In what will likely be the email heard round the NPO tech world, we just received a partner email from GetActive that states the following announcement: Convio is buying GetActive.
While it's too early to understand the ramifications of this for the companies' clients and the sector as a whole, I'm rather confident that this will likely be just the beginning of a year of mergers and acquisitions in the sector.
From the letter:
I'm writing to share the exciting news that GetActive is to be acquired by Convio, Inc. This is a significant milestone for the nonprofit sector, our company, and our product. But most important of all, this is great news for our partners and clients.
I predicted the consolidation of the marketplace last year, but I didn't think these two big hitters would be the happy couple we see today.
See the full letter after the jump.
I'm writing to share the exciting news that GetActive is to be acquired by Convio, Inc. This is a significant milestone for the nonprofit sector, our company, and our product. But most important of all, this is great news for our partners and clients.
This agreement with Convio combines the resources of the two leading software companies serving nonprofits to create a clear leader in this fast evolving market. GetActive has the best Advocacy and Website management products available and Convio is recognized as the industry leading eCRM and Fundraising solution.
The client focus and market understanding you've come to expect from GetActive will not go away. Our staff will become employees of Convio -- virtually doubling the new company's ability to develop new features and offer new services.
We expect you to have many questions and we will do our best to provide information as it becomes available.
For our DC-based partners, Gene Austin (CEO, Convio) and I will be holding a breakfast on Friday, January 26 at the DMANF conference next week.
Below are a few questions with brief answers to address some anticipated concerns. Feel free to contact , myself, the GetActive Partners team, or anyone else from GetActive to learn more, but please be patient as we anticipate lots of questions in the next few days. We are committed to personal and frequent communications to ensure our partners, and by extension our shared clients, are informed during this transition.
Again, we are excited about the future and look forward to being able to dedicate more resources to better serve the GetActive Partner community.
Warm regards,
Sheeraz Haji, CEO
GetActive Software
What is the new company name?
Convio, Inc.
Will the GetActive products be maintained? For how long?
GetActive provides both an eCRM platform in addition to a Web content management (CMS) product. Over time, GetActive clients using eCRM will be migrated to Convio's eCRM platform. Support for the GetActive eCRM platform will eventually be discontinued, although a firm date for this transition has not yet been determined. We will give clients at least six months notice. Convio will continue to invest in the CMS product, and make it available to all clients.
Can clients migrate to the Convio platform and use their tools?
Yes, in time all eCRM clients will be migrated to the Convio platform, while the website management module will be integrated into the Convio platform. Our new, expanded product team will be working to take the best features of GetActive and engineer them to work on the Convio platform; additionally our team will be developing new features to streamline your data migration.
How long will a migration take?
Migrations timeframes depend on the number and complexity of modules, special features, activity history and database size being deployed, as well as on how many other migrations or new deployments are occurring around the same time.
Will there be a fee to migrate?
A migration plan will be made available to all customers by March 30, 2007. Any costs associated with migration will be addressed in this plan.
Will I continue to work with my current Account Manager?
Yes. We are sensitive to the fact that clients value continuity in their service relationships. There will initially be very few changes in primary client contacts. Our goal is to minimize any changes.
What about training?
Several training options will continue to be available, some free and some for a fee.
What happens to my contract?
Existing contracts remains "as is".
What additional features does Convio offer?
- Tributes
- eCommerce
- TeamRaiser
- Event triggered email messaging
- HTML auto-response messaging
- Social networking Widgets
- Advocacy call alerts and vote center
- Automated check payment processing
- Pledge fundraising
- eCards
- Member Directories
- Member Rewards
Check out Convio's website to learn more.
But wait! I'm currently implementing GetActive for a client, what happens now?
The GetActive implementation will proceed as planned. A migration schedule to the Convio platform will be determined in coming months, but only in very special circumstances will the current GetActive deployment be disrupted.
Who can I contact regarding our business relationship?
We will be reaching out personally to many of our valued business partners in the wake of this announcement, and Andy Gabron, Director of Business Development, will be taking the lead on specific questions. He will involve executive staff as needed.
His contact information:
Email: agabron@getactive.com
Desk: 202-659-3589
Cell: 703-625-6969
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