Colleges and Universities Get "Tutored" on Using Internet for Building Strong Alumni and Donor Relationships at Preeminent Educational Conference

Harvard University, Convio and Marts & Lundy Co-Present July 8 at 2002 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) International Assembly

(Austin, Texas, June 25, 2002) With higher education institutions today raising less than 1 percent of all funds online, experts from Harvard University, Convio and the nonprofit consulting firm, Marts & Lundy, will "teach" colleges and universities how to optimize use of the Internet for fundraising and building a sustainable donor base at this year's CASE International Assembly in Chicago.

The co-presentation, July 8 from 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. at the Chicago Marriott Downtown, is entitled, "Advancement Online: Success Through Building Strong Alumni and Donor Relationships," and will cover:

How schools can and should integrate the Internet and Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) into their operations to enhance alumni and donor relations
How today's most progressive institutions are re-strategizing and re-tooling their organizations to better leverage the Internet
Types of activities higher education leaders are pursuing on the Internet and results they are achieving
Integrating Internet marketing with offline marketing activities

Co-presenters include:

Andy Tiedemann, Director of Communications for Alumni Affairs and Development, Harvard University
Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO, Convio
Darrow Zeidenstein, Head -- Digital Solutions Group, Marts & Lundy

Convio is the leading CRM company for nonprofits, providing integrated software and services that enable organizations to efficiently utilize the Internet for fundraising, eMarketing, advocacy, communications, event management and more. Convio works with organizations from virtually all segments of the nonprofit sector, including higher education. A prolific conference speaker and published author, Bhagat was the keynote presenter at CASE's sold-out Annual Donor Relations Officers Conference, June 12-14, in San Antonio and has spoken at numerous CASE District events.

About CASE

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the professional organization for advancement professionals at all levels who work in alumni relations, communications, and development. Today CASE's membership includes more than 3,000 colleges, universities, and independent elementary and secondary schools in the United States, Canada, Mexico and 42 other countries. CASE is the largest nonprofit education association in terms of institutional membership, serving more than 38,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of member institutions.

About Marts & Lundy

Since 1926, Marts & Lundy has been the innovative leader in promoting successful philanthropic programs, counseling clients in fundraising fundamentals such as major gift strategies, planned giving, capital campaign planning and management, communications and prospect research. The firm has pioneered many services including feasibility studies, consultation gatherings, Electronic Screening(R), and Mid-level Donor Analysis(R).

Throughout its history, Marts & Lundy has provided highly experienced consultants to work hand-in-hand with client professionals to prepare and execute philanthropic plans to further the client's mission. Marts & Lundy takes a holistic approach -- starting with the client's strategic plan and building upon that to prepare the best fundraising, communications and outreach plans to bring the highest level of voluntary funding support to the client.

About Convio

Austin-based Convio is the leading Constituent Relationship Management, or CRM, company serving the nonprofit sector. Convio's mission is to increase the effectiveness of how nonprofit organizations attract, engage and retain constituents to provide funding and other forms of support. The Convio(tm) software solution consists of five product suites: eFundraising, eMarketing, Advocacy, Content Management and a Constituent Center database. Using Convio, nonprofits can send targeted, personalized email communications; conduct fundraising, membership and advocacy campaigns; publish personalized and fresh Web content; manage registrations, RSVP's, ticket sales and other event logistics; tap volunteers and their personal networks for campaigns; track constituent interactions; connect online systems to off-line donor databases; and more. The Convio platform automatically shares data among all five product suites, giving nonprofits a unified view of each constituent so staff can conduct more personalized and targeted marketing. Convio also provides Internet marketing consulting services to help nonprofits adopt online marketing best practices.

Convio serves organizations in all segments of the nonprofit sector including disease and disorder, education, healthcare, human services, advocacy, associations, public broadcasting, museums and other visitation facilities, and political campaigns. Convio's clients include Easter Seals, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Devereux Foundation, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, American Lung Association of Texas, National Foundation for Cancer Research and KCET (PBS, Los Angeles). For more information, please visit www.convio.com.