Convio's Free Fundraising Guide for Higher Education Helps Drive Alumni Participation, Donor Relationships and Giving

Downloadable Booklet Provides Strategies and Techniques on Using the Internet to Build Stronger Alumni and Donor Relationships and Improve Fundraising

Austin, Texas (August 25, 2005) —

Convio, Inc.— the leading provider of software and services to help institutions of higher education and other nonprofits use the Internet for building strong constituent relationships and driving support— today released a new guide to help colleges, universities, alumni groups and other higher education institutions use the Internet more strategically to strengthen relationships with alumni and donors and drive fundraising.

"Using the Internet to Build Alumni and Donor Relationships: Tools, Tips and Techniques for Boosting Donations"— the latest in Convio's ongoing best practices guides— is a free, downloadable booklet providing practical advice to development and alumni relations professionals on how to create and execute more effective online fundraising programs while attracting new donors and strengthening relationships with existing ones. To download Convio's new guide, please visit http://www.convio.com/hefundguide2.

"While many colleges and universities have dabbled in online fundraising, few have truly leveraged the best practices needed to generate big results," said Gene Austin, CEO, Convio. "This guide is the definitive resource for higher education professionals who would like to significantly strengthen their alumni and donor relations programs. It also can help schools address what we've seen as a growing trend in higher education involving the need for greater coordination between alumni relations, annual giving and donor stewardship efforts."

Convio's new fundraising guide exemplifies the company's continuing leadership in bringing the power of online technology to the higher education marketplace. The guide follows publication of Convio's popular email marketing guide for higher education, "Everything Alumni Relations and Development Professionals Should Know About Email Marketing." Convio also speaks regularly at national higher education conferences, conducts free online seminars year-round geared specifically toward higher education professionals and is featured frequently in trade media for institutions of higher learning.

Convio's growing roster of leading higher education institutions includes The University of Texas at Austin, Georgetown University, Southern Methodist University, Ohio State University, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Texas State University, University of San Francisco, Amherst College, Barnard College, and Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Convio's fundraising guide for higher education professionals details best practices for using the Internet to:

• Build a file of email addresses— for both alumni and non-alumni— in order to grow and maintain an organization's donor base;
• Develop stronger relationships with supporters by sending timely, targeted and personalized online communications such as email newsletters, updates and solicitations;
• Integrate online and offline communications to drive increased Web site traffic and higher response rates;
• Execute more effective online fundraising campaigns and establish key metrics for measuring the effectiveness of campaigns;
• Create and leverage campaign-branded Web pages, or landing pages, where supporters can find more details about specific fundraising campaigns and make donations;
• Improve donor stewardship programs; and
• Implement a comprehensive online Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) strategy to build loyalty and drive increased participation in alumni and annual fund programs.

Convio's guide also includes examples from Georgetown University and The University of Texas at Austin to show how leading institutions of higher education have employed such online strategies and tactics to achieve greater fundraising results. Georgetown, for example, waged an online micro-campaign to promote support for restoration of an on-campus alumni house. The University of Texas created an annual fund landing page and school-branded online donation forms that encourage unrestricted support for the university or individual schools.

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, advocacy, Web content management, event fundraising, ecommerce and email communications. All solutions include the Constituent360™ platform, a sophisticated, online marketing database that centralizes constituent data and integrates with offline databases.

In addition to working with a growing number of leading higher education institutions, Convio's clients include American Red Cross, 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, KCET Community Television of Southern California, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Trust For Historic Preservation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Thirteen/WNET New York. For more information, please visit www.convio.com.

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