American Red Cross Works With Convio for Expanding Its Online Fundraising Program; Leading Humanitarian Organization Seeks to Use Internet Tools to Build Closer Constituent Relationships, Drive Participation and Giving

Business Wire, July 25, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas -- Convio Inc. today announced that the American Red Cross -- one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations renowned for providing relief in the wake of major disasters and emergencies -- has entered into a contract with the company to expand and improve its online fundraising program. Through a partnership with Convio, the Red Cross -- with almost 900 chapters nationwide -- is seeking to enhance its use of the Internet to develop stronger relationships with donors, volunteers and subscribers which, in turn, should drive more robust, year-round participation with the organization, particularly with financial giving.

"Following last year's devastating hurricanes and the Asian tsunami crisis, it became very clear that people now are using the online medium increasingly for giving and staying informed," said Sue Woodward, Director of Direct Response Fundraising, American Red Cross. "Our goal is to use the Internet even more fully than we have been to communicate with our constituents and keep them involved year-round."

Convio is the leading provider of online constituent relationship management (eCRM) solutions for the nonprofit sector and works with many of the most prominent charitable organizations. The company's software and services enable an organization to use the Internet for interacting with constituents and learning more about their interests and motivations. Nonprofits then can use this information to communicate with each constituent in a highly personalized and relevant manner -- which helps keep supporters informed, involved and motivated to donate as well as provide other forms of mission-critical support.

"Being selected as the online partner by one of the most highly regarded nonprofit organizations in the country is a huge honor, and also speaks volumes about the strength of our eCRM solution and of our company within the marketplace," said Gene Austin, CEO of Convio. "We'll build upon the Red Cross' long history of success by helping to accelerate its online fundraising while delivering a better online experience for constituents and optimizing their support of the organization."

At the national level, the Red Cross receives a majority of its donations in response to disasters. Once Convio is deployed, constituents visiting the Red Cross' Web site will be able to register to receive email updates, indicate their interests, view personalized Web site content, and donate with a few mouse clicks and keyboard strokes. They also will continually learn more about the organization's breadth of services, programs and volunteer opportunities through email updates, e-newsletters and other online communications.

At the same time, the Convio system will allow the Red Cross to track constituent online interactions with the organization, build a profile and store this information in a single online database. Staff members will be able to segment the database by a variety of criteria and then send targeted and relevant communications to different groups of constituents. Additionally, Red Cross will be able to synchronize constituent data gathered online to its offline donor database, which is key for conducting integrated campaigns that are coordinated across an organization's departments and functions.

Convio will provide Red Cross with a scalable technology infrastructure, which is vitally important given the organization's demonstrated online donation "surges" during times of disaster. For example, in the wake of the December 2004 Asian tsunami, the American Red Cross received more than $140 million in online donations in a single 30-day period.

About Convio

Convio is the leading provider of software and services to help nonprofits use the Internet strategically to build strong relationships with constituents for driving fundraising, advocacy and other forms of support. 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.

In addition to the American Red Cross, Convio's clients include American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, AVON Foundation, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Easter Seals, Farm Aid, Georgetown University, KCET Community Television of Southern California, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Trust For Historic Preservation, Ronald McDonald House Charities and The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, please visit www.convio.com.