 9600. seventeen in business. Write UK local rate numbers with spaces: 0845 658 8590. Do not Always use numerals in scores, court decisions, legislative votes: a place telephone numbers or dialling codes in parentheses. 4-5 victory; a Senate vote of 34-3. See also area code. Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence, regardless of any resulting inconsistency: Eighty-nine women and fractions When a fraction appears in running text, spell it out: 112 men received degrees. one-half inch half an inch two-tenths See also ages, century, quantities, numbers. one-twentieth one twenty-first one-hundredth two-hundredths two one-hundredths 20 one-hundredths plurals Form the plural of a number by adding an s: 1950s, 486s, nine-thousandths 1099s. When a fraction appears as part of a full number, it should be quantities In nontechnical text, physical quantities are expressed expressed in figures: 5 1/3, 3 ½ by 2 ½, 3.5 by 2.5. according to the rules for numbers: two square feet, 20 miles, 240 Word 97 and Word 2000 and above will automatically correct some volts, nine meters, 300 acres. fractions. 29 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 numbers and symbols / reference

Quantities consisting of whole numbers and fractions should be temperature Do not use plus signs, minus signs, or the degree expressed in figures: 8 ½ x 11-inch paper. symbol when expressing temperatures in nontechnical copy. Use If an abbreviation is used for the unit of measure, use figures: 3 scale designations (Fahrenheit, Celsius) when necessary to avoid mi., 8 rpm, 7 hrs., 55 mph. confusion. Follow the example appropriate to your context: The temperature fell to minus 20. telephone numbers Requirements for your department may vary The temperature reached seven below zero. from these examples. See your department’s individual style guide if you are not sure. The temperature was 20 degrees Celsius. US: Write the entire number, including area code, with periods. The temperature was 20 degrees C. Do not place telephone numbers or area codes in parentheses: It was 98 degrees Fahrenheit. 843.216.6200. It was 98 degrees F. When using your extension, type ext. in lower case with the period Fahrenheit, Celsius, and their abbreviations are capitalized; centigrade, and then a space: 843.216.6200 ext. 2820. sometimes used in place of Celsius, is lowercase. UK: Write UK local rate numbers with spaces: 0845 658 8590. Do not place telephone numbers or dialling codes in parentheses. Write numbers dialed from outside the UK as follows: +44 (0) 247 921 9600. reference autosignatures Use the following template for all company Postal Code Abbreviations (US) autosignatures. To copy the exact formatting into Microsoft® Outlook®, please refer to the autosignature Word® document on State Code State Code meebee under Corp Com > Styles and Templates. Alabama AL Montana MT See also autosignatures in the section. addresses Alaska AK Nebraska NB Standard Autosignature: Arizona AZ Nevada NV Arkansas AR New Hampshire NH Your Name Your Title – Department California CA New Jersey NJ ______Colorado CO New Mexico NM Blackbaud, Inc. Connecticut CT New York NY 2000 Daniel Island Drive Delaware DE North Carolina NC Charleston, SC 29492 Phone 843.216.6200, ext. XXXX | Fax 843.216.6100 District of Columbia DC North Dakota ND [email protected] | www.blackbaud.com Florida FL Ohio OH ______Georgia GA Oklahoma OK This email contains confidential and proprietary information. It is for the intended recipient only. If an addressing or transmission error has misdirected this email, Hawaii HI Oregon OR please notify the author by replying to this email. If you are not the intended recipient, Idaho ID Pennsylvania PA you may not use, disclose, distribute, copy, or print this email. Illinois IL Rhode Island RI Customer Support Autosignature (DISCLAIMER EXCEPTION: The Indiana IN South Carolina SC disclaimer can be removed ONLY on Support email messages that are Iowa IA South Dakota SD sent to clients and entered into Clarify): Kansas KS Tennessee TN Your Name Kentucky KY Texas TX Your Title – Department Louisiana LA Utah UT ______Maine ME VT Blackbaud, Inc. Maryland MD Virginia VA 2000 Daniel Island Drive Charleston, SC 29492 Massachusetts MA Washington WA Phone 1.800.468.8996 | Fax 843.216.6100 Michigan MI West Virginia WV [email protected] | www.blackbaud.com ______Minnesota MN Wisconsin WI Knowledgebase…answers 24 hours a day. Mississippi MS Wyoming WY http://kb.blackbaud.com Missouri MO Contact Support and view your cases easily using Case Central. http://casecentral.blackbaud.com

This email contains confidential and proprietary information. It is for the intended recipient only. If an addressing or transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by replying to this email. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, distribute, copy, or print this email. 30 The Official Blackbaud Style Guide — last updated 5/14/08 reference sample of letter word list Sometimes you may need just a glance to remember how to write some words and terms. Explanations for these are June 13, 2008 elsewhere in this guide. 32-bit acknowledgement all right Mr. Bill Jones, District Manager barcode birth date canceling ADS Security Systems cannot checkbox cubemate 4328 Elliot Circle database double-click e.g. Charleston, SC 29416 email et al. FAQs freelance fund raise fundraiser Dear Mr. Jones: fundraising gift-in-kind gifts-in-kind gridline health care Home page This is a sample letter to show how to apply the corporate style IDs judgment keyboard guidelines. The corporate style guidelines show you how to format left-click multimedia nonprofit a business letter according to company standards. Because this online on screen on-site letter is only one page, it is centered on the page; top and bottom right-click submenu toward margins are not one inch. web address web page website white paper workforce workplace Everyone should follow these guidelines when sending workstation World Wide Web ZIP Code® correspondence on company letterhead. If using Blackbaud ZIP+4® letterhead, increase the top and bottom margins to 1.25.

Single-space paragraphs and use one return after each paragraph. Use no tabs or indentions in the body of the letter. Keep everything left-aligned.

Use the standard Sincerely in the closing. Follow with four returns and type your name. Type your title on the next line; do not abbreviate. Follow with one return.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe Communications Specialist

cc: Sue White, Security Specialist, ADS Security Systems Paul Smith

Encl.

JD/mja

31