Robert Weiner

JANUARY 27, 2012

Lots of people have already weighed in on Blackbaud’s purchase of Convio (two of my favorites: [link] and [link] ). Idealware’s Consumer’s Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems reviewed 30 systems, the majority of which don’t come from Convio or Blackbaud. Here my perspective. I’m more concerned about the top end of the market.

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Blackbaud Convio Open Source Product 222

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 30, 2012

Yesterday the news was that Blackbaud had laid off 50 employees it acquired when it bought Convio in May. In what was said to be an unrelated development, they also announced the departure of Gene Austin, the former CEO of Convio. The Blackbaud/Convio staff I spoke with seemed taken aback by this decision.

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Blackbaud Convio Database Austin 264

Robert Weiner

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

Nonprofits that are currently using Common Ground Enterprise, Luminate, and Convio Online Marketing are also nervous. That discussion continued on my blog. Luminate was the top contender for one of my clients, but they’re strongly considering eliminating Blackbaud from further consideration. I doubt they’re the only ones.

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Blackbaud Convio Database Statistics 171