Convio Introduces Social Media Solutions for Nonprofits to Expand Online Engagement and Build Community

Integration between Convio Constituent Relationship Management System and ThePort's Social Media Suite Allows Nonprofits to Build Branded Web 2.0 Communities and Transform User Experience

AUSTIN, TEXAS (February 20, 2008) —

Convio, Inc. and ThePort Network today announced the availability of ThePort Social Media Suite to Convio's clients to meet the diverse needs of the nonprofit community in building their own branded social media communities. With ThePort Social Media Suite, Convio's clients can easily integrate branded blogs and "MySpace®-like" communities into their existing Web sites and transform them into dynamic and engaging community portals for increased constituent involvement and communication. As a member of Convio's Fusion Partner program, ThePort Network is part of Convio's Open Initiative designed to provide choice, interoperability and technological innovation for the nonprofit community.

"We needed a robust social media solution to help connect our members and their families with others who share similar experiences, but we did not want to add another online application with data silos," said Major General David Bockel, Deputy Executive Director, Reserve Officers Association. "We are pleased to be the first organization to use this integrated offering. By integrating ThePort's technology with Convio, we now have a social media tool to strengthen our community, drive Web traffic through user generated content, and create additional engagement, advocacy and donor opportunities."

The Convio/ThePort Social Media offering includes a:

• Social Networking Platform which supports creation of a private or public community for friends, family, groups and other networks built around the organization's mission. Each member has a personalized home page, newsreader, message center, media gallery and blog.
• User-Generated Content including easy-to-use blogs, discussion forums, groups and community pages.
• Content Control, including moderation and filtering capabilities.

The suite enables organizations to rapidly build and deploy branded Web 2.0 communities with social networking features that drive page views, lengthen the duration of visits, and build stronger ties to target audiences. With the integration between Convio and ThePort, constituents will be offered single sign-on (SSO). SSO is a method of access control that enables a user to authenticate once and gain access to the resources of multiple software systems.

"Using a single sign-on provides our constituents with a seamless experience and an easy way to access the community resources," added Major General Bockel.

"Public social media platforms like Facebook and MySpace® have revolutionized how people use the Internet to stay in touch, share information and ideas, and bring attention to causes and people in need," said Dan Backus, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of ThePort Network. "The same concepts that have made these sites so popular can be adopted by nonprofits to help drive interest, share success stories, encourage donations and strengthen the community engaged around their mission. By their very nature, nonprofits are well positioned to build upon the social media phenomenon to rally communities around key issues, causes and goals."

According to JupiterResearch in a report on Key Trends in 2008 for the Internet and Consumer Technology, "Social media and marketing have garnered much attention, substantial investment, and — most importantly — intensive engagement of hundreds of millions of online consumers. It thus is one of the most powerful media phenomena today." Nonprofits are well suited to benefit from constituent engagement driven by the social network phenomenon. Being mission- and cause-driven they are well positioned to develop strategies that monetize social media to benefit their mission or cause.

About ThePort Network

ThePort™ Network, Inc. provides an integrated suite of enterprise-class social media solutions that enables media companies, associations, non-profit organizations and sports teams to build and manage branded Web 2.0 communities that facilitate high-engagement marketing, foster increased member-to-member interaction and create additional revenue opportunities. ThePort Social Media Suite is offered as a service over the Internet and is comprised of ThePort Start Page, ThePort Social Network and ThePort Rich Media Blog Publisher. Based in Atlanta, Ga., the company's customers include Care.org.,Cox Newspapers, The Atlanta Falcons, RCI and TradeKing. For more information, visit http://www.theport.com/.

About Convio

Convio is a leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations to enable nonprofit organizations to more effectively raise funds, influence public policy and support their missions by leveraging the Internet to build strong relationships with constituents. The Company's online constituent relationship management, or eCRM, solution includes a suite of on demand software modules for fundraising, advocacy, email marketing and Web content management complemented by a portfolio of best-in-class consulting services.

Convio's clients include American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Sierra Club, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and National Public Radio. For more information, please visit http://www.convio.com/.

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