Convio Adds Volunteer Management Features to Common Ground™ CRM Database Software: Rapid Adoption by Nonprofits Continues

Convio Adds Volunteer Management Features to Common Ground™CRM Database Software: Rapid Adoption by Nonprofits Continues

San Francisco, CA (June 22, 2009) —

Convio, Inc. – the leading provider of online marketing, fundraising, advocacy and constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations – today announced the availability of core volunteer management features and functionality as part of its innovative new constituent relationship management software, Common Ground CRM. Convio is demonstrating the new features and functionality of Common Ground in booth 400 at The National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco.

"Common Ground is changing the donor database market for nonprofit organizations," said Tom Krackeler, vice president, Common Ground. "Our focus has been to work with nonprofits to build a system that allows them to develop meaningful relationships with all types of constituents, not just donors, Common Ground is designed from the ground-up to improve the way nonprofits access, share and derive value from their constituent information, regardless of how each constituent chooses to show their support.  Fully integrated volunteer management capability is a key ingredient for a comprehensive nonprofit database."

The simplicity, flexibility and features of Common Ground allow the organization to create an overall systemic approach to managing relationships that match their organizational needs, and provides the multiple channels required for engagement and the diversity of opportunities that people have to participate with the nonprofit organization. By managing volunteers appropriately and viewing their engagement level in the same system that is used to manage donor and other constituent relationships, an organization can better understand and manage relationships so that both the volunteer and organization benefit. At the same time, the organization is able to better cultivate the relationship to optimize the individual’s support and enhance their giving.

Core Common Ground’s volunteer management features include:

• Track Individual Availability & Skills: Keep track of your volunteer’s schedule of availability and record appropriate skills that can be used to match them with upcoming job shifts.
• Participation Tracking and Reporting: All volunteer history is tracked for every individual shift, allowing your staff to identify coverage gaps and monitor results through reports and dashboards.
• Find Available & Qualified Volunteers: Filter potential volunteers for every shift by availability or qualifications; or combine the two to quickly identify the best match for your upcoming shift.
• Manage Shift Registrations & Attendance: Track shift volunteers including prospective volunteers, registered volunteers, and individuals on the wait list. Set maximum and minimum numbers of volunteers per shift and view quick summary counts per job.
• Integration with Donor Management: Combined with donor management capabilities of Common Ground, the volunteer management features help nonprofits find people, learn about them, manage them and develop them into the organizations most valuable supporters.

"Most of the nonprofit organizations that Idealist Consulting works with must collaborate with more than just funders," said Jim Westfall, Senior CRM Consultant for Idealist Consulting, a Convio Solution Partner and one of the four original Salesforce.com Foundation partners. "Event participants and volunteers are key audiences that must be included in the design of most organizations’ databases. We have custom designed database tools for several of our clients, but Convio has done a superb job of discovering all of the right functionality for event and volunteer management. And, it has beendelivered in an elegant fashion on its Common Ground CRM platform. More importantly, it has added these important tools less than one year after its initial release of Common Ground, proving its commitment to provide effective tech solutions that address the most important requirements of nonprofit organizations in the friction-free 21st century."

NONPROFITS ASKED, COMMON GROUND CONTINUES TO DELIVER
Common Ground takes the data from all of an organization’s departments and makes it work together so that nonprofit professionals can better utilize people, time and funds to increase the community impact of their mission. With customizable dashboards for executive directors, fundraising and event professionals, volunteer managers, and finance professionals to name a few, Common Ground provides constant updates on performance metrics and mission critical information, resulting in a better use of the resources and relationships of the nonprofit. The features, functionality and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform behind Common Ground create a better, more efficient and cost-effective way to acknowledge, maintain, foster and grow relationships with those people who care for and are touched by an organization.

Built and delivered natively on salesforce.com’s Force.com Platform, the product leverages cloud computing to deliver a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that easily integrates with other open systems including Convio’s online fundraising and marketing applications. The complete on-demand solution offers simple and flexible tools that help nonprofits focus on their mission, fundraising, advocacy and communications results instead of managing and maintaining software and technology infrastructure.
In less than three quarters of general availability nearly 700 seat licenses of Common Ground have been purchased by nonprofits. Clients range from large, multi-affiliate national organizations to volunteer driven organizations with as few as one staff person. Both benefit from the simplicity, flexibility and openness of Common Ground.

For more information on Common Ground and the volunteer management features visit www.convio.com/crm

About Convio
Convio is the leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management (CRM) software and services that give nonprofit organizations a better way to inspire and mobilize people to support their organization. The company’s online marketing suite offers integrated software for fundraising, advocacy, events, email marketing and web content management, and its CRM system, Convio Common Ground™, helps organizations efficiently track and manage all interactions with supporters. All Convio products are delivered through the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and are backed by a portfolio of best-in-class consulting and support services and a network of partners who provide value-added services and applications focused on the unique needs of nonprofit organizations.

Convio clients include nonprofit organizations, Institutions of Higher Education, Associations and Faith-based organizations around the world such as American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Society of the United States, Easter Seals, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and Sierra Club. For more information, please visit www.convio.com

Press Contact:
Karoline McLaughlin
Director, Corporate Communications
Convio, Inc.
kmclaughlin@convio.com
512-652-7865