KWF Dutch Cancer Society

From caring for a loved one to receiving a diagnosis, all our lives will be touched by cancer at some point. Thanks to pioneering research, the prognosis for cancer patients is getting better all the time. But there’s still more work to be done, and the Dutch Cancer Society, KWF, is helping it happen faster. “We want to mobilise the whole of the Netherlands to ensure fewer people are diagnosed with cancer and enable better cures and treatments,” said Bas Brand, Chief Marketing Officer for KWF.

The nonprofit already has 80,000 volunteers and almost one million donors – and it wants to ensure each one of them are provided with the best supporter experience. From personalising interactions to simplifying fundraising, KWF uses Salesforce to enrich supporter relationships and encourage greater engagement. Thanks to its trailblazing adoption of digital technologies, KWF is the first nonprofit in Europe to embrace an entirely cashless door-to-door collection process. And the results have been phenomenal.

KWF raises around €150 million a year – and it wants to ensure as much money as possible goes towards funding cancer research and education programmes. “We’re a small organisation. We need to maximise our resources and impact by enabling greater simplicity, visibility, and efficiency,” said Brand. Despite being a small organisation, KWF has a big remit. During its annual collection week, it mobilises 80,000 volunteers to walk door-to-door in a nationwide donation drive across the Netherlands.

With more people embracing cashless transactions, KWF needed to transform its approach to collecting funds with digital technologies. But this was just one of many challenges facing the organisation. It also wanted to create a unified view of its supporters to gain a deeper understanding of their motivations and interactions. “We want to build authentic relationships,” said Brand. “We can’t beat cancer alone; we need to engage with more volunteers and donors to achieve our mission.”

Fragmented marketing and engagement systems prevented KWF from connecting different data sources and tapping into supporter insights. And the nonprofit needs these insights to achieve its vision for hyper-personalised digital experiences. “With real-time data, we can take smarter decisions and make stronger connections. It’s critical to our success,” said Brand.

KWF has been using Salesforce since 2017 to unify its teams, processes, and insights. “Centralising our operations on a single platform has increased efficiency and agility,” explained Marloes Klaasen, IT Lead. “With Salesforce, we can realise the potential of connected data to deliver connected experiences and be proactive with our engagement of supporters.”

Supporter records are captured in Sales Cloud, which automatically sends a message to acknowledge donations and its impact on reducing cancer and living a better life with cancer in the Netherlands. KWF harnesses this data to power personalised supporter journeys, which are curated and distributed with Marketing Cloud. “With Salesforce, we can tap into automated workflows and supporter analytics to achieve personalisation on a massive scale,” commented Brand.

KWF has also transformed the supporter experience through its use of Service Cloud, which enables the donor care team to respond to queries faster and easier.

KWF’s trailblazing adoption of digital technologies hit a new high with its fundraising app, which was developed with support from the Salesforce Supernova programme. The app, which was built in just 16 weeks using Experience Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Marketing Cloud, has removed not only cash but also the complexities faced by KWF during collection week. “The app eliminates the need to distribute physical boxes, register volunteers, assign streets, and deposit cash,” explained Mara Zirschky, who co-ordinates door-to-door collections for KWF. “It’s now easier for people to stand with us and be against cancer for life.”

KWF’s first cashless collection week was a resounding success. “I can now collect donations either on the doorstep or by sending an online request,” said Bridget, a volunteer with KWF. “I can see how much I’ve raised, which encourages me to try to hit an even higher target.” The fundraising app is just one element of the digitalisation success story at KWF.

It also wants to further enrich the supporter experience with Customer Data Platform. “By establishing a 360-degree view of our donors and volunteers, we can hyper-personalise every interaction on every channel,” commented Brand. “It will enable us to be more transparent about our impact.” As KWF digitalises more experiences and unifies more datasets, it will be able to unlock new insights and new opportunities that advance its mission. “With Salesforce, we can help more people enjoy a better life with and without cancer,” concluded Brand.

KWF Dutch Cancer Society has been successfully empowering every individual to act against cancer in the Netherlands since 1949. KWF is dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients through research, prevention and better care for patients and their families.