Oct 2007 - Special Edition

Convio Open Provides Nonprofits Widest Range of Technology and Integration Options to Create Innovative Strategies that Achieve Goals

by Gene Austin, Chief Executive Officer, Convio

For most organizations, improving online communications means leveraging multiple applications to engage constituents. The explosive growth of Web 2.0 has heightened interest in creating a wider range of engagement options online. New social media sites, including Facebook, Flickr and Plaxo, can create a more compelling online experience for supporters, but presents nonprofits with several challenges:

• What is the best way to engage supporters in the places where they live without creating more silos of constituent data?
  
  
• What is the best way to integrate new data from third-party platforms with other data that lives in offline systems, and do so without encountering significant costs?
  
  
• How do I get the resulting data from these specialized applications to become part of our constituents' history to effectively use the information for future targeted outreach?

An on-demand solution delivered via the Internet, Convio facilitates interoperability and provides organizations the ability to choose the best solutions to meet their goals. And, by using Convio Extensions for social media, APIs and Database Connectors designed specifically for popular legacy systems and new Web-based solutions like Salesforce.com, you can take advantage of this new world of opportunities and tap the power of the new web.

Convio Open: providing more choice

Convio Open is a continuing commitment to provide products, partners and services that support innovation and integration. Beginning with Convio APIs and Database Connectors, Convio takes the first steps toward opening the Convio platform and providing nonprofits with the widest range of technology options to achieve their objectives, without sacrificing integration.

Clients will have three ways to fully leverage integrated marketing 2.0:

• Convio APIs,
• Convio Extensions, and
• Convio Database Connectors.

Organizations can build custom applications on top of the Convio solution to create a unique and engaging constituent experience, integrate their data across multiple channels to gain a holistic view of their constituency, and leverage third-party platforms to reach out to supporters where they live online.

Leveraging the collaborative spirit of our clients and partners, Convio Open enables nonprofits to create the Web experience that constituents now expect. As you enter the busy holiday fundraising season and look ahead, we expect the buzz around social networking, openness and interoperability to increase. We invite you to take part in this next generation of eCRM applications by joining us in creating more choice and innovation for nonprofits to take constituent relationships to new levels.