Gene Austin

Thank You

Nonprofit organizations, their staffs and supporters play an increasingly important role in shaping our world through culture, politics, science and more. Your efforts and those of your fellow nonprofit professionals make our global community a more diverse, healthy and opportunity-rich place to call home.

At Convio, I have the good fortune to learn about and see firsthand your many different  missions, the effects they have on individuals and causes and how your creative ways are impacting the world today. Each one of your stories is unique and each one is inspiring.

Here at Convio, our mission is simple: to help your mission.

Whether you are a Convio client, a frequent flyer on Connection Café or a reader of our research papers and guides, I like to think that we have a small role in your success.

On behalf of the whole Convio team, thank you for letting us be a part of your successes. We are grateful to have you as a part of our family and we wish a very happy Thanksgiving.

From Summit, To the Road Ahead

Earlier this month the Convio community – clients, partners and employees – took Baltimore by storm. With 1200 people and 70+ workshops, the sixth annual Convio Summit was an exceptional success.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many of you, some familiar faces, many others new. And to those of you who I did not get a chance to meet this year, I hope we’ll meet at next year.

Our conversations at Summit confirmed the need for integrated constituent engagement. The feedback you gave me told me that yes, Convio Luminate and Common Ground are on the right track. With continued investment in these solutions, we can help you move people around your cause and affect change. I’m excited and hope you are too.

The video below is a quick look into our joint successes and the road ahead. With your feedback we can build on this foundation and develop solutions, meaning both software and service offerings, that meet your needs. Thanks for joining us at Summit and I look forward to working together toward a bright future.

See you next year at Summit, October 1-3!

Introducing Luminate

Engaging constituents is a challenging proposition. Constituents want to be engaged on terms they care about with messages that are tailored to them. To do that organizations have to employ a multi-channel strategy. That’s why Convio is introducing Luminate, a constituent engagement solution for enterprise nonprofits.

The video below explains how constituent engagement and Luminate can help you build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with all your constituents.

I look forward to hearing your ideas on Luminate and working together to fulfill your mission.

Thank you

Today at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference I attended the Convio affinity user meeting. My first impression was that both NTC and Convio have come a long way as the room was packed. Shana Masterson from the National Brain Tumor Society was the moderator and led the large session by breaking the group up for open dialogue. In the groups it was “all things Convio” ranging from best practices, product pain points and tech support challenges. I was pleased to hear about your successes and appreciate you bringing to light opportunities for a better client experience.
 
Listening to our customers is job #1 as CEO. I can’t think of a better use of my time than to hear what is on the mind of our clients as they use Convio to drive their missions forward. My thanks to Shana for organizing the meeting and to the many clients who took the time to provide feedback.
 
In addition to today’s discussion, I encourage you to use our other channels for ongoing engagement. The Convio Community, LearnCenter: Training, Facebook, Twitter and right here on Connection Café are all online forums available to you. Additionally the Convio Summit in October is an excellent opportunity for meaningful in-person discussion.
 
On behalf of the Convio team, thank you again for your ongoing feedback. We look forward to enhancing our products and services, ultimately empowering you to reach your organization’s full potential.
 
Keep the cards and letters coming!

Innovation is alive and well

My “batteries” are almost back to 100 percent after the Convio Summit. What a fantastic week with our clients and partners. I mentioned in my “chat” with the crowd at the opening session that the innovation in the Convio client base is 10x what it was just a few years ago. Our clients are truly setting the pace for how the NP sector is engaging supporters and constituents in new ways. On NonprofitLive.TV I was asked to look into my crystal ball and tell the world what things look like in 5 years. I gave the best answer I could, but frankly, it is impossible to see that far ahead. Just comparing the work of our clients and partners at our Innovator Awards ceremony from two years ago is an apples to oranges comparison. They have embraced our Open strategy, our knowledge of the web and partnered with us on best practices and they still want more, which we intend to deliver. They have committed teams that are using the medium to motivate and drive passion out of their constituents that we haven’t seen before.

I am sure at the end of 2009 glasses of bubbly will be raised across our market in hopes that the tough times are in the rear view mirror and that 2010 will provide a return to growth in philanthropy. And yet, while times have been tough from a monetary standpoint, the Convio client and partner base has in many ways made 2009 a great year.

As we conclude our 10th Anniversary, I want to thank our clients, partners and the nonprofit community as a whole for your support, insight and acceptance of Convio - it has led to our mutual success. On behalf of the entire Convio family – thank you!