Colin was on my panel at NTEN, but I don't think this is payback....

"This was also the first time I’ve worked with a DemocracyInAction account, which turned out to be a joy after years of fiddling with GetActive (sorry, friends at GA). The setup was extremely easy and the site was free of the kinds of stylesheet clashes that have been maddening on other systems. And, their API works (unlike GA’s, which is no longer supported), so it was also easy to port the petition over to the main Wetlands site and have it interact with the DIA database seamlessly. Expensive legacy providers had better watch out — DIA’s gonna be eating into your bidness right quick."

The Feb. 1 The Nonprofit Times (link goes to a funky webbook display of their latest issue; you have to click through the specific article) has a cover story on the Convio/GetActive merger putting some speculative dollar amounts on the table and reporting that the purchase was a "nine month" wooing that almost broke off around Dec. 22 for yet-to-be-leaked reasons.

It also indulges the speculation (see, for instance, the comment thread at this EchoDitto post) that an IPO is

Two of the major commercial players in the eCRM space are -- to the shock of seemingly everyone -- tying the knot with Convio buying out GetActive. (Ryan at PICnet graciously reprinted the entire announcement message.) Quite a psychedelic life arc for GetActive, from the petrie dish at Environmental Defense to commercial standalone with a progressive rep to acquisition by the company that provoked a blogswarm by signing on anti-gay groups.

Funny, in last month's scorecard of the 2006 tech predictions, Phil at CompuMentor got dinged for forecasting "a shakeout in the nonprofit ASP field, including mergers and acquisitions." Missed that one by 17 days.

This is going to significantly alter the playing field for nonprofits. With the last member of the Big Three, Kintera, perpetually in the red, it's quite possible this is going to leave ConActive as the last commercial titan standing -- perhaps facing off with Blackbaud as it ramps into e-CRM.

However it goes down, the dynamics and consequences are going to be far-reaching. And though we're somewhat biased, it's good occasion to consider alternatives. Why?

• GetActive clients now have to learn a new toolset, whether they would or no ... so that particular pain point of transition is a nonissue.
  
• The challenges of integrating across systems will make the switchover a bumpy ride, virtually by definition.
  
• Convio has been, for the most part, a higher-end player than GetActive, with GetActive a less-expensive commercial alternative. Under even less competitive pressure, one has to think fees stand to increase in general -- though when that happens and whether that's specifically the case for any particular organization or sector of the market still remains to be seen.