Back from Dallas

We made it back from Dallas and the AFP International show, though there was a little drama along the way.

Runway Incursion. This is not something you want to hear while in the process of landing and only 100 feet above the runway. Our flight took off like a rocket and veered right, and it was a very frightening 2 minutes before the captain reassured us that we would return safely.

Overall, the conference was a complete success, even though one of our booths was lost forever by UPS. Yes- that's correct, it disappeared into thin air. Somewhere in Kentucky- at least according to the tracking computer. Regardless of what we suggessted, the very kind UPS representative insisted that it was gone and not likely to return. Though we had it insured, we were stuck- what to do?

Actually, it probably worked out for the better. We simply ordered another table and set-up an additional laptop. That probably helped us better because we were able to show off our new version of the Visual Edition (Version 9), along with some increased integration we have had with electronic payments.

Monday ended up being a 12+ hour working day, culminating with our first ever Wine and Cheese reception. We were pleased to see many happy clients witness a sneak peak of version 9, as well as new prospects that we hope become part of the DonorPerfect family. Our hardworking staff- Terry Hersh, Chad Kashub, Ann Brentano, Cheryl Brennan, Barry Horwitz, and Marc Siegel mingled with the crowd and diligently collected business cards because yours truly installed the paper in the lead machine upside-down- I guess I should have read the instructions.

I was also able to sit on a pannel discussion of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. I've blogged about it before, and I hope the two sessions we presented will motivate more people to participate in thhis important project!

All in all it was another great conference, Dallas is a wonderful city (the steaks are humongous!) and we'll be there next year in San Diego!

Who moved our cheese?

Safe to say, I survived Disney last week with the family. Though there were some rather crowded days, all-in-all it was a great trip.

Now it's off to the Super Bowl of Fundraising Conferences, the Association of Fundraising Professionals International conference. This year, it's in Dallas, Texas.

For the first time, we will be hosting a wine and cheese reception for clients and prospects on Monday, March 26, at 5pm. It will be at one of the conference hotels, The Fairmont. If you have a chance, please stop on by for a some light snacks and a sneak peek into our new installed version of DonorPerfect, Version 9.0!

Of course, we'll be manning our booth in the exhibit hall. After 20 years of exhibiting at the conference, we will actually be at the front of the hall, right across from Blackbaud. :) Stop on by if you have the chance.



ps- A few people asked to comment on our Disney trip... Here were some main points:

1) We rented a 3 bedroom, 3 full bath fully furnished and stocked condo for the trip through a company called Villa Direct. Believe it or not, it was the same price per night as a single hotel room at a mid-tiered hotel at Disney! We couldn't have been more pleased with the location (< 5 minutes from Disney) and the community swimming pool. Oh yes, the condo had it's own private, enclosed swimming pool as well off the family room. The kids were thrilled.

2) Animal Kingdom should be renamed Ridiculously-Crowded-to-the-Point-of-Suffocation Kingdom. Seriously, this park was so crowded you had to wait in line just to fit through the walkways. Go early in the morning or skip it altogether.

3) Magic Kingdom is still magical. Old favourites like the Haunted Mansion were a big hit with my kids, and new attractions, such as the 3-D show Philhormagic, were stunning.

4) We did the Back Yard Barbeque with Mickey. I would recommend skipping it. A big hit was breakfast with Pooh and friends. I have never seen our kids more excited.

5) We should have planned more downtime- though we had times of just sitting around the pool, most of the time was still spent rushing from ride to ride.

As I said, the week was very special, and now it's back to the grindstone! ;)

Doing Disney...

I guess it seems it's required of all families these days to travel to Disney at least once. As they say, if you enjoy being on your feet for hours at a time and waiting in those well decorated turnstile lanes, then Disney is for you.

Really though, I actually like Disney because my four kids have been jumping up and down for the last 14 days each morning counting down the days and for the first time in a very long time we'll be spending the time together just as a family. I also like Disney because of the memories I had when I was a kid- all of eight years old.

I remember taking the monorail and gliding through the Contemporary Resort and thinking, "This is the future for our transportation needs!".

I remember standing on tip-toes to beat the height requirement to ride Space Mountain. Back then, the commercials on Saturday morning cartoons made it look like you were actually flying into space, not even on a track. Of course, I was wrong, and even though I was scared to death and it was something I'll never forget.

Back then there was no Epcot, MGM or Animal Kingdom. Just one park. We only went for one day. I think this next week we'll be going to 5 different parks over 7 days. Ouch- my feet just hurt thinking about it. I did put my foot down and was determined to have one day be park-free. That day we'll be visiting Annie's adopted manatee Deep Dent. She's excited and I have a funny feeling that her visit will be the highlight of her trip.

What does this post have to do with fundraising?

It doesn't- except for the fact that I occasionally interject personal stories into this blog to show the more personable side of DonorPerfect. We are, after all, people just like you that have families, wacky hobbies, and the once in a lifetime 'requirement' to do Disney.

Upheaval in the NonProfit Marketplace

Wow, there's been a lot of news about software vendors serving nonprofits. In the last month we had:

Convio buys GetActive
BlackBaud buys Target
Kintera's CEO Resigns

Convio's move to merge GetActive probably makes a lot of sense. Both companies offered, for the most part, similar Web Content Management solutions for medium to large non profit organizations. GetActive focused on advocacy type clients, while Convio strength lies with web fundraising tools. Personally, I've had excellent interactions with both companies, and wish them the best in their merger. It won't be easy, and the buzz is that they will have some work to do to make sure they are known as ConActive and not "GetConned". Again, I've got faith they will be able to pull it off.

As for Blackbaud's purchase of Target Software and Target Analytics- it probably makes sense too. Blackbaud has been traditionally strong for some larger organizations. Of course, I'm a bit prejeduced- though there are many times when DonorPerfect is a better solution, Blackbaud does make sense for some clients as well. However, they lacked a top tier product, one that was capable of handling the largest of organizations (i.e. those organizations with millions of donors). They get access to this market with Target and it was obviously important because they paid through the nose for it- to the tune of $60 million (plus another $2.4 million in potential bonuses, but who's counting?). This is a pretty incredible number, as it represents more than 2X sales for Target and this multiplier is much higher than when they bought Campagne Associates/GiftMaker Pro last year (for only $6 million).

Finally, Harry Gruber resigned from Kintera. This was probably a good move as well in the fact that you didn't have to do much research on the Internet to find that he had some detractors. Combined with the fact that Kintera's stock dropped from a high of ~ $17.50 to ~$1.70 as of today and has lost 118 million dollars (not a typo!) since they became public makes this decision easier. Again, we have some joint clients, but it's been difficult to integrate with Kintera because their software seems to change all the time. I hope they are able to turn it around as there are a lot of organizations depending on them.

So where does that leave DonorPerfect? Are we going to be the next takeover target?

I really, really don't think so. Though we get offers all the time, we really have no reason to sell or merge. We have a rapidly growing client base, and we've been consistently profitable for over 20 years. Unlike other companies in our space, we have never been dependent on VC money, so there is no pressure to sell or go public. (Companies that accept VC money typically have to pay back that money after 7-10 years by selling, going public or filing for bankruptcy and liquidating (ouch!!)).

In fact, here at DonorPerfect we're thinking about acquiring businesses that share our philosophy and approach- if you know of any, drop us a line!