So it looks like I’ll be having less of a hard time covering the nonprofit fundraising application suites. I was wondering about Blackbaud’s recent loan that it took out — now we know why. UPDATE: They can borrow up to $75 million. That should leave about another $50 million in the balance. I wonder where that money is going to go.
From BusinessWire:
Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB – News), the leading provider of software and related services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, announced today that it has acquired privately-owned eTapestry, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Under the terms of the agreement, Blackbaud paid an aggregate purchase price of approximately $24.8 million, plus an additional amount of up to $1.5 million under a two-year stock-based performance incentive arrangement. Blackbaud financed the deal through a combination of cash and borrowings from its credit facility.
I know I don’t cover the smaller nonprofit fundraising suites and there’s a reason why. Nobody gets excited about them. There are no eTapestry user groups or eTapestry blogs — well there will be at least a user group now over at blackbus.org.
Obviously, Blackbaud is taking a page out of Oracle’s playbook and applying it to themselves. Rapidfire acquisition of smaller players so that you can wrap it up into a system of systems seems to be their strategy for now. They now control the vertical fundraising environment for nonprofits from the base of the nonprofit market (eTapestry) to its apex (Target Software). This should put them in good position to compete against the Sages, Microsofts and salesforces of the world. It’s an impressive move and a smart one. The walled garden just got bigger for Blackbaud customers. Anybody have any comments?
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