CEO Chris Hanson and Mark Paquette, the chief technology officer of TheDataBank, never planned to get rich when they formed a software firm 20 years ago that would link nonprofits and progressive political causes with supporters over the then-emerging internet.
Hanson, 59, a veteran marketer, and Paquette, 60, an electrical engineer and technologist, raised $250,000 from several minority owners. They built a company that has posted subscription-based revenue of up to $1.5 million annually and a good living for up to 15 employees.
They were innovative pioneers in web-based fundraising software that spread infrastructure costs across several hundred clients who could connect with supporters and raise money for as little as several hundred dollars a year. They grew modestly without fanfare amid the late-1990s tech boom, followed by the "dot-bomb" implosion that lost billions for investors locally and nationally.
"We're still in business and still the majority owners," Hanson said. "We're a for-profit 'social enterprise.' "
That's not to say the owners didn't tweak the model.
A decade ago, they jettisoned most of TheDataBank's political campaign work, which amounted to about 30 percent of revenue and 65 percent of effort.
"It was a bunch of over-caffeinated, sleep-deprived people and a lot of whining," recalled Paquette. "It was a good decision."
The Minneapolis-based firm sailed through the Great Recession, but business was softening by 2010-11.