CRM plays an absolute key role at Make-A-Wish

Make-A-Wish a non-standard charity

To outsiders, Make-A-Wish may seem like a 'standard' charity, if such a thing even exists. They receive their income from donations from individuals and companies, they work with many volunteers, and CRM plays a key role.

What truly sets this foundation apart is the purpose of the donations. Make-A-Wish fulfills the dearest wish of hundreds of children with a serious, sometimes life-threatening illness every year. The countless photos in their premises prove what that means for those children and their loved ones. By collaborating with a dedicated community of volunteers, healthcare professionals, and partners, Make-A-Wish creates unforgettable moments that have a lasting impact on the children and their surroundings.

A fresh start

Miranda Vos has been working at the Foundation since 2018 and has grown into the role of Product Owner. When the collaboration with Axelio, formerly Pixelzebra, began in 2019, she held a different position, but she knows why and how that started: "The previous solution was outdated, we were missing functionalities that we really needed, and the partner who implemented it could not realize those for us."

"So we had to start over," says Miranda. "That was easier said than done, as our automation is quite complex and we have specific requirements." Axelio presented themselves, convinced her, and they got to work. Together, they developed an integrated system where Social Matters, the solution specifically for charities, is central.

Wish Journey

The process from request to execution of a wish involves several steps. It is a carefully planned Wish Journey. Thought out together, written down, and executed to perfection. Miranda: "What many people don't know is that it's about more than that one special day. Every wish is 100% custom-made, which means maintaining contact with many different parties, planning, preparing, engaging volunteers, creating props, and much more. And that happens between 500 and 650 times a year. At every step in the journey, you need functionalities that you don't typically find in solutions for our sector, but do in ERP systems, for example. Fortunately, Axelio knew how to handle our requirements."

Exit Excel

Together, they started on their wish list. Miranda gives a few examples of the results of the collaboration so far: "For example, we developed a portal that makes it easier for our volunteers and ourselves to plan activities. They indicate their preferences, and we see who we can deploy when. Additionally, we now have a Wishmap, where the wishes of children can be seen on the map of the Netherlands. This allows individuals and companies to 'adopt' wishes. This gives us more opportunities to fulfill those wishes."

Solutions also emerged for smaller, legacy-like obstacles. For instance, personalized printed materials can now be sent to the printer in minutes thanks to an API. Miranda: "And we no longer communicate with our call center via Excel Sheets, but by securely sharing certain data in a controlled manner. They may seem like small upgrades, but when your processes have as many facets and branches as ours, every simplification is pure gain. Every step forward means we have more time for our core activities."

Collaboration

The collaboration is still going great, according to Miranda: "We work DevOps, and they are basically just part of our team. They understand our organization well and think along with us. For example, they will never come up with ideas that require enormous budgets. Their consultants know our organization inside and out.

"We have regular contact, and they also collaborate well with our other partners. They have already coordinated with the creators of our site, with a party like iRaiser (formerly: Kentaa), and with their colleague companies within the Axelio Group. I find it very strong when a party is so open to collaboration and does not try to do everything themselves. This way, we get the best of many worlds."

Moving forward with data

The aforementioned wish list has become shorter, but it will never be completely empty. Miranda: "The portal needs to be optimized and further developed, and at the initiative of our new colleague, a data marketer, we will analyze our data more deeply and use it more strategically."

And after that?

"Then new items will surely appear on the list again." Says Miranda, "We want to continue to develop and grow. We think it would be wonderful if next year we could provide 700 children with an unforgettable day instead of 650. And that this number can keep growing. Because that's what we're all here for: to create many beautiful memories for children who can temporarily forget what's going on during their illness."