Blogs question Convio's choice of client
Howard Lake | 25 June 2005 | News
Online fundraising and campaigning software provider Convio Inc has been the subject of heated discussions on a range of blogs concerning its client the Alliance for Marriage.
Convio rose to prominence after it helped Democrat Howard Dean raise millions of dollars online and recruit and marshall a large number of volunteer activists. It’s acceptance of Alliance for Marriage as a client has therefore been questioned by some bloggers, given the AFM’s proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman, outlawing same-sex marriage.
Kate Kaye at Personal Democracy Forum lists the Eschaton, Americablog and Daily Kos blogs as featuring criticisms of Convio’s willingness to work with AFM. Some called for a boycott of Convio.
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Kaye quotes Convio’s CEO Gene Austin as admitting that “in markets that are emerging like ours these are the types of issues that are going to pop-up. It’s a grey area for our market right now.”
However, Austin stood by the company’s “Right To Be Heard Policy” which explains that “we believe that all nonprofits conducting their business in a legal manner have a right to be heard.”
The ‘blogstorm’ was generated after the issue was covered in the Washington Post.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.