Convio Joins Open Philanthropy Exchange Consortium to Drive New Technical Standard for Nonprofits

Convio Solutions Built to Support XML Technology

(Austin, TX, August, 1, 2000) Convio, Inc. has announced today that it will the join the Open Philanthropy eXchange (OPX) Consortium, a group of technology companies dedicated to promoting an open technical standard for use by the nonprofit community and organizations that provide services to that sector. The emerging standard technology for defining data integration formats is based in the programming language of XML.

The purpose of this standard is to define a way of exchanging data between different Informational Technology systems used by charitable organizations. OPX enables nonprofits to seamlessly import donor and gift information from e-commerce enabled Web sites to the nonprofits¹ database management software. Now, nonprofits can have flexibility in choosing IT systems from different vendors who suit their particular needs and exchange data between those systems without any difficulty.

"We are delighted to join the OPX consortium," said Vinay Bhagat, founder and CEO of Convio, Inc. ­ an Internet software company that provides online relationship management and fundraising solutions to the nonprofit sector. "XML, like English, has become the universal language of communication for the Internet. Providing flexibility and choice for our customers is core to Convio's product strategy. Facilitating communication and data exchange between different systems and databases is what customers need and want so that they can use the best of breed solution."

Convio is using XML as the core element of its data integration strategy. "Our architectural objective was to design a system that was configurable to work with as many different external systems as possible without having to reengineer the software or build interfaces for each of these external systems, said Dr. David Crooke, CTO and co-founder of Convio, Inc. "XML factored strongly into the design and architecture of the Convio product. It was clear to us when we started the company last year that XML would emerge to be the industry standard for defining data integration strategies in the nonprofit sector."

Other technology companies who have indicated their support of OPX include Access International, Araize, Charity.ca, Charity Reach, Convio, DonateTo.com, eContributor, eFundDrive.com, eTapestry, 4charity.com, FUND E-Z, Heller Consulting, MicroEdge, and TRAC, Inc. The founding members of OPX are Blackbaud, Charitableway, and MyAssociation.com. The first meeting of the OPX consortium will be held in September 2000.

About Convio

Convio Inc. is an Internet software company that provides online relationship management and fundraising solutions to the nonprofit sector, including donor and member supported organizations. Convio¹s solutions help nonprofits manage a dynamic web presence without requiring significant in-house technical expertise, letting them leverage the power of the Internet to develop stronger relationships with all constituents.

Founded in Austin, Texas in April 1999, Convio is a privately held corporation backed by Austin Ventures and other investors including former development leaders at universities, board members of nonprofit institutions, private schools, and the head of the entrepreneurial finance faculty at Harvard Business School.

About the Open Philanthropy exchange

Open Philanthropy exchange is an XML-based specification for data transfer between different technology systems and services for the philanthropic sector. OPX enables organizations in the nonprofit arena to communicate in a common language; it removes technical barriers thorough seamless transmission of data. OPX is maintained as an open standard by a coalition of diverse partners from technology and nonprofit communities to ensure that OPX is a beneficial industry-wide tool. OPX is available at http://www.opxinfo.net/.