Washington Redskins Kick Off ``Yards for Youth'' Online Fundraising Campaign with Convio Tools

Business Wire, Sept 15, 2004

AUSTIN, Texas -- Online Pledge Process Allows Supporters to Choose from Twenty-Five Charities; Final Donation Based on Offensive Yards Achieved by Team During NFL Season

The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation -- the nonprofit foundation for the Washington Redskins -- has chosen Convio, Inc. as its online partner to "kick off" Yards for Youth, a new online campaign to raise funds for youth-oriented charities in the Greater Washington, D.C. region. The program is believed to mark the first time any National Football League (NFL) team has used the Internet for fundraising.

Convio, Inc. is the leading provider of software and services to help nonprofit organizations use the Internet to develop a strong base of constituents to donate, advocate, volunteer and provide other forms of mission-critical support. Serving a broad range of charitable groups, Convio also has powered similar types of sports-related fundraising drives, including "Birdies for Charity," conducted in conjunction with the Booz Allen Classic, the popular PGA Tour tournament played in Potomac, MD in June, 2004.

Yards for Youth -- which runs throughout the 2004-2005 NFL season -- allows supporters to go to the foundation's Convio-powered Web site at www.yardsforyouth.com, choose a favorite charity from 25 organizations, then pledge between one cent and 50 cents to the selected charity for each offensive yard that the Washington Redskins gain during this season. During the 2003 season, the Washington Redskins gained 4,926 total offensive yards. If a single donor pledged 2 cents per yard through Yards for Youth, the total pledge for his or her selected charity at the end of the 2003 season would have been $98.52, or nearly $100. Twenty-five Washington-area charities are included in the campaign, among them, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Ronald McDonald House, and others.

"Online fundraising makes it easy for fans to donate and allows us to give back to the communities that support our team," said Charlene Lefkowitz, Vice President, Community Affairs and Executive Director of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation. "We chose Convio to power our first-ever online fundraising initiative -- the first in the NFL as far as we know -- because of the company's experience working with nonprofits and specifically with these types of campaigns."

Founded in 2000 by Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder, the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation conducts many charitable events throughout the year. Until now, though, the organization has conducted its fundraising through traditional offline methods. By contrast, the Yards for Youth campaign will raise all funds online. To drive people to the Yards For Youth Web site to participate, the Foundation is conducting a major publicity campaign in coordination with participating charities, utilizing print, stadium and online media, especially email communications.

Convio's Fundraising Solution will power Yards for Youth. The Convio Fundraising Solution provides a complete set of online fundraising tools that do not require users to have technical expertise. The solution enables an organization to easily:

--Build Web pages to support a campaign;

--Develop and send emails to constituents with appeals, news and campaign updates;

--Create customized online giving forms with options for multiple giving levels, donations in honor of or tribute to someone, anonymous gifts, etc.; and

--Run detailed reports to monitor campaign status, view donor information and analyze giving patterns.

"In today's world, the Internet can really accelerate the charitable initiatives of sporting events and franchises," said Gene Austin, CEO of Convio. "Convio's online tools helped raise significant funds earlier this year from fans of professional golf and we expect comparable success with fans of professional football. We hope that the use of the online medium by sports-related philanthropies continues to catch on because it's such a good fit."

About The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation

The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, the non-profit foundation of the team, was founded by Redskins Owner Daniel M. Snyder in the spring of 2000. The mission of the foundation is to utilize the assets of the Washington Redskins and its corporate and community partners to make a positive and measurable impact on youth in the greater Washington, D.C. in the areas of literacy, youth development, education and community service.

About Convio, Inc.

Convio is the leading provider of software and services that help nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions use the Internet to build strong constituent relationships to drive support and participation. Convio has online solutions for fundraising and membership, advocacy, special events, volunteer fundraising, Web site management and email communications. All solutions include the Constituent360(TM) platform, a sophisticated, online marketing database that centralizes constituent data and integrates with offline databases. This gives organizations a unified view of constituent interests and motivations -- key for personalized and targeted outreach and communications. Convio also provides services and consulting to help organizations achieve success online.