Convio Expands Open Platform Making It Easier to Reach and Engage Supporters and Share Data Across Software Systems

Austin, Texas (October 27, 2009) —

Convio today announced expansion of its Open Platform which is helping nonprofit organizations tap the power of technology and the Internet to better reach, engage and move people to support their cause.  The company is introducing Convio Web Services, a new set of standard interfaces for building client applications that retrieve and synchronize data with Convio. The company has also delivered several new APIs and launched a new developer version of its Open website which offers improved documentation as well as access to more than 60 APIs (application programming interfaces). www.open.convio.com

New Web Services
Convio Web Services are designed to empower clients and partners with the ability to implement data synchronization with external systems such as donor databases and also to provide external applications with flexible access to the data captured and stored in the Convio system.

”Convio’s web services has made it possible for us to efficiently and effectively help clients move massive amounts of data back and forth between Convio and Revolution Online,” said Gina VanderLoop, President & CEO, ROI Solutions.  “By embracing open technologies, Convio is helping to break down the barriers between systems and is making it easier to access and share data than ever before. The impact is great and allows clients to have up-to-date information in one place and provides better and more strategic marketing opportunities for our clients.”

Convio Web Services follow the SOAP standard, in which all messages between the client and server follow a particular secure XML format. In addition, all supported operations are described in a machine-readable document written in the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). The combination of SOAP and WSDL makes it easy to create Convio-aware applications with most popular development environments, including Java and .NET.

Convio’s Web Services will be generally available in late November. Information is available at the new Convio Open website: http://open.convio.com.

Advancement of Open APIs
An application programming interface (API) is the interface that a computer system or application provides in order to allow requests for service to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them.  Convio’s rich set of APIs empowers organizations to create custom experiences that result in higher activity levels and deeper engagement.  For instance, using Convio’s constituent API with a Facebook application, an organization can reach and acquire new constituents without ever taking the constituent out of the Facebook environment. Convio currently offers APIs to customize the  constituent management, donation, team fundraising, events and authentication experience, and now there are new capabilities offered through the API set, including:

• Designated Giving - Allows the organization to incorporate designated giving options into their custom built donation forms
• Flexible Sustainer Giving – Allows the organization to incorporate donor defined recurring giving schedule options into their custom built donation forms
• Participant Center – Allows the organization build a custom participant center experience for their race participants
• Address Book – Allows the organization to build a custom address book management experience for their constituents

"Convio’s open platform has helped nonprofits integrate with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media outlets in new and innovative ways to reach, engage and inspire people to support their causes like never before,” said Donna Wilkins, president of Charity Dynamics, a provider of comprehensive online solutions for nonprofits and authorized partner in the Convio Solution Provider (CSP) program. “With Convio’s APIs for fundraising, donor management and social media, we have been able to help organizations of all sizes to use video, mobile applications and other tools to more effectively customize and enhance the donor experience while achieving new levels of success. Our Boundless Fundraising application, for example, leverages Convio’s open platform and has enabled nonprofits to raise more than $8 million since the beginning of 2009 alone. As the Internet continues to redefine online marketing and fundraising, it is critical that nonprofits are able to tie their online efforts to fundraising, advocacy, donor and constituent relationship management systems if they want to fulfill their missions—open platforms like Convio make that possible.”

Charity Dynamics is one of a number of partners and developers that have leveraged the open platform to connect applications for the iPhone, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Payments, etc., to Convio’s online fundraising, marketing and advocacy platform. Convio’s open platform easily integrates to build solutions with Salesforce.com and other cloud-computing environments.

Client, Partner and Developer Resources
Convio has relaunched the Open website with a redesign intended to maximize the efficiency and value to the developer community. The site, http://open.convio.com, includes updated news, documentation, and examples that will make it easier for developers to be successful in their use of Convio’s open technology.

“Leveraging APIs, web services and excellent documentation allows us to create highly extensible and personal campaigns around Convio,” said Tom Camerlinck, CIO, Greenpeace.  “Having access to quality documentation around an open platform allows our developers to focus their time and effort on value added integration and applications. Our technical staff leverages the core Convio product to create and integrate applications that meet our unique needs and the unique expectations of our donors and other supporters.”

About Convio
Convio is passionate about helping nonprofit organizations use software and services to fulfill their missions. The company is the leading provider of online marketing, fundraising, advocacy and constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations. The company’s online marketing suite offers integrated software for fundraising, advocacy, events, email marketing and web content management, and its database system, Convio Common Ground™ CRM, helps organizations efficiently track and manage all interactions with supporters. All products are delivered through the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and are backed by a portfolio of best-in-class consulting and support services and a network of partners who provide value-added services and applications focused on the unique needs of nonprofit organizations.

Nonprofit organizations used Convio to process $777 million in online donations during 2008 — a 72 percent increase over 2007. Convio clients sent more than 3.1 billion emails to constituents during that period with an industry leading deliverability rate in excess of 95 percent. Charities of all types used Convio to power more than 3,500 web domains as well as complete 44 million advocacy calls to action.
For more information, please visit www.convio.com

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