Software for tracking employee engagement in philanthropy is a hot tech silo right now. Bonterra, already one of the largest tech firms in the social impact space, is adding WeSpire under its corporate umbrella of multiple well-known brands.
Bonterra owns firms CyberGrants, EveryAction, Network for Good, and Social Solutions. The Austin, Texas-based firm is also in the process of a corporate-wide rebranding process.
Bonterra has been backed by Apax, a private equity firm, which was not tapped into for this acquisition, Bonterra CEO Mark Layden told The NonProfit Times. Bonterra was advised by PwC (financial advisor) and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (legal advisor). WeSpire was advised by Canaccord Genuity (financial advisor) and Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo (legal advisor).
Terms of this deal were not disclosed. Layden described WeSpire as a “sub $10 million” company and said it “doesn’t effect operating budget, a special financing arrangement.”
The Boston-based WeSpire platform leverages behavioral science content and techniques intended to increase employee capacity, drive up motivation, and move participants to act. The plan is for employee participation in sustainability, social impact and giving, well-being and inclusive culture programs that improve business performance, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes reporting.
WeSpire platform has capabilities, programs, and people to expand engagement through a suite of integrated solutions, including giving and volunteering, well-being, sustainability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
WeSpire Founder and CEO Susan Hunt Stevens will be president of WeSpire and senior vice president of engagement programs for Bonterra. WeSpire has 25 employees, adding to the 1,200 at Bonterra. Layden said there were a few shared clients.
The past acquisitions have taken time to shake out. Bonterra had been making acquisitions for a few years and earlier this year went through a 10% reduction in force, impacting 140 employees. The layoffs came a little more than a month after CEO Erin Mulligan Nelson left the company and was replaced by Layden. Mulligan Nelson had been CEO at Social Solutions and Layden at CyberGrants, two of the then four firms making up Bonterra.
The announcement that the four firms would be rolled up came in March 2022. Other assets within the company — the political fundraising, organizing, advocacy, and email solution NGP VAN continued to operate as such with ActionKit and Mobilize were rolled up into it.
