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’Hustle up the Hancock’ Fundraiser Celebrates Four Years of Online Success for American Lung Association


WEBWIRE

BALTIMORE--April 5, 2005--Kintera(r) Inc. (NASDAQ:KNTA):


-- More than $1 million has been raised online by Chicago event participants using Kintera’s Friends Asking Friends personalized websites and easy-to-use email system

-- Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference on Fundraising

Great heights can be reached when fundraising and the Internet come together. The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago (ALAMC) announced the organization has raised more than $1 million online since 2002 for its annual 94-floor Hustle Up the Hancock stair climb event using software provided by Kintera(r) Inc. (NASDAQ:KNTA).

The fundraising event, a vertical hike up 1,634 stairs at the John Hancock Center, was designed to raise money for education, research and advocacy programs aimed at preventing asthma and lung disease throughout the Chicago area. The event is Chicago’s most popular stair climb and has been promoted via newscasts to 14 million homes around the country.

Hustle up the Hancock was first introduced as a fundraising event in 1998. In 2002, ALAMC launched Kintera’s Friends Asking Friends(r) (FAF) fundraising service to enhance the online component of its fundraising strategy through grassroots marketing efforts. Each year, participants are offered personal and customizable websites and easy-to-use Internet tools within the main Hustle up the Hancock site at http://www.hustle2005.kintera.org to send emails to friends and family as a means to solicit donations.

The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago has been so successful with using Kintera’s tools, that in 2004 the organization dramatically reduced its offline fundraising element. Now, the association relies mostly on the Internet for registration and donations. It has saved thousands of dollars in printing and administrative costs.

“Through the use of Kintera’s software, we were able to know instantly the total amount raised throughout the campaign,” said Gina Schwieger, director of special events for ALAMC. “This allowed us to adjust our marketing efforts as needed. It also inspired donors and volunteers to increase their efforts and donate even more.”

Schwieger also said the Hustle up the Hancock event is seeing repeat participants who are becoming more savvy in their use of the online tools. Instead of the organization spending thousands of dollars creating expensive direct mail pieces, they now focus on educating participants on how to raise money online, which in turn, will help raise more money for their mission.

The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago notes the following results using Kintera’s Internet tools:

Office Max Hustle up the Hancock 2005 (as of April 1, 2005)

-- A total of $720,000 was raised in 2005 of which $638,228 came from 3,964 participants. Approximately $449,569 was raised online. This represents a 39 percent increase in online revenue compared to 2004.

-- Hustle up the Hancock participants sent a total of 11,980 FAF emails and raised an average of $161.

Hustle up the Hancock 2004

-- 3,652 participants helped raise $569,753, of which $323,840 was raised online. This represents a 50 percent increase in online revenue compared to 2003.

-- Hustle up the Hancock participants sent a total of 11,961 FAF emails and raised an average of $156.

Hustle up the Hancock 2003

-- 3,221 online participants helped raise $417,656, of which $215,192 was raised online. This represents a 944 percent increase in online revenue compared to 2002

-- Hustle up the Hancock participants sent a total of 6,986 FAF emails and raised an average of $130.

Hustle up the Hancock 2002

-- 2,034 online participants helped raise $22,772, of which $20,613 was raised online.

-- Hustle up the Hancock participants sent a total of 1,995 FAF emails and raised an average of $11.

The Kintera Sphere(tm) software platform provided ALAMC organizers with an unified system that includes event management, sophisticated email communications, registration services, secure and private online donation capabilities and advanced online solicitation and stewardship functionality.

“Since we began using Kintera Sphere, we’ve seen a complete shift in online versus offline fundraising,” said Schweiger. “In 2004 the association collected approximately $30,000 offline on event day. This year, we collected $21,000 offline on event day. It’s now becoming the norm to use online fundraising tools rather than walking door-to-door.”

“We’re pleased Kintera’s proven technology has consistently helped the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago to increase its fundraising success for the Hustle up the Hancock events,” said Kintera’s CEO, Harry Gruber, M.D. “Friends Asking Friends has shown time and again it is a powerful tool that can help a nonprofit reach its fundraising goals.”

To download a copy of Kintera’s Hustle up the Hancock success story, complete with results and charts, please visit www.kintera.org/HustleuptheHancock.

About American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago

Founded in 1906, the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago (ALAMC) began as the Chicago Tuberculosis Society. Today, the ALAMC strives to prevent lung disease and promote lung health through research, advocacy, and education. As a nonprofit organization, the ALAMC works diligently to provide regional leadership and funding for community-based health outreach programs.

About Kintera, Inc.

Kintera(r) Inc. (NASDAQ:KNTA) provides an online solution to help nonprofit organizations deliver The Giving Experience(tm) to donors - including giving convenience, financial transparency, feedback about the social impact of their gifts, and a sense of belonging and appreciation. Kintera recently launched The Giving Communities(tm) interactive website at www.kintera.org where consumers can connect with thousands of causes and organizations, and purchase the CharityGift(tm) card to give a unique gift that also supports worthy organizations with a donation to charity.

More than 15,000 accounts in the nonprofit, government and corporate sectors use Kintera’s “software as a service” innovations, including the Friends Asking Friends(r) fundraising program and Kintera Sphere(tm), an enterprise-grade software platform that provides a secure, scaleable and reliable system for customer relationship management (CRM), a web content management system (CMS), eMarketing and directed giving applications. For more information about Kintera’s software and services, visit www.kintera.com.

Kintera, Kintera Sphere, Friends Asking Friends, The Giving Experience, The Giving Communities and CharityGift are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Kintera, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements (including, without limitation, express or implied statements regarding the adoption of software solutions by American Lung Association organizations and other nonprofits) that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date hereof. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: our limited operating history; our history of losses; our dependence on increased acceptance by nonprofit organizations of online fundraising; lengthy sales cycles for major customers; our need to manage growth; risks associated with accounting for and processing large amounts of donations; the rapidly changing technologies and market demands; and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.



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