New Convio Internet Tools Earn A+ for Higher Education, Help Universities Strengthen Communications and Fundraising Programs

Market-Leading Fundraising Solution Allows Schools to Better Understand Alumni and Donors’ Brand Affinities; Enables More Targeted, Coordinated Online Communications

Austin, Texas (July 6, 2006) —

At a time when universities and colleges face increasingly challenging, complex fundraising environments, Convio, Inc. today announced new tools which help schools use the Internet to more effectively communicate with alumni and donors while driving increased giving. Convio's market-leading on-demand solution now makes it possible for universities, colleges, alumni groups and related organizations to leverage the efficiencies of the Internet for conducting sophisticated marketing and fundraising campaigns which utilize a higher education institution's multiple brands.

Convio is the leading provider of online constituent relationship management (eCRM) solutions for nonprofits and institutions of higher education. The company's on-demand software and services help organizations use the Internet for building strong constituent relationships that drive fundraising, awareness and enduring support. Convio's tools for online fundraising, email communication and Web content management are used by many of the nation's top higher education institutions including The University of Texas at Austin, Georgetown University, Southern Methodist University and The Ohio State University.

With Convio's enhanced eCRM offering, schools and related organizations can use email communications to learn more about and better understand alumni and donors' affinities, such as whether they're most connected to a specific school, program, class year, sport, professor, research project, etc. An organization then can use this information to shape future communications that appeal to these affinities and present the right brand, message and giving opportunities to the right individuals or alumni groups. Personalized, more relevant communications enable higher education institutions to more effectively engage alumni, drive increased giving and build the loyalty that leads to major gifts.

"One of the main challenges that we and most other large universities face from a fundraising perspective is ensuring that we're putting the best, most relevant message in front of the right audience at the right time," said Mark Petersen, Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs, Southern Methodist University. "Convio's Internet solution helps us greatly simplify the challenging process of increasing donor acquisition and retention while effectively marketing our university's many brands. Quite simply, without a resource like Convio we would be out of touch with this generation of donors."

Universities, colleges and related groups using Convio now can:

• Efficiently manage and coordinate all emails across an entire institution using a centralized email communications calendar. With a single view of all planned and sent emails, they can better plan email campaigns which have consistent branding, while avoiding sending redundant content or over-mailing key constituencies.

• Easily develop school or program-specific micro-sites that match the brands of individual campus units while preserving the institution's overall brand. These mini-Web sites let different schools across campus retain their distinct identity and can be customized to match the needs of each unit or program, including specific campaigns, funds, giving options or giving levels.

• Simplify gift designations. Many schools have complicated gift designations with hundreds or even thousands of possibilities. Convio provides a campus-wide master list of gift designations for easier administration, allowing schools to easily select relevant designations for specific campaigns. This provides a simplified, more successful donor experience while preserving the schools' ability to present relevant gift designations.

• Increase donations with matching gift opportunities. Leveraging Convio's real-time integration with HEP Development's corporate giving database, an institution's donation forms provide alumni and donors with employer matching gift information and instructions on completing the required paperwork. Potential matching gift opportunities also are reported to universities so that development professionals can conduct necessary follow up with corporations.

"With Convio's advanced Internet tools, schools now can truly step up their online fundraising while building stronger affinity for the many brands within their institutions," said Gene Austin, CEO, Convio, Inc. "Colleges, universities and alumni groups can use our tools to keep alumni and donors connected in ways that are meaningful to them, which is key for driving increased participation and giving. For higher education institutions that are serious about leveraging the Internet for email marketing and online giving, this is exactly the kind of software solution they need to take their fundraising to a higher level."

About Convio

Convio is the leading provider of on-demand 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.

Convio has been named 2005 "Private Company of the Year" by the Austin Business Journal. In addition to the company's higher education clients, Convio works with American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, AVON Foundation, Easter Seals, Farm Aid, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 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