Fifteen Nonprofits Recognized for their Creativity and Success in Maximizing Convio's On-demand CRM, Content Management Solutions to Take Relationships to Next Level

Convio Innovator Award Recipients Honored at 2nd Annual Convio Client Summit

AUSTIN, TEXAS (October 19, 2007) Convio, Inc. announced today the winners of its first Innovator Awards, recognizing clients' creative use of Convio's online constituent relationship management (eCRM) and Web content management solutions that helped take their organizations' constituent relationships to new levels. The awards were presented during Convio's second annual Client Summit, where more than 600 nonprofit clients and partners gathered as a community to share experiences and results. In addition attendees learn about Convio's products and discuss the latest strategies and best practices for maximizing the Internet to build strong relationships with constituents.

"It is exciting to see the results our clients are achieving to empower constituents by using Convio and by integrating the Web with traditional communications, fundraising and advocacy campaigns," said Gene Austin, Chief Executive Officer of Convio. "We're proud to honor these organizations in the presence of their peers from across the country, and pleased with their enthusiasm in sharing ideas, strategies and best practices with the community."

Fifteen nonprofit organizations received awards and recognition in eight categories: email communications (newsletters and other email engagement techniques); email list growth; Web site (using Convio CMS or PageBuilder); online fundraising; integrated (online and offline) fundraising; advocacy campaign; use of Web 2.0/peer-to-peer marketing techniques outside of special events (e.g., Convio Tributes, Widgets); and special events fundraising (Convio TeamRaiser™). The awardees were selected from 70 nominations submitted by Convio clients, partners and staff.

"Celebrating our clients' success and results is one of the most important things Convio can do for the community we serve," said Vinay Bhagat, Founder, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, Convio, who headed the Innovator Awards committee. "We are delighted to recognize the innovative ways our clients are using Convio software and services to take constituent relationships to new levels."

Winners and notable mentions by category

Email communications
Lambda Legal received the Innovator Award for its compelling, personalized email communications to donors, members and potential supporters. The organization leverages all of Convio's product features, including highly conditionalized content based on donor level and geographic residence. Using different graphic elements in the header depending on the recipient's donor level, Lambda Legal grew its monthly eNews subscriber list by 35% from July 2006 to July 2007.

Meatless Monday received a notable mention for its "Eater's Digest" weekly enewsletter. Produced in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the newsletter offers a clean design with a lot of varied content that appeals to a wide variety of readers. Their open rates of 20-30% and high click through rate — over 10% — is a testament to their success in making the information accessible to the average reader.

Email list growth
Conservation International received the Innovator Award for its Great Turtle Race that doubled the organization's list in just two weeks, from 25,000 to 50,000 subscribers. Embeding a Convio survey/registration form on its partnership page on Yahoo.com, driving traffic to the form using Convio widgets on various social networking sites, including MySpace, Care2 as well as several blogs. The organization emailed new list members using Convio's email marketing tools and created a segmented welcome series to familiarize new list members about the organization's other conservation efforts.

Communications Workers of America received a notable mention for its SpeedMatters.org campaign, which grew its email list from 229 to just over 69,000. The campaign to bring high speed internet access to all Americans included a Flash speed test. While an email address was not required, nearly half of all people who took the test entered their email and zip code information, which were fed directly into the organization's online constituent database.

Web site
Precept Ministries International received the Innovator Award for its new Convio-powered Web site, which transformed its previous Web site from an online brochure into a robust communications platform. Using Convio CMS integrated with Convio's integrated CRM suite to tools, the organization's Web site provides ways to learn more about and stay connected with its constituents through conditionalized email communications, an eStore and donor applications.

The Humane Society of the United States received a notable mention for its ProtectSeals campaign Web site, which featured excellent imagery, strong home page integration of pledge action, real-time integration of statistics and news, and sign-up for text messaging. HSUS recruited 128,766 new members through the campaign Web site and generated 400,000 actions taken in support of the campaign.

Online fundraising campaign
America's Second Harvest received the Innovator Award for its matching fund campaign. Its online appeal that provided a link to a landing page where constituents could designate donations by categories of food and featured a virtual refrigerator filled with food based on the constituent's selections. The landing page indicated how many meals the constituent's gift would provide, and included a link to a donation form that was pre-populated with the constituent's pledge amount. Individuals who went to the landing page first donated more per person than those who went straight to the donation form. Providing supporters a visual representation of their giving was so popular that other organizations have used a similar strategy.

Human Rights Campaign received a notable mention for its integrated online advocacy and fundraising campaign to pass hate crimes legislation in Congress. Working with Convio partner, M+R Strategic Services, HRC raised over $148,000 from more than 2,700 donors, 1,500 of which were new donors. The fundraising campaign was closely integrated with HRC's advocacy campaign, both in terms of messaging and timing, converting activists to donors by leading them to a donation page after they took action or used the Tell-a-Friend feature.

Integrated fundraising campaign
NARAL Pro-Choice America received the Innovator Award for its cross channel marketing campaign to convert its activists into donors, working from its file of more than 500,000 Pro-Choice Action Network online activists. The organization acquired 11,300 new contributing members at a remarkably high 20-30% conversion rate. Using smart prospecting strategy and taking advantage of in-house names, the organization reduced its fundraising expenses at an investment of $14 per new donor.

Ploughshares Fund received a notable mention for its Rediscover Mother's Day campaign, which leveraged pledges from 10 donors to offer a dollar-for-dollar match online. The campaign included a partnership with an online flower vendor, compelling stories about modern-day mothers who volunteer with Ploughshares, an e-card with a Tell-a-Friend feature and earned media spots in targeted national and regional markets, which yielded $234,080 in just over a month, $30,000 of which was donated online from mostly new donors. 

Advocacy campaign
Oxfam America received the Innovator Award for its multi-channel campaign demanding Starbucks sign a licensing agreement with the Ethiopian government to give more control over their coffee names to support Ethiopian farmers. Using Web 2.0 tools to create more awareness, including a video on YouTube, a photo petition on Flickr, Oxfam mobilized 96,000 activists around the world who faxed, called, and visited Starbucks stores urging the company to sign the agreement. After months of negotiations, Starbucks and Ethiopia signed the agreement, which was followed by Oxfam’s "thank you" video with Ethiopian coffee farmers thanking activists.

Free Press received a notable mention for its Save The Internet campaign and petition, which attracted approximately 100 new signers per day, adding 225,000 new members to its email file. Inviting supporters to submit a story to its Web site, the organization received more than 20,000 stories in less than a month. The Save The Internet microsite also featured an online Letter-to-the-Editor campaign and generated list growth of nearly 9,000 members through the Tell-a-Friend feature. Credited with thwarting efforts to modify the nation's telecom laws in 2006, the Save the Internet campaign was featured in a March 2007 Wall Street Journal article.

Use of Web 2.0/peer-to-peer marketing techniques outside of special events
ASPCA received the Innovator Award for its comprehensive, robust MySpace site, http://myspace.com/officialaspca, which has attracted nearly 20,000 friends and adds more every day. The MySpace site includes blogs, widgets and support banners, adoptable animals feature, a free pet safety pack registration incentive, photos and videos, ringtones, anti-cruelty resources, and many other interactive features to encourage supporters to sign up.

Trisomy 18 Foundation received a notable mention for its Child’s Legacy Support Program. It used Convio’s peer-to-peer Tributes, increasing online monthly donations from $2,000 to $10,000 and doubling its email file in just over 12 months. The organization had an average of 400 new registrants per month, increasing unique Web site visitors from 8,000 to 20,000 in one year.

Special events fundraising
Project Bread received the Innovator Award for its annual Walk for Hunger, which raised a record-breaking $3.3 million this year, with one-third of donations contributed online. In the last two years, online donations increased nearly 200%, with the number of online donations and participants increasing by 161% and 106%, respectively, and its average gift increasing from $37.83 to $42.44. During the Walk season, Project Bread saw a 50% increase in Web traffic, with email open rates reaching 51%. Gifts to Project Bread came from 50 states and more than 20 countries.

About Convio

Convio is the leading provider of on-demand software and services that enable nonprofit organizations to more effectively raise funds, influence public policy and support their missions by leveraging the Internet to build strong relationships with constituents. The company's online constituent relationship management, or eCRM, solution includes a suite of on-demand software modules for fundraising, advocacy, email marketing and Web content management complemented by a portfolio of best-in-class consulting services.

Convio's clients include American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Sierra Club, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and National Public Radio. For more information, please visit www.convio.com.

Press contact:
Tad Druart
Director, Corporate Communications
Convio, Inc.
tdruart@convio.com
512-652-7826