Delayed News from Kintera February 1, 2008

Kintera has been one of three public companies specifically serving the nonprofit sector, with Convio on the sideline wanting to go public but suffering through the current market upheaval. Kintera is not a competitor of ours, nor are any of the others; they serve large nonprofits, while we target small to mid-sized nonprofits, and offer no web hosting, publishing, or content management systems. So this is just a perspective on the company.

I've been tracking Kintera for about 5 years. I couldn't figured out exactly what they do until recently, because the marketing was so ambiguous and fuzzy. I mean I knew what they meant, but I really couldn't describe them in a single sentence. They've got a lot fo stuff, and they talk about a lot of stuff, so it's hard to say eactly what the value proposition is.

From all accounts, they have decent technology, and with the site changes it's more clear: they offer a suite of online applications for nonprofits to create, launch, and manage large fundraising and advocacy campaigns, along with services and solutions to help along the way. It's an enterprise software model, rather than a lightweight, focused software model. Which is fine, just not our market.

Sadly, the previous management of Kintera appeared not to have managed well, and their stock--traded on Nasdaq--has hovered around $1.50 for quite some time, recently dropping below $1.00. They have been losing money from day 1, burning through about $12 million every 3 months. Last year, they ousted the original CEO/founder and brought in a new CEO who appears to have capped spending. But they only had $11 million in cash left after last quarter, meaning they've had to cut a substantial number of people (I'm guessing, but that's where the greatest expenses are).

Well, today I read they've delayed their 4th quarter report until March. This is never good news. Public companies typically announce within 45 days of the end of the quarter, and many have already announced last quarter's results. My guess is they are reorganizing, restructuring, and possibly bringing on private capital. It's also possible they'll be acquired, or taken private.

Nonetheless, I would like to see them stay indepedent and be successful, if not public. Nasdaq doesn't like to carry stocks with prices that low, and my guess is Kintera may not have much choice in the matter if it doesn't turn things around fast. Customers in the larger organization market need more choice than Blackbaud and Convio. Kintera is one of the few companies providing it.