Rosalie Vaarten, fundraiser at the foundation, tells the story of a couple who sailed with them last year. The husband was already quite frail, but their wish came true. A dedicated care volunteer was on hand for them throughout the trip. Whenever they moored, the wife could explore the town with two volunteers while her husband rested on board. They enjoyed every moment. A few weeks after returning home, the husband passed away.
"We later received the funeral announcement," Rosalie says. "On it was a request to everyone attending the funeral to bring a small contribution for our foundation, because they were so grateful for the wonderful time they'd been able to share on board." The wife has since become a volunteer with Vakantieschip herself, together with her sister-in-law. "I always find that such a special story. It shows just how valuable what we do for our guests really is."
Who is Vakantieschip?
Het Vakantieschip (The Vacation Ship) is a foundation that has been organizing sailing holidays for people with care needs or disabilities for more than 50 years. On the Prins Willem-Alexander, a fully adapted ship with accessible facilities, guests who use mobility aids such as a wheelchair or walker can also enjoy a carefree week on the water. Around 45 guests join each trip, supported by at least 30 volunteers: a care team, a facilities team, and a nautical volunteer. Care is therefore always close at hand.
Excel wasn't cutting it anymore
When the foundation's own trips started in 2021, everything was still manageable. But as the number of trips grew, from 1 to 5, to 10, to 17, the way of working started to show its limits. "We kept our guest and volunteer information in Excel files," Rosalie explains. "That's not at all convenient when someone calls and you have to search through every document to find the right details. Or when there's nowhere to jot down notes that colleagues can also see." "We also had barely any insight into our donors," Rosalie says. "We didn't always know who had donated, which meant we couldn't follow up or thank them properly, even though that's so important with donors." The team knew it was time to take a step forward.
Step by step with Procurios
The Vakantieschip set out to explore its options. They compared several CRM systems and held conversations with different providers. In the end, they chose Procurios. "It was important to us that it would be easy to use ourselves," Rosalie says. "We deliberately chose to stay as close as possible to the standard setup. We configured the platform step by step and tested it together. Involving colleagues along the way meant everyone could keep up with what was happening." That turned out to be a smart choice. Because the foundation started from scratch, without an existing CRM to migrate from, they could immediately adapt their working processes to the system, rather than the other way around. The rollout happened in phases. "We started with Meetings & Events, because processing holiday registrations was our biggest bottleneck. By rolling that out first, we could link the sign-up form on our website directly to the CRM, so all registrations landed in the right place straight away." Donations followed next, to properly set up the donor side. And now the foundation launched the next step: a new website built in the Procurios CMS, also fully integrated with the CRM.
From WordPress to the Procurios CMS
The Vakantieschip's previous website ran on WordPress. Recently, though, the foundation switched to Sapphire, the website template for the Procurios CMS that lets organizations build and manage a professional website themselves. "We want the new website to become a fundraising platform too," Rosalie explains. "So that visitors who want to learn more about what we do can immediately move on to making a donation." Integration with the CRM is essential to that. Visitors signing up for a holiday, volunteers registering, donors giving something: soon it will all flow together into one system. That makes targeted follow-up and thank-yous a lot easier. In developing the new website and the broader fundraising strategy, the Vakantieschip is working with Deelstra & De Jong, an agency specializing in fundraising for social organizations. The contact with them came about through Procurios. "They help us think through how to set up the website so that a visitor really feels comfortable taking the step toward a donation," Rosalie explains. "From the donation page to the thank-you flow afterward."
First fundraising campaign in the works
The Vakantieschip is at the very start of its fundraising journey. Its base of individual donors is still small. For now, funding comes largely from funds, sponsors, and occasional major gifts. But that's set to change. The first real fundraising campaign is in the planning stages. And Rosalie is taking a personal approach: she prefers to call donors herself, to thank them and find out who they really are. "Those are always really lovely conversations," she says. "You hear what motivates people to support our foundation. And that ties in exactly with what Deelstra & De Jong tell us: showing genuine interest works. People are genuinely open to that." Alongside personal contact, the team is working on a dedicated donor newsletter that will go out a few times a year, so donors know where their contribution is going.
Growth calls for a solid foundation
Vakantieschip's story is one of growth. From a single trip of its own to seventeen. From Excel to CRM. From a static website to a fully integrated fundraising platform. That growth calls for a solid foundation. With Procurios, the foundation is building that foundation step by step. Just as they guide their guests: with care, with attention, and with an eye for what really matters.
