Software/Technology

Convio announced a strategic partnership to integrate e-mail marketing from Constant Contact with Convio Common Ground CRM™. The integration is designed to help small and mid-sized nonprofits create, grow and maximize the value of relationships with donors, volunteers and other constituents. The combination of Convio Common Ground and Constant Contact Email Marketing offers small and mid-sized charities an affordable, easy-to-use solution to reach, inspire and move people to support their cause and manage relationships. Convio will also become a member of Constant Contact’s AppConnect partner program.

Convio introduced new features and enhancements for Convio Common Ground™ that help nonprofit organizations raise funds and manage and support their constituent relationship programs. Additionally, donors, volunteers and other supporters now have the ability to enter and update their own information, print gift receipts, update recurring gifts and manage the date that gifts are charged to their credit cards.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America is turning to 21st-century social media, including Twitter, to garner support for its mission. The organization wants to shed its “swim and gym” image and focus on its state-of-the-art technology offerings for students. Its principal supporters are mothers and other women, so it plans to appeal to them by holding its first Twitter party on Tuesday to spread word of its Club Tech centers, which provide computers, software and technology instruction.

Blackbaud announced that the Boy Scouts of America — one of the nation’s largest, most prominent values-based youth development organizations — has chosen Blackbaud CRM software as the platform for its constituent relationship management efforts. Blackbaud CRM software will assist the BSA as it moves to a cutting-edge IT infrastructure offering an improved experience for its members and greater administrative efficiencies.

Some people may see an economic downturn as a bad time to launch a business. But David Blyer saw a real need and opportunity.

That’s why he launched DonorCommunity, a company offering a Web-based platform that helps nonprofit organizations expand donor bases, increase fund-raising efficiency, generate awareness and reduce costs. Blyer’s plan won first place in the Business Plan Challenge Community Track.

Charities are embracing the cloud, with almost three times as many charities using some form of software as a service (SaaS) as two years ago, according to the Charity IT Survey 2011.

17 percent of respondents said they use at least one SaaS solution, up from 12 percent in 2010 and 6 percent in 2009.

14 percent said they didn’t but were considering it, and just 5 percent said they had considered it but decided against it.

Blackbaud announced that Vancouver Foundation has chosen the Blackbaud Community Foundation Solution to provide enterprise-level community foundation management. With more than 1,400 funds, and assets of almost $750 million, Vancouver Foundation is Canada’s largest community foundation, investing in communities since 1943. Since that time, in partnership with its donors, Vancouver Foundation has distributed more than $830 million to innovative projects and programs throughout the province.

eBay has been acquiring companies left and right recently and now is announcing the acquisition of yet another startup (this time a nonprofit) — MissionFish.

MissionFish has actually been powering eBay’s Giving Works program, which allows sellers to donate items and proceeds from sales to charitable causes and enables buyers to donate to these causes. MissionFish — an independent nonprofit — screens nonprofits that want to become members, and processes the millions of dollars in donations that result through eBay Giving Works.

Sage North America announced Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ) in Portland, Ore., has experienced a 276 percent increase in online giving using Sage Fundraising Online, Sage’s flexible fundraising and event registration connected service, with Sage Payment Services for donation processing from Sage Payment Solutions, Sage’s payments division.

Constant Contact, the trusted marketing advisor to more than 400,000 small organizations worldwide, announced that it has added new AppConnect partners to its rapidly growing program.

AppConnect partners delivering new integrations with Constant Contact include DonorPro from TowerCare, Softrek from PledgeMaker, and Donor Perfect from SofterWare. In addition to this diverse group, Constant Contact has also added Allegiance Software, FundTrack Software, and RaiseItOnline.com as AppConnect development partners.