ARCOS Technology Platform Quickly Becoming Industry Standard for Nonprofits, Advocacy Organizations
Posted on 02/21/2008 @ 05:07 AM
Plus Three reports industry's lowest fundraising transaction per dollar for improved ROI
Plus Three L.P., a New York-based online fundraising and technology company that empowers nonprofit, advocacy, membership, and political organizations to build successful online initiatives, today announced it has upgraded its ARCOS technology platform and migrated its clients to its robust ASP. As a result, Plus Three reports it has been able expand the products and services it offers its clients, adopt the highest service-level guarantees in the industry, and add best-in-class security controls that ensure customer and member data is never lost or stolen.
Plus Three has a track record of success that is unrivaled in the market today, having delivered more than 1 billion emails and raised over $250 million dollars online for its clients since 2004. Over the past four years, Plus Three has also helped its clients recruit over 12 million new supporters.
New Model, New Technology
Traditionally, organizations have used the Internet as a one-way channel to broadcast their message and gather limited feedback. Today, many organizations are taking a new and more expansive approach.
"The new model is to build a solid and identifiable brand that will spark grassroots excitement so that constituents become advocates of the message," said Juan Proaño, Plus Three President and Co-Founder. "After spending considerable time listening to our customers, we found that the industry is seeking new applications to accomplish this goal, but in a format that gives them greater access to real-time data and control to adapt marketing campaigns to often fast-changing conditions."
ARCOS 7.0 addresses the need for these tools. The ARCOS platform has long supported standard elements such as:
- Web content and digital asset management
- Targeted e-mail delivery
- Credit card payment processing
- List growth and CRM tools
- Real-time reporting and analytics
- Blogging functionality
ARCOS 7.0 introduces an array of new features including:
- Membership processing capabilities
- A complete suite of community-building and social networking applications
Plus Three's Vice President of Product Development Alice Lincoln says, "We built the ARCOS platform for enterprise-level organizations and are proud to today be able to offer the same cutting-edge tools and high level of performance to clients of all sizes – even those who may feel they do not have room in their budget for a high-quality, unified solution for their online and offline marketing needs."
To highlight ways organizations are using ARCOS 7.0 to solve business needs, Plus Three is launching an ongoing demonstration campaign that will showcase various ways clients are growing their member bases, establishing networked groups of online and offline supporters, pushing localized issues-based content to constituents, and raising millions of dollars online. For a demonstration of how Plus Three technology has helped clients such as Sierra Club, John Edwards for President, fashion company Rock & Republic, the United Federation of Teachers, and Primedia, please visit www.plusthree.com/demo today.
About Plus Three & ARCOS
Unlike most of its competitors, Plus Three does not charge per-email or per-transaction payment processing fees – thus enabling clients to improve ROI by performing targeted fundraising at the industry's lowest cost. The ARCOS platform also integrates easily with third-party and legacy systems, enabling unparalleled customization. The ARCOS platform is built using open-source technology, which provides three key differentiators clients value above all else: reliability, scalability and security. In addition, open-source technology is free from onerous licensing fees.
Plus Three Announces Partnership with PetitionThem
Posted on 12/19/2005 @ 05:07 AM
Strategic Marketing and Technology Company for Political and Non-Profit Organizations Expands Reach to Activists
Plus Three LP, ("Plus Three" or the "Company"), a strategic marketing and technology company serving major U.S. political organizations and non-profit institutions, today announced a strategic partnership with a leading provider of online petitions, PetitionThem.com. With this partnership, Plus Three gains access to PetitionThem's registered database of proven activists and grassroots political participants enabling Plus Three to enhance services to its stable of political, non-profit and advocacy clients. Additionally, UK-based PetitionThem, as the fourth largest online petition company in the world, gives Plus Three the ability to offer its core services to a much wider array of global geo-political, economic and cultural issue participants. For PetitionThem the partnership provides immediate access to the U.S. market bringing its leading petition services to local activists.
"Plus Three has helped clients break boundaries and use the Internet and related technologies to more effectively communicate with their constituencies," said Juan Proaño, Plus Three's president. "However, we know that for Plus Three and our customers to continue to be successful, we must continue to add services and solutions that enable organizations to communicate directly with their constituent base using a variety of methods to guarantee participation. Online petitions used to primarily focus on issues relating to the environment, but recently those issues have taken a backseat to political battles reflecting the polarized state of our nation. We are excited to announce this partnership with PetitionThem as it adds a service to our offerings that immediately benefits our customers."
Plus Three benefits with instant credibility and recognition gained from associating with one of the top petitioning sites in the world. Through PetitionThem, more than one million people have accessed the service to sign petitions and participate in local and national issues. This database helps Plus Three customers promote social change and effective policy change by leveraging the enthusiasm and voice of these activists. In addition, Plus Three gains access to an additional donor base for their clients that has indicated a willingness to participate in the political process and give money to causes. Following PetitionThem's practice of diligently protecting its members' information, Plus Three will only use that information when it has received expressed permission from a PetitionThem member.
"In the United Kingdom, PetitionThem has been tremendously successful at engaging and supporting people who are interested in social issues," said Roger Rowett, co-founder of PetitonThem.com. "For our members to participate in the increasingly global community it is important for us to have access to issues and organizations in the United States. We will continue to seek partners like Plus Three that open new markets to us and increase the effectiveness of our site."
About PetitionThem
Petition-them.com has been designed to take advantage of the potential world wide audience of the Internet. Usually, people who wanted to ask others to 'sign up' to a cause or campaign had to stand on street corners, or in shopping precincts. If the group had plenty of resources they could use traditional forms of media advertising such as newspapers, TV, or billboards. The limitations of standing on a street corner are obvious. One of the limitations of using other forms of media, apart from the cost, is that you can only promote your cause, you cannot actually get people to sign your petition. Petition-them.com offers all the advantages, with none of the drawbacks. It enables any person or group to advertise their cause in a responsible way, and allows people to sign the petition on line. The people who created Petition-them.com simply wish to offer this service in order that individuals can have a real voice. They are excited by the potential Petition-them.com has, and believe that the site can become a real vehicle for public advocacy.
Plus Three Enters Content Publication with Acquisition of Primedia Internet Resource Technology Group
Posted on 12/12/2005 @ 12:12 PM
Acquired Technologies Used to Publish More Than 300 Online Magazines
Plus Three LP, ("Plus Three"), a strategic marketing and technology company serving major U.S. political organizations and non-profit institutions, today announced its expansion into the publishing industry with the acquisition of the assets of Primedia Internet Resource and Technology Group ("PIRT"), a division of PRIMEDIA Inc. The acquisition includes the group's experienced leadership team, and the technologies used to manage more than 300 online publications. Additionally, PIRT executive Len Porcano joins Plus Three as Vice President of Technology, bringing his expertise in online content publishing and business operations.
With the acquisition, Plus Three becomes an immediate leader in online publishing technology. Included in the technology assets acquired are: Krang, the leading Open Source publishing tool; a Membership/Subscription tool; a centralized paid content platform; and PIRT ShuzaI, a tool for quick building of user data collection forms by web editors. Plus Three will fold the PIRT technology directly into ARCOS™, the company's successful and widely deployed constituent management platform.
"This is a major strategic advancement for Plus Three as we seek to expand on our leadership in online constituent communications," said Juan Proaño, president, Plus Three. "Over the past several years, we've leveraged our technology and marketing knowledge to virtually reinvent Web-based donor campaigns and constituency management with our work for organizations like the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry for President Campaign. With the acquisition of PIRT, we will extend our marketing knowledge into another high growth online category — publishing."
About ARCOS
The ARCOS software platform is built using Open Source, the world's most flexible and scalable software. Using Open Source provides three key differentiators that the company's clients value above all else — reliability, scalability and security. Open Source is also free from onerous licensing fees, enabling ARCOS users to constantly maximize the value of their investment while substantially reducing the cost of every donation. Built on this industry-leading open source platform is a complete suite of solutions that allow organizations to more effectively communicate with their constituents. The ARCOS platform is easy to integrate into legacy systems providing complete and reliable access to information and applications located on those systems. In addition, the Open Source platform enables unparalleled customization and enhancement.
Plus Three President Named Among Top 100 Hispanic Entrepreneurs in 2005
Posted on 12/05/2005 @ 12:20 PM
Juan Proaño Recognized by Hispanic Trends Magazine For His Company's Groundbreaking Fundraising and Constituency Management Work
Plus Three LP, ("Plus Three" or the "Company"), a strategic marketing and technology company serving major U.S. political organizations and non-profit institutions, today announced that Co-founder and President Juan Proaño of Plus Three was named among the top 100 Hispanic entrepreneurs in the United States by Hispanic Trends Magazine. As president of Plus Three, Juan has improved the way progressive organizations build constituent groups and fundraise by giving them immediate access to the widest array of contributors. Over the last 10 years he has developed a level of expertise in the areas of product development, strategic marketing and software integration that have produced industry leading technologies and best practices in the fields of database marketing, email delivery technologies and fundraising efforts. Most recently Plus Three's fundraising tools have helped non profit organizations like the NAACP raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims.
"It is an honor to be considered one of the top Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the United States," said Proaño. "I am proud to be among the list of successful professionals who have driven positive change in Hispanic communities and in the business world, but prouder still of the hard work and dedication exhibited by every member of the Plus Three team who is committed to the success of this company."
Plus Three's extensive work with customers like the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, John Kerry for President, NAACP and the AFL-CIO has established the company as experts in online fundraising, constituency management and the political landscape. The company gained national attention last summer and fall for their breakthrough work building the Democrat's database of registered voters, Demzilla, and providing the technology that enabled the Democrats to dominate the Republicans in online fundraising.
Today, Plus Three is expanding into the online publishing industry with the acquisition of Primedia Internet Resource and Technology Group ("PIRT"), a division of Primedia Inc. With the acquisition of PIRT, Plus Three has become an immediate leader in online publishing technology.
Plus Three Strengthens Executive Team With New COO and Vice President of Technology
Posted on 11/07/2005 @ 05:30 AM
Thomas Burke and Len Porcano Will Guide Company Through Next Growth Phase
Plus Three LP, ("Plus Three" or the "Company"), a strategic marketing and technology company serving major U.S. political organizations and non-profit institutions, today announced that Thomas Burke has joined the company as COO and Len Porcano as VP of Technology. The additions to the executive team come as Plus Three expands its customer base and product feature set. Both additions are effective immediately with Thomas joining the company in Plus Three's Washington D.C. offices and Len in the company's New York location.
"Thomas' deep political roots and technology background, and Len's expertise in online content publishing and business operations, are great assets for Plus Three that enable us to expand our customer base while enhancing the services and solutions current customers rely on," said Juan Proaño, president and co-founder of Plus Three. "The next six months promise to be an exciting time for Plus Three and the additions of Thomas and Len are instrumental to the next growth phase of our company."
Thomas Burke has been building technology solutions for twenty-five years. His early work in database applications included modeling and chemical weapon simulations for the US Air Force and database applications at the Federal Integrated Quality Control (FIQC) system. Burke worked on the 92 Clinton campaign, and subsequently accepted a position at the Clinton White House doing targeted marketing using Census and commercial data.
After leaving the White House, Burke spent ten years in the private sector, first as co-founder of a leading regional ISP in Baltimore/Washington, then as lead developer for Bigfoot Interactive, now part of Alliance Data Systems. In 2001, Burke returned to politics as the principle architect of the Democratic Party's Datamart. Burke and his team spearheaded the DNC's change from high dollar fundraising to low-dollar fundraising, led by online initiatives.
Prior to joining Plus Three, Len Porcano spent a combined six years at About.com and Primedia before and after the merger between the two companies. At About, Porcano architected one of the largest migrations from Microsoft NT/IIS to an open source platform. This reduced the hardware footprint by approximately 60 percent while increasing capacity more than 300 percent, a key factor in About's continued growth at a critical time in its history. Following the merger, Porcano was made VP of Development at the newly formed PIRT group. While there, he was instrumental in executing PIRT's goal of reducing Primedia costs and consolidating most of Primedia's web properties on a single technology platform.
