The news that Blackbaud, the nation’s largest provider of fund-raising software, plans to purchase Kintera, a struggling competitor, is attracting concern among some nonprofit officials.

The anonymous fund raiser who writes the blog Don’t Tell the Donor writes that while Blackbaud’s “press release seems almost giddy, I’m not so sure nonprofits will be thrilled that their viable options for major providers continues to shrink. If I was a shareholder in Blackbaud, I would be concerned that $46-million is too much to pay for a provider that seemed destined to go out of business anyway.”

Shareholders do have reason to be concerned according to one financial company. Market analysts at William Blair & Company downgraded Blackbaud’s status, notes the financial site New Ratings.

“In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention … that Kintera has a weak record of delivering shareholder value and has been incurring losses for a long time. Kintera has substantial net operating loss carry forwards of $10-million on a net present value basis, which might reduce the purchase price to $36-million.”

What do you think? How will this change affect the technology options available to nonprofit groups? Share your thoughts by clicking on the comment link below.