Even in my crazed busy state I can't ignore this news coming out of the nonprofit tech world: Blackbaud, the maker of Raiser's Edge and other nonprofit software, has purchased eTapestry, a well-known online donor database with online donation and emailing support. This is an interesting purchase: Blackbaud mostly provides software to medium and large nonprofits, and has been struggling in the online realm, while eTapestry is primarily targeted at small to medium sized nonprofits, and was one of the first online constituent management tools for nonprofits.
It will be interesting to see what develops. In the short term, however, the
press release says that eTapestry will continue operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary, so hopefully the purchase won't cause disruptions for current clients. eTapestry offers some strong features - they're one of our recommendations for both those looking for an inexpensive constituent database and for those looking for mid-level online donation support, so it would be a shame to see them go away.
