Overview
Activity groups in Blackbaud, such as field trips, dormitory assignments, and clubs, represent real-world groupings of students that your school's staff and faculty need visibility into. By syncing these groups into August Schools as Academic Sections, you give your faculty and staff quick access to critical health information (allergies, medications, emergency contacts, accommodations) without hunting through individual student records.
This article walks admins through how Blackbaud activity group syncing works, what settings to configure, and how to manage which groups appear in the Faculty Portal.
Why sync activity groups from Blackbaud?
Instant visibility to health information: Staff leading field trips, managing dorms, or coaching teams can see all students' health needs at a glance
Reduces coordination overhead: No need to manually create or maintain separate group lists in August Schools
Keeps data in sync automatically: When group memberships change in Blackbaud, they update in August Schools
Covers real-world supervision scenarios: Supports field trips, overnight trips, dorms, and other high-visibility situations where staff need context fast
Protects sensitive data: Only staff with Faculty Portal access see the synced groups and their information
How Blackbaud activity group syncing works
When you enable Blackbaud integration, activity groups from your Blackbaud instance are automatically synced into August Schools on a nightly basis. These groups appear in the Faculty Portal as Academic Sections, the same interface staff uses to access class rosters and health information.
In Blackbaud:
In August Schools:
Staff can:
View the roster for any synced activity group
See associated health records, allergies, medications, and emergency contacts for students in that group
Use these groups to submit referrals and manage health needs
Set up Blackbaud integration
Before activity groups can sync, your Blackbaud instance must be connected to August Schools.
Go to Settings → Instance Settings → Integrations.
Locate Blackbaud and click Connect.
Follow the authentication flow to authorize August Schools to access your Blackbaud data.
Once connected, the status will show Connected, and syncing will begin automatically.
Best Practices & Tips
Start with field trips and overnight events: These are the highest-visibility scenarios where health information access matters most.
Name groups clearly in Blackbaud: Activity group names sync as-is. Avoid abbreviations like "FT-2026-Peru" in favor of "Field Trip: Peru (March 2026)."
Communicate with your faculty: Let staff know that activity groups are now available in the Faculty Portal. A quick email explaining where to find them reduces confusion. Here is a helpful overview for portal users!