AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 18, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The American Diabetes Association (ADA) -- the nation's leading nonprofit health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy -- has engaged Convio, Inc. to step up use of the Internet for special events fundraising, increasing awareness about its mission and influencing public policy.
ADA -- whose mission is to prevent and cure diabetes, and improve the lives of all people affected by the disease -- is strongly committed to the individuals, families, and health care professionals who serve as the organization's volunteers, advocates, event participants and donors. With Convio, ADA will be able to strengthen relationships with and involvement of these constituents. Convio, the leading online Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) company, provides software and services that help nonprofits use the Internet to more effectively attract, engage and retain constituents to provide funding and other forms of support.
ADA joins Convio's growing health care clientele, including many organizations that host large special event series. ADA, which annually conducts more than 400 special events to raise funds and awareness, chose Convio for event management after piloting other solutions. Also, for more effective online advocacy, ADA now will use Convio, replacing the solution it had been utilizing.
New Online Tools for Special Events
ADA will use Convio TeamRaiser(tm), Convio's volunteer fundraising product, to manage walks and bike rides this year through initiatives that include:
-- Tour de Cure(r), the group's cycling fundraising series conducted
April through July nationwide. Participants solicit sponsorships,
or donations, to ride a tour route that encompasses everything
from a breezy 20-mile course to a grueling century ride; and
-- America's Walk for Diabetes(r), which is the ADA's special events
fundraising campaign, heavily emphasizing corporate team
recruitment and raising in excess of $12 million dollars annually
to find a cure for diabetes and support the organization.
"Convio will enable ADA to significantly improve relationships with and participation by volunteers, donors, advocates and other constituents, all of whom are at the core of our initiatives," said Rick Johnston, ADA's National Vice President, Constituent Relations. "We've found an online partner with a powerful and scalable solution that can keep up with our volume and pace. Convio also understands and can accommodate ADA's needs across the organization at both national and regional levels."
With Convio, ADA will be able to provide event participants with easy-to-use (no HTML knowledge required) Internet tools to:
-- Create their own graphical and engaging, personal Web pages
explaining why they are participating;
-- Send emails to friends and family to recruit them by providing
links to these Web pages where they can register quickly to
participate, donate and/or sponsor participants;
-- Keep their team members, donors and/or sponsors informed about
logistics, fundraising progress and more, before and after the
events with which they are involved; and
-- Maintain communication with their team members, donors and
sponsors after events to keep them informed of relevant
developments with the goal of converting them to sustainable
supporters.
ADA will be able to build individual profiles of event participants when they register online and provide information about themselves through Web site visits, surveys and emails. The profiles can be stored in a single database, which ADA can segment for precise fundraising and marketing campaigns.
High Impact Online Advocacy
ADA works on local, state and national levels to increase funding for scientific research on diabetes and protect the rights of people with the disease. With Convio Advocacy(tm), ADA staff will be able to create and manage an online "action center" so the organization can mobilize supporters quickly and efficiently to communicate with decision makers on legislative and other public policy matters. ADA will be able to send email alerts driving activists to the action center where they can send pre-drafted or customized letters to their lawmakers via email, fax or other methods. ADA also can use Convio for keeping activists informed and involved between "calls-to-action."
"ADA understands Constituent Relationship Management, and sought a strong partner that could help build a loyal support base," said Vinay Bhagat, Convio's founder and CEO. "Key for ADA has been finding a partner who could support its complex event fundraising requirements, scale to 400 events and also take the group's already strong, online advocacy efforts to the next level. Convio will enable ADA to cross-market advocacy participation to event participants and vice versa to drive stronger support."
About the American Diabetes Association
American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading nonprofit health organization providing diabetes research, information and advocacy. Founded in 1940, the ADA conducts programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, reaching hundreds of communities. The mission of the organization is to prevent and cure diabetes, and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. To fulfill this mission, the ADA funds research, publishes scientific findings, provides information and other services to people with diabetes, their families, health care professionals and the public, and advocates for scientific research and for the rights of people with diabetes. For more information about the association and diabetes, call 1-800-DIABETES (1.800.342.2383) or visit the Web site at www.diabetes.org.
About Convio
Austin-based Convio is the leading online Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) company serving the nonprofit sector. The Convio software solution consists of six product suites: Special Events, eFundraising, eMarketing, Advocacy, Content Management, and Convio Constituent Center(tm). Using Convio, nonprofits can send targeted, personalized email communications; conduct fundraising, membership and advocacy campaigns; publish personalized, fresh Web content; manage registrations, RSVPs, ticket sales, and other event logistics; tap volunteers and their personal networks for campaigns; track constituent interactions; and connect online systems to offline systems (e.g., donor databases). The Convio platform automatically shares data among the 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 throughout the nonprofit sector. In addition to ADA, Convio's health care clients include Easter Seals, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, National Foundation for Cancer Research, Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, the Devereux Foundation and Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Walks. Convio also works with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, National Trust For Historic Preservation, the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Exes and KCET (PBS, Los Angeles). For more information, please visit www.convio.com.