BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Convio, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVO) today presented The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, with an Innovator Award in the Best Use of New Media category for its “Coming Out for Equality” Facebook application which allowed supporters of equality to use social media to express their support for the rights of LGBT Americans. All award winners will be recognized at an event tonight at Convio’s Client Summit, the company’s annual user conference where more than 1000 nonprofit clients, partners and industry thought leaders gather as a community to share common experiences and effective strategies for nonprofits.
“Our win confirms that social media has its place not only in this movement, but also in advocacy and in a nonprofit organization,” said Lindsey Twombly, associate director of social media and online mobilization at HRC. “To receive this award for the second year in a row validates the work we are doing, and serves as inspiration for our future plans to use social media as a key part of our recruitment and engagement efforts.”
HRC needed to create new ways for its audience to engage with the organization’s tools and resources around coming out as LGBT or in support of LGBT equality, as well as raise awareness around National Coming Out Day (NCOD). With these objectives in mind, HRC created a “Coming Out for Equality” Facebook application that allowed supporters of equality to use social media to express their support for the rights of LGBT Americans. The NCOD app encouraged users to donate their statuses sharing messages of support for LGBT equality, subscribe to HRC’s email list, and take further actions. This united online campaign maximized the impact of HRC’s yearly celebration and engaged an entirely new audience, many of whom were straight allies, expanding the organization’s community with a new, sophisticated, and multi-pronged approach.
The results from the Facebook application included:
- 12,000+ new followers on HRC’s Facebook page in two days;
- 125,000 people donated their Facebook status for equality, which resulted in ~16.3 million newsfeed impressions;
- 340,000 likes and comments in response to status updates;
- 6,000+ Tweets for equality sent through the application; and
- 117,000+ new email addresses, saving $200,000+ in new prospect list acquisition costs.
Six other nonprofits received Innovator Awards in categories including Best Overall Use of Convio, Best Integrated/Multichannel Campaign, Best Online Campaign, Best CRM Visionary/ Use of Common Ground, Best Peer-to-Peer Campaign, and Best Team Event. All Convio clients were eligible to submit for the awards.
"The seven clients recognized this year epitomize the meaning of innovation and are shining examples of true constituent engagement and how to maximize the value of every interaction they have with their supporters,” said Gene Austin, chief executive officer and president of Convio. “As the shift continues from traditional forms of engagement to a combination of traditional, digital and social channels, these organizations are on the front lines responding daily to the changing needs of donors, advocates, volunteers and anyone helping to advance their mission. We are proud to recognize their achievements and honored to support them in their continued success.”
For more information on HRC visit:
- http://www.hrc.org/
- http://www.facebook.com/humanrightscampaign
- http://twitter.com/HRC
- http://www.youtube.com/user/hrcmedia
More information on the 2011 Summit Innovator Award Winners can be found at www.convio.com/2011innovators.
About The Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
About Convio
Convio is a leading provider of on-demand constituent engagement solutions that enable nonprofit organizations to maximize the value of every relationship. With Convio constituent engagement solutions, nonprofits can more effectively raise funds, advocate for change and cultivate relationships with donors, activists, volunteers, event participants, alumni and other constituents. Convio offers two open, cloud-based constituent engagement solutions: Convio Common Ground CRM™ for small- and mid-sized nonprofits and Convio Luminate™ for enterprise nonprofits. Headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices across the United States and United Kingdom, Convio serves more than 1,500 nonprofit organizations globally. Convio is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol CNVO. For more information: www.convio.com