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The Cleveland Zoological Society's Web Site Pulls in Awards. The Cleveland Zoological Society's web site, developed by the Intersoft Group, Inc., wins awards over national campaigns. (Beachwood, OH - November 07, 2005) - The Cleveland Zoological Society's Online Membership Renewal System (www.clevelandzoosociety.org) has won two awards for their outstanding web site. The PR News' Annual Platinum PR Award, held in New York City, is highly competitive as they give recognition on the best practices in the PR profession. The Online Membership Renewal section of the Zoo Society's web site was named winner in the web site category beating out the Florida Orange Juice web site, the Federal Trade Commission (and its PR firm Ogilvy Public Relations), and Hampton Hotels. The other award won, the PRSA Cleveland Rocks Award, is an annual award, now in it's third year, given to PR professionals who have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness. The Online Membership Renewal System was developed by The Intersoft Group Incorporated (www.intersoftgroup.com), a web site development company based in Beachwood, Ohio. According to the Zoo Society, the web site's Online Membership Renewal System has contributed to more than $500,000 raised online since January 1, 2005. Since 2003, (when the site underwent its revamp) over $1.2 million has been donated through the web site, making it the fastest growing revenue stream for the Zoo Society. Not to mention that many members who once renewed via snail mail are now receiving erenewals (emailed notices) so that they may respond quickly online. As traditional mailed notices decline in popularity, this change in behavior will create a decrease in their expense line. They are planning on saving around $20,000/year in postage, mail house handling, and paper as well as other expenses. Preliminary results for erenewals indicate a 15 - 18% response rate, compared to a 12 - 15% rate for traditional paper notices. Additionally, more than half of all online membership purchases are new joins. This saved about $8/per new membership, as labor costs are not a factor. About 3.4% of online buyers made more than one contribution in 2000. By year-end of 2004, that figure has more than doubled to 7.2 %. The Zoo Society also has shown that online donations have increased more than 490% since the site was launched as an independent entity from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's web site. The Online Membership Renewal System that was developed by the Intersoft Group incorporates an e-mail system that sends a notice to members when their membership is near their expiration and offers a "Members Only" area among other features. The site was developed to allow seamless and easy, user-friendly functionality for the Zoo Society's patrons as well as the Zoo Society's staff. The Intersoft Group along with the Zoo Society's staff and design firm Nesnadny + Schwartz (who provided the site's graphics and templates) determined that a customized web site was necessary to allow online patrons a more streamlined method of purchasing multiple items at one time (memberships, event tickets, donations). The use of pre-programmed shopping carts and/or the less functional HTML forms would not be solutions that would allow their site to be as successful. "In our business we've seen that custom sites work best for companies and organizations. They are looking for a site to meet their needs. Pre-programmed shopping carts or other similar systems will not work for them," explains Joe Muttillo, Sales & Marketing Director for the Intersoft Group. "The investment in developing the site and its e-renewal system has been paid back several times," states Liz Fowler, Executive Director of the Cleveland Zoological Society. "And, that we've had such extraordinary results from its success is also very pleasing." About The Intersoft Group, Inc.
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