When Jan van Velthuizen started as a fundraiser and communications advisor at Adullam seven years ago, it was a new position within the organization. "It was time to make fundraising more professional. Having our own CRM to organize the fundraising branch proved essential, as donor administration was still being handled through an accounting office at that time," says Jan.
The care services are extensive; it provides day activities for clients, daycare for children in collaboration with schools, respite care to relieve parents, residential groups, and helps people with disabilities find jobs that suit them. The clients and their parents come mainly from the so-called Bible Belt and the Reformed denomination. Jan: "We provide care from an eternal perspective. Our mission is to establish a good and personal relationship with God, so that there is still a life with God after this life."
Gifts and donations: donor administration
Because the care is specific, a client may need to travel relatively far for Adullam's day activities, for example. These are additional transportation costs that the government does not reimburse, but which are funded through donations. This aligns with Adullam's origins, which started from church donations. Even now, a large portion of donations comes from church service collections, businesses, and working groups. Additionally, there are sales campaigns, and Adullam sends out their Contact Magazine quarterly to about 12,000 subscribers, most of whom are also donors.
Procurios' experience with donor management was an advantage for us. It also proved to be financially attractive, and we were drawn to its user-friendliness and ease of operation.
Before Adullam used Procurios' products for donor administration, much of the information was still in Excel lists. "If someone called with a change of address, it would go through a volunteer who managed a specific postal code area, to the accounting office. They would then be told, for example, 'Mr. Jansen has moved,' but it wasn't clear which of the five Mr. Jansens it was. All in all, it was an error-prone system."
Gebruikersgemak voor de administratie
Jan made initial contact with Procurios at the Fundraising Professional Day, after which the company was approached as one of four software suppliers. Adullam chose Procurios' fundraising products. "Their experience with donor management was an advantage for us, it aligns with fundraising. Additionally, it proved to be financially attractive, and we were drawn to its user-friendliness and ease of operation," says Jan. He also checked ChristenUnie's experiences with the software, as he had seen that the political party had been a Procurios customer for some time.
It's great that I was personally involved in the implementation. You become part of the team and you can quickly switch gears and adjust small things. Procurios is very approachable.
In March 2017, Procurios started with the building process. Jan personally worked alongside Procurios during the implementation to set up the changes, after which the system went live. "It's great that I was personally involved. You really become part of the Procurios team. You work together and can quickly switch gears and adjust small things. You get to know the organization quickly. Procurios is very approachable; during the sprints, you pick up the feeling that belongs to the company's atmosphere."
Clean up data
Met de livegang werden gelijk dubbele data uit het systeem gehaald. Jan: “Er heeft veel werk in gezeten om alles te stroomlijnen. Bij de import kom je altijd adressen tegen die je moet opschonen of die niet kloppen. We hebben toen direct een brief gestuurd naar alle contacten om hun gegevens te controleren. Daarbij kon men inloggen in het systeem zodat wijzigingen direct verwerkt werden.”
During the launch, duplicate data was immediately removed from the system. Jan: "A lot of work went into streamlining everything. During the import, you always encounter addresses that need to be cleaned up or that are incorrect. We immediately sent a letter to all contacts to verify their information. They could log into the system so that changes were processed directly."
With the IT update, the work process has become much more efficient. "What was previously maintained by different working groups in Excel lists is now processed directly in the CRM, which means it's immediately correct and significantly reduces the chance of errors. So when an address change comes in now, it's updated in the CRM at once," says Jan. Transactions received through payment slips, as donations via the website, or transferred from a bank account can now be easily processed in the donor administration system. "We can now immediately see if someone is already one of our contacts. If not, we create them right away. We also have insight into what, for example, an advertisement in the Contact Magazine yields for us." Additionally, the organization recently started sending a monthly newsletter. People can sign up for this through Adullam's website, which means new contact details are immediately entered into the CRM.
We have gained insight into what an advertisement yields. We can also now send much more targeted mailings and process new donor information immediately.
Thanks to the insights from the system, we can continuously suggest new steps and fundraise more targeted. "For example, we can ask employees who have left the organization to become donors. Or we can approach people who stopped donating two or three years ago one more time."
Clarity and Better Communication with Donor Administration
The switch to Procurios has, according to Jan, really contributed to clarity in the system and better communication with donors. "For example, when someone authorizes a quarterly donation of 10 euros, but during processing we see that this person is already donating 20 euros per year, we call to verify this. We now also record these contact moments."
Would you recommend Procurios to others?
"Yes, because Procurios' experience with donor management helps you with the setup; you don't have to figure everything out yourself. The package is financially attractive, and that's certainly important in fundraising. Additionally, we're drawn to its user-friendliness and ease of operation, and it's possible to expand further with website and webshop integration, giving you powerful integration."
