Don't click here: consolidation starting to hit service providers.

The flurry of multimillion-dollar acquisitions by vendors that service nonprofits continues the centralizing of the most powerful tools with a smaller number of providers. While it can be argued that packaging of services creates convenient one-stop shopping, this isn't about grabbing a cup of designer coffee while picking out a trendy new suit and DVD player in the same place.

Blackbaud buying Target and Convio nabbing GetActive bring together best of breed applications. There is no doubt that these firms are at or near the top of the mountain of firms. All are good, reliable firms with solid performance track records.

But as consolidation continues, and it will, fewer companies will know more about donors and provide the major charities opportunities against which smaller organizations will be unable to compete. The saving grace for organizations that generate $10 million a year or less will be the remaining independent vendors that provide various pieces to the fundraising process.

On the positive side, the Convio deal might provide some stability to online fundraising. There were four major providers of fundraising and community building software: Blackbaud, Convio, GetActive and Kintera. Of them, only Blackbaud was consistently profitable and mostly because of its accounting and donor management software. The other three all lost money, no matter the occasional cash-positive quarter.

It's estimated that only roughly 3 percent of the money raised is via online applications. This consolidation means it's probably going to get more expensive to generate a small amount of income. Data is expensive to gather and to manage. Charities are going to have to figure out ways to make online systems pay off more.

Ultimately, it's donors who pay the bills and with each passing day they get smarter and more elusive. There's marketing information that can be appended to a donor's information to predict behavior. The very technology that in just the past decade opened the flood gates to donor dollars threatens to squeeze the life out of this process.

Ethics must rule the day. Sector leaders--both at the charity and at the vendor--need to hold each other to the highest ethical standards. Donor privacy must be the rule of the day. Sharing information is an acceptable business standard. The issue is what information should be shared. Now is the time for the nonprofit direct response community to get together to draw up a set of guidelines--real guidelines, not those of a toothless trade association--for the ethical transfer of information.

There's no doubt that the nonprofit sector has become big business.

What can be missed in the hustle is the reason 11 percent of Americans either work or volunteer in the sector. That reason was embodied by Larry Stewart, a millionaire from Kansas City, Mo. From 1979 through this past Christmas, a mysterious man roamed the streets giving away cash during the holiday season. The lore built and he was dubbed the "Secret Santa."

His random acts of financial kindness totaled $1.3 million during the period.

Larry Stewart died last month at age 58 of complications resulting from esophageal cancer. He knew his time was short and this past holiday season "trained" other Secret Santas who gave away another $65,000.

It was $20 here and $100 there. Random acts of kindness.

While the acts of kindness in the organized nonprofit sector are not random by design, the recipients who receive the help are often victims of the randomness of events and nature. With all of the billions of dollars flying around the sector sometimes you need to remember the potential impact of 20 bucks and a smile. Rest in peace Larry Stewart.