Blackbaud Buys Donor Database

Charleston-based Blackbaud Inc. has acquired a West Coast company that operates the world's largest searchable database of philanthropic data, adding a new service to sell its 24,000 nonprofit customers.The sale price for NOZA Inc. was not disclosed. Blackbaud said the financial terms included a combination of cash and assumed debt.

Blackbaud, headquartered on Daniel Island, has acquired California-based NOZA, a database company that tracks nonprofit donations.

Santa Barbara, Calif.-based NOZA sells data it collects to nonprofit groups to help them identify future donor prospects. In 2009, the company generated about $1 million in revenue and was a break-even business.

Blackbaud tailors its fund-raising software and services especially for the nonprofit industry and is considered the biggest company of its kind in the world. It said it has worked closely with NOZA since 2006.

The newly acquired firm's database includes information on about 50 million donations made to U.S. organizations and another 2 million charitable gift transactions in Canada.

Chris South, vice president of Blackbaud's Target Analytics unit, said the purchase will enable the Daniel Island-based company to provide more information to a broader base of customers and to help them better understand "who major donors are giving to and how much they are investing."

"We know that past giving is one of the most significant predictors of future giving, and NOZA provides the most comprehensive data available," South said in a statement.

NOZA will be merged into Blackbaud's operations. The California company's senior executives are leaving to focus on a new venture. Blackbaud said the sale it is not expected to have a material impact on its financial results.

Blackbaud has been quiet on the acquisition front lately. Its strategy has been to pursue "judicious" targets that would diversify its product mix and add to its industry-leading market-share position.

Since 2007, the company has invested about $130 million to snap up three rival software companies: Target Software Inc., eTapestry.com and Kintera Inc. The company's last big buyout was announced more than two years ago.

Shares of Blackbaud slipped 41 cents Monday, or 1.6 percent, to close at $23.81.