Blackbaud eliminates 51 positions, loses former Convio CEO

Following its spring acquisition of rival software firm Convio, Daniel Island-based Blackbaud has decided to eliminate 51 positions at the combined 2,800-employee company.

But more than half of those people are expected to switch to one of the 120 open jobs at Blackbaud, an executive said Wednesday.

“This really isn’t news,” said Jana Eggers, senior vice president of products and marketing, calling the consolidation “not unusual” after such a merger.

Eggers said none of the affected employees, who are spread over several offices and departments, are out of a job immediately, and some will remain in their current posts for up to 18 months.

Another Blackbaud spokeswoman, Melanie Mathos, said only three of the affected “roles” are at the local headquarters.

Also announced at Tuesday’s all-hands meeting was former Convio CEO Gene Austin’s decision to step down as president of Blackbaud’s Enterprise Customer Business Unit.

“Gene wasn’t sure that not being a CEO was going to be a fit for him. It was an open discussion when we joined,” Eggers said. “Obviously we wouldn’t have a replacement ready if it was a surprise to us.”

Austin’s replacement will be named Wednesday, according to Mathos.

Blackbaud paid a total of $325 million for Convio, based on a $275 million valuation of the company plus the $50 million Convio had in cash on hand.

Because the merger involved heavyweights in the nonprofit technology world, it was delayed for months by a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust review. Announced in January, the deal closed in May.

Blackbaud had a pre-merger headcount of 2,400, with roughly 1,100 working out of the local headquarters building. Austin, Tx.-based Convio had about 450 employees.