February 22, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
The upheaval in the fund-raising software industry continues with a leadership shake-up at Kintera, a San Diego company that provides Web-based software for nonprofit organizations.
Kintera has named Richard N. LaBarbera as the company’s new president, and Alfred R. Berkeley III has been elected chairman of Kintera’s board, replacing Harry E. Gruber, the company’s co-founder. Mr. Gruber will continue to serve on the board and as the company’s chief executive officer.
In addition, Allen B. Gruber, Mr. Gruber’s brother and co-founder of the company, has resigned from Kintera’s board, but will continue as executive vice president.
Industry observers believe the personnel changes are the board’s response to pressure from investors who are angry about the company’s losses. As of September 30, the company’s accumulated deficit was $118.2-million.
For most of the last year, Kintera stock has been trading at less than $2 a share. The day the company had its initial public offering, December 19, 2003, the price of its stock closed at $10.30 per share. The company’s stock price peaked at $18 per share in March 2004.
The changes at Kintera come in the wake of two significant acquisitions in the nonprofit-software industry.
Last month, Blackbaud, a fund-raising software company in Charleston, S.C., spent approximately $60-million to buy Target Software and the Target Analysis Group, both in Cambridge, Mass. Convio, in Austin, Tex., announced that it plans to purchase rival GetActive Software, a company in Berkeley, Calif., that also helps charities raise money and conduct advocacy online.
