September/October 2003

Convio Affiliates Express^TM: The New Option for Multi-Affiliate Organizations

Effectively managing the online initiatives of both organizations and their affiliates can be challenging. From larger affiliates with staff members dedicated to online initiatives, to smaller, more autonomous affiliates with fewer staff members or volunteer leaders and limited online expertise--different affiliates have different needs.

So, what is the best approach when affiliates want to set their own online goals, communicate through email with their local constituents and develop and maintain their own Web sites? How does the organization support them with the right online tools for their individual needs?

For more than a year, Convio has offered Convio AffiliatesTM, which allows centrally-managed organizations to extend full-featured Convio online tools to affiliates for Web site creation and email communications while preserving the organization's brand and consolidating fundraising and marketing data from all affiliates. Now, Convio offers Convio Affiliates Express, which allows smaller affiliates with limited staff resources--such as local chapters of national organizations--to easily create and update a basic Web presence, and communicate with members through email. A multi-affiliate organization can use a combination of Convio Affiliates and Convio Affiliates Express to meet the needs of all affiliates--both large and small.

Convio Affiliates Express is a set of easy-to-use Convio tools for smaller affiliates, that gives the parent organization the ability to:

• Designate chapter Web site "owners" and provide them with Web page branding and a link from the parent Web site;
• Provide chapter owners with tools to develop and manage turnkey Web sites, called Chapter Pages; and
• Give chapters email tools for frequent online communication with their constituents. 

Using Convio Affiliates Express, both new and established affiliates can:

• Build affinity and drive event participation by making their Web pages a destination that constituents or members access for chapter news, event information and photo albums;
  
• Communicate frequently with members through easy-to-create emails containing chapter news as well as links back to the Web site;
  
• Grow membership by enabling online registration and encouraging members to forward affiliate information to friends; and
  
• Create a sense of community and increase constituent involvement by providing members-only pages and letting members post personal stories and photos.

Member information collected online--such as email addresses--is maintained centrally by administrators at the parent organization using Convio's Constituent Center^TM online marketing database. The central organization also provides common branding and formatting for all affiliates to use for their Web sites and emails to ensure a consistent, professional image.

Convio Affiliates Express is part of the Convio suite of online tools designed to help nonprofits create relationships online and drive results. For more information about Convio Affiliates Express, visit www.convio.com/affiliatesexpress.