Church World Service, a nonprofit organization that works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice among the world's most vulnerable people, was presented with an Innovator Award in the Best Overall Use of Conviocategory for how effectively they take advantage of many Convio services and products to improve the success and efficiency of their online programs. All award winners were recognized at a ceremony last night at Convio's Client Summit, the company's annual user conference where more than 800 nonprofit clients, partners and industry thought leaders gather as a community to share common experiences and effective strategies for nonprofits.
"It is affirming to get this recognition, especially for our staff who work on our website and social media efforts day-to-day," explained Thomas Hampson, Director of Constituent Engagement at Church World Service. "Convio provides a reliable platform and their strategic services enable us to have an effective online presence. The ability to manage our online event participation, mission-based fundraising, ecommerce, social advocacy, social media, and constituent communications in a seamlessly woven solution has been instrumental to our success online."
Church World Service works collaboratively with Convio Strategic Services to constantly improve every aspect of its online presence. By exploring new and innovative avenues for constituent engagement, an 83 percent increase in list growth was achieved from 2008 to 2009. The following year, the organization experienced year-over-year online fundraising growth of 171 percent. When disaster struck in Haiti in early 2010, Church World Service took full advantage of the Convio online tools and strategic consulting services to quickly and effectively raise money and awareness for people in need. Social media functionality from various sites, including Facebook and Twitter, extended the organization's reach significantly. Facebook, when combined with Convio TeamRaiser, has also proved to be a valuable fundraising channel for Church World Service's CROP Hunger Walk program, which achieved 23 percent year-over-year growth in online income in 2009, despite the economic downturn.
Thirteen other nonprofits received Innovator Awards and were recognized in categories including Best Email Communications, Best Integrated Marketing Campaign, Best List Growth, Best Website, Best Online Fundraising Campaign, Best Advocacy Campaign, Best Special Events Fundraising, Best Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, Best Use of New Media, Best Use of Convio Open, Common Ground CRM Visionary, and Applying CRM to Manage Your Mission. All Convio clients were eligible to submit nominations for the awards.
"This is an impressive group of winners that embrace the idea of innovation and exemplify this year's Summit theme of No Boundaries," said Gene Austin, CEO of Convio. "We are privileged to honor some of the brightest minds in the nonprofit sector today who are using technology as a catalyst to connect people with their missions reaching more people than ever before for the greater good, and very pleased to share this knowledge with the entire nonprofit sector."
For more information on Church World Service visit:
- http://www.churchworldservice.org
- http://www.facebook.com/churchworldservice
- http://twitter.com/CWS_CROP
- http://youtube.com/churchworldservice
More information on the 2010 Summit Innovator Award Winners and Finalists can be found at www.convio.com/2010innovators.
About Church World Service
Founded in 1946, Church World Service (CWS) is a global relief, sustainable development and refugee assistance agency supported by public donations, grants, and the partnership and contributions of 36 Christian denominations.
About Convio
Convio is a leading provider of on-demand constituent engagement solutions that enable nonprofit organizations to more effectively raise funds, advocate for change and cultivate relationships with donors, activists, volunteers, alumni and other constituents. For more information, please visit www.convio.com.
Contacts:
Convio
Jill Ward, 512-652-2602
jward@convio.com
or
Church
World Service
Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676
lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
or
Jan
Dragin, 781-925-1526
jdragin@gis.net