Convio, the online fundraising and constituent relationship management (CRM) firm in Austin, Texas, has reached across the Atlantic Ocean and purchased Baigent Digital, just outside London in Chesham.
Paying a slight premium, Convio plunked down $2.9 million for Baigent, which had revenue of approximately $2 million for 2010. Convio characterized the firm as “roughly break-even.” Convio might be on the hook for an additional $400,000 based on Baigent’s performance.
Baigent is one of the United Kingdom’s leading digital strategy, design and technology implementation firms. Initially, Convio will offer online fundraising, email marketing, CMS and TeamRaiser solutions to UK charities, with plans to introduce additional product offerings, including CRM, at a later date.
“We are excited about entering the UK marketplace,” said Gene Austin, president and CEO of Convio. “Our research indicates there is a significant interest in integrated, cloud-based solutions with UK charities. Baigent’s capabilities and established relationships with many leading UK charities provide a springboard to gain rapid entry into the UK market. The broad range of solutions and services our combined companies will provide to the market will enable UK-based organizations to build stonger relationships with supporters, raise money more efficiently and be more successful.”
Baigent was founded in 1997 with the mission to enable charities to fulfill their online potential. It has since evolved into a leading provider of digital strategy, design, online fundraising solutions and technology implementation. Baigent serves many prominent UK charities, including UNICEF, Cancer Research UK and Action for Children.
“I believe that our team’s capabilities and deep understanding of the UK charity sector, combined with Convio’s integrated solutions and online fundraising expertise, will lead to great results for UK charities,” said Martin Campbell, managing director for Baigent. “Convio’s solution incorporates fundraising, marketing, peer-to-peer and CRM capabilities in an integrated fashion via the cloud. We don’t see any other products in the UK market offering this kind of feature set.”
Convio serves more than 1,400 nonprofit organizations from its headquarters in Austin and offices in Washington D.C., Overland Park, Kan., and Emeryville, Calif. Convio is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol CNVO.
Baigent Digital has been working in the UK charity sector for more than 14 years, with clients including Cancer Research UK, Action for Children and UNICEF UK.For more information go to www.convio.com
