American Red Cross

"We selected Convio as our strategic online fundraising partner because the solution gives our non-technical fundraising staff complete control over our diverse online giving campaigns. Our fundraisers are now empowered to execute online campaigns independently, which leaves our internal IT staff to focus on developing and maintaining systems directly related to our organization's mission and daily operations."

- Kimberly Reckner, lead technical liaison of online fundraising, American Red Cross

About American Red Cross

American Red Cross (Red Cross) helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. In 2006, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

Needed a scalable solution, with a reliable infrastructure, that could support hundreds of Red Cross chapters, as well as corporate and celebrity giving sites in several languages
Online systems in place were unable to process high volumes of donations during emergencies
Sought a sophisticated Internet tool to complement Red Cross's comprehensive online strategy, help develop stronger online relationships with constituents, and drive higher response rates
Wanted a secure system that would help prevent and handle any fraudulent donations

Launched Convio's email and online fundraising solutions ahead of schedule and just in time to meet the fundraising demands from Hurricane Katrina
Able to easily set up and launch corporate donation sites, without technical assistance, and provide detailed reports for corporations to provide matching gifts
Reliable infrastructure enables Red Cross to send more than 600,000 emails per hour, which is critical during emergencies
Advanced fraud prevention and handling includes IP blocking, HackerSafe Scan Alert, a Fraud Report used to monitor transactions, and a valid donation stamp on the numerous donation pages

Since the launch of the Convio solutions, Red Cross has seen substantial increases in the involvement and participation of its online constituency. In just 20 months, the organization has:

Raised more than $130 million online from individuals and corporations, with an average gift of more than $154
Launched more than 15 local chapter sites, 500 corporate giving sites, 43 celebrity-sponsored donation sites, and a Spanish donation site
Delivered more than 72 million emails