Service provider Blackbaud has launched a new European data center for its cloud-based charity and not-for-profit (NFP) clients.

The facility will host customer relationship management (CRM) and online fundraising software for its third sector customers who use hosted services via the cloud.

The construction of its own data center service is a response to customer demand, according to Blackbaud.

Nine out of ten new clients are now choosing to have their IT hosted for them, rather than manage them in house, it said.

Blackbaud Europe will run on Virtustream’s Tier III+ Amsterdam node using its enterprise-class physical, security and environmental controls to support its application hosting.

Research from Blackbaud’s Data-Driven Fundraising report showed that 31% of UK NFPs are already using a cloud-based CRM system.

The survey, from a sample of 338 NFP professionals, revealed that in the public sector security is a minor concern.

In the study only 19% of NFP professionals thought their organization was concerned about data privacy in the cloud and only 17% were concerned about a lack of control with cloud-based systems.

Blackbaud’s European general manager for core markets Elliot Gowans said this could be evidence that the not-for-profit sector is becoming more confident about letting go of its servers and trusting its data to the cloud.

“Cloud-based services could almost have been designed with the not-for-profit sector in mind,” Gowans said.

The time and resource savings, along with the flexibility of payment and deployment make it the perfect way to deliver services to this sector he said.

“The cloud is integral to our future strategy and a European data center will play a major role in helping NFPs grow more confident and comfortable in deploying cloud services,” Gowans said.