Collar City Consulting - Moving from ON to SKY

Blackbaud’s ON API & ODBC Access Are Sunsetting. Keep Your School’s Data Moving Without Interruption.

Blackbaud has officially announced the end of support for the Education Management ON API, SDK, and ODBC/VPN access on March 31, 2027.

If your school relies on automated data syncs, legacy reporting scripts, or Power BI and Looker Data Studio dashboards connected via old ON API code snippets, those connections will stop functioning.

Collar City Consulting provides battle-tested, off-the-shelf sync tools already trusted by dozens of independent schools nationwide to bridge the gap seamlessly—without requiring expensive custom software builds or internal IT bandwidth.

Schedule your Free 30 minute API Audit Today

Schedule a call

Email: nick@collarcityconsulting.com

What Is Changing and Why It Matters

For years, independent K-12 schools relied on Blackbaud’s legacy ON API and direct ODBC database access to push and pull data across departments. Blackbaud is retiring these legacy tools to transition to their modern SKY API framework.

While SKY API provides enhanced security, the change creates an immediate risk for school operations: any automated feed, custom script, or reporting dashboard relying on older ON API code snippets or ODBC connections will break after March 31, 2027.

What Will Be Impacted at Your School?

Power BI & Looker Data Studio Dashboards: Leadership analytics, enrollment projections, and financial dashboards built on legacy ON API queries or direct database access will stop refreshing.
Student & Household Data Syncs: Automated data flows between Blackbaud Education Management (Core) and external learning, health, or emergency notification platforms could freeze.
Advancement & Finance Alignment: Data syncs between Raiser's Edge, Financial Edge, and student billing systems built on legacy scripts may lose connectivity.
Custom Spreadsheets & Reports: Internal Crystal Reports or automated Excel macros fetching raw SQL database records will cease operating.

A Proven Solution Trusted by Dozens of Independent Schools

You don’t have to rebuild your integrations from scratch or spend months navigating developer documentation.
Collar City Consulting has already solved this challenge for dozens of independent K-12 schools across North America.

Our native SKY API integrations are fully managed, secure, and designed specifically for independent school administration:

BEM Sync: Modern, automated synchronization for Blackbaud Education Management using compliant, native SKY API endpoints.
RE/FE Sync: Seamless data flow between Raiser's Edge and Financial Edge to keep advancement and business offices perfectly aligned.
Dashboard & Analytics Migration: We rebuild and optimize legacy Power BI and Looker Data Studio dashboards to connect directly to SKY API data streams, ensuring continuous visibility for key stakeholders.

Why Independent Schools Partner with Collar City Consulting

Industry-Tested Track Record: Dozens of schools already rely on our sync tools every day to power their critical business and academic data flows.
Zero Maintenance Overhead: We manage ongoing API updates, OAuth 2.0 security protocols, and route deprecations so your internal IT team doesn't have to.
Low-Friction Rollout: We map your existing ON API dependencies and complete the migration during low-impact school break windows.

Don't Wait Until 2027: The School-Year Migration Timeline

Blackbaud explicitly recommends allowing 6 to 12 months to assess, migrate, and validate affected integrations. Because migrations must occur during low-impact administrative windows (such as summer or winter breaks), beginning your audit during the 2026 school year is critical to avoid mid-term reporting blackouts.

Ready to Audit Your School’s API Dependencies?

Contact our team today for a straightforward evaluation of your current Blackbaud ecosystem. We’ll help you identify vulnerable ON API connections, legacy code snippets, and custom dashboards—and show you how our proven tools can make the transition effortless.

Schedule your Free 30 minute API Audit Today

Schedule a call

Email: nick@collarcityconsulting.com

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