AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Georgetown University -- the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America and one of the world's most prestigious institutions of higher learning -- has "enrolled" Convio to update its Internet infrastructure for improving fundraising as well as outreach, communications and marketing to alumni.
The partnership between Georgetown's Office of Alumni and University Relations and Convio -- the leading online Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) company serving nonprofits -- comes at a time when the university is conducting the largest fundraising campaign in its history to secure its financial base for a third century of service to the nation and world. Goals include enhancing the services offered to alumni through hoyasonline, the alumni association's Web site, and also boosting use of the site by increasing registration from 20 percent to 95 percent of all alumni over the next three years. Convio will fortify the technology infrastructure supporting the Web site, constituent communications and the email system to generate and manage this new level of alumni participation.
Convio provides Internet software and services to help nonprofits increase their effectiveness in attracting, engaging, motivating and retaining constituents to provide funding as well as other forms of support. Convio serves organizations from all segments of the nonprofit sector, including a growing number in higher education. In addition to Georgetown, Convio also works with the University of Texas' alumni association, the Texas Exes.
"Integrating the Internet into alumni relations is increasingly important in today's world in order to communicate effectively with our alumni and friends," said Lynda McAllister, Director of Alumni Communications for Georgetown University. "We're hopeful that our enhanced alumni Web site and email system will enable us to do this more regularly, cost-effectively, and with relevance to a growing number of alumni in order to develop and maintain strong relationships with them."
Better Online Experience for Alumni
With Convio, Georgetown will be able to create a more meaningful and engaging online experience for alumni by providing:
- Richer, dynamic and personalized content on public as well as password-protected, alumni-only Web pages; - Valuable alumni resources, including online directories and class notes; - Easy-to-use Internet tools so they can wage their own class fundraising campaigns (no HTML knowledge is required); - Simple, quick registration, RSVP capability and ticketing for special events; and - Secure, automated donation processing including immediate gift acknowledgment and IRS-compliant receipts.
More Effective Fundraising, Marketing
Georgetown alumni professionals also will be able to:
- Automatically build profiles on alumni, based on each one's interests, giving history and other forms of interaction with the school and then use this information for more precise targeting of appeals, communications, etc.; - Personalize communications and appeals to alumni based on the information in their profiles to increase relevance and participation; - Conduct multiple, simultaneous online fundraising and marketing campaigns; and - Automate and more efficiently manage special events through online registration, RSVPs and ticketing.
"Georgetown recognized the need to build stronger relationships with alumni to grow participation, increase loyalty and foster philanthropy," said Vinay Bhagat, Convio's founder and CEO. "They see Convio as the leader in online Constituent Relationship Management, or eCRM, solutions for nonprofits, with a strong understanding of the unique needs of institutions of higher education."
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three campuses. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
About Convio
Austin-based Convio is the leading online Constituent Relationship Management, or eCRM, company serving the nonprofit sector. Convio's mission is to increase the effectiveness of how nonprofit organizations attract, engage and retain constituents to provide funding and other forms of support. The Convio(TM) software solution consists of six product suites: Special Events, eFundraising, eMarketing, Advocacy, Content Management, and Constituent Center. Using Convio, nonprofits can send targeted, personalized e-mail communications; conduct fundraising, membership, and advocacy campaigns; publish personalized and fresh Web content; manage registrations, RSVPs, ticket sales, and other event logistics; tap volunteers and their personal networks for campaigns; track constituent interactions; connect online systems to off-line systems (e.g., donor databases); and more. The Convio platform automatically shares data among all six-product suites, giving nonprofits a unified view of each constituent so staff can conduct more personalized and targeted marketing. Convio also provides services to help nonprofits adopt online marketing best practices.
Convio serves national and regional organizations in all segments of the nonprofit sector, including disease and disorder, education, healthcare, human services, advocacy, associations, public broadcasting, museums and other visitation facilities, and political campaigns. Convio's clients include Easter Seals, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, National Trust For Historic Preservation and KCET (PBS, Los Angeles). For more information, please visit www.convio.com.