August 31, 2016 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Nearly four months after Kimbia suffered a crippling technology meltdown during a national giving-day event, the company announced a new leader. Mark Perkins was named chief executive of the company in Austin, Texas, that provides fundraising software and support to nonprofits.
Mr. Perkins takes the helm at a time when Kimbia has been under fire from giving-day hosts, charities, and donors alike. A combination of software and hardware issues made it difficult — and in many cases, impossible — for donors to give to local charities during online-fundraising events across the country on May 3.
“Our commitment to our clients is stronger than ever, and we remain focused on their success and growth in the remainder of 2016 and into 2017 and beyond,” Mr. Perkins said in an emailed statement. “We are confident that we will finish out 2016 strong with some of our largest giving events of the year, including North Texas Giving Day and Give to the Max Day.””
Mr. Perkins has held leadership roles at a number of Austin-area companies, including real-estate firm Tenura Holdings; Leasing Group, which provides customer-financing support for businesses; and computer maker Dell, according to an August 19 press release.
Kimbia staff members had not yet responded to emailed questions by the time of publication.
Rebates Offered
Mr. Perkins replaces Dan Gillett, who had held Kimbia’s top job since December 2010. In an effort to appease outraged nonprofits, Mr. Gillett had pledged three months of his salary to organizations affected by problems with the May 3 Give Local America events. With additional dollars from Kimbia, Mr. Gillett said, $1,000 rebates would be distributed in August to each of the 47 local giving-day organizers affected by the tech failure.
In July, Mr. Gillett told The Chronicle Kimbia would continue running tests on its platform to ensure its products are successful. “We want to make sure that we’re able to build the trust of our community partners,” he said.
Many community foundations said they were weighing whether to renew their contracts with Kimbia following this year’s Give Local events.
Mr. Gillett, a founder of Dallas-based investment bank Blackhill Partners, now lists his title as managing editor of that company on LinkedIn.
Calls to Blackhill and Mr. Gillett were not returned by the time of publication.
