The donation campaign launched by Make-A-Wish Netherlands in December 2023 in collaboration with the daily TV show RTL Boulevard was a resounding success. The accessible nature of the text message campaign made 340 wishes granted and led to a new campaign in 2024.
Make-A-Wish Netherlands grants the dearest wishes of children with serious or life-threatening illnesses. These wishes have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of children and their families, offering them renewed strength and hope. Each wish is a carefully plotted wish journey that takes months of preparation and is made possible by generous donations. In December 2023, in partnership with RTL Boulevard and CM.com, Make-A-Wish Netherlands launched a groundbreaking text message donation campaign that exceeded all expectations.
Between December 4 and 8, 2023, RTL Boulevard hosted a donation action week for Make-A-Wish Netherlands. Viewers of the program could send a text message with the word 'WISH' to the number 7171. The donation week quickly became a great success. The stated goal was to make 200 wishes come true with the donations. The technology behind the donation campaign was provided by CM.com, which helped the action week run smoothly through the combined use of various innovative text messaging and payment solutions.
“It was a bit of a test for us how this action would go. At RTL Boulevard, there were still broadcasting opportunities that year during a Dutch holiday. It was difficult to assess how the campaign would catch on in such a week. You might miss a lot of viewers on a day like that,” says Miranda Vos, community developer at Make-A-Wish Netherlands. “But it became a huge success precisely in that week of holiday giving. At the end of the second action day, the target amount had already been reached, allowing us to raise the final goal of 200 wishes. With the amount raised at the end of the action week, 340 wishes could ultimately be realized.”
Vos attributes the success of Make-A-Wish Netherlands in part to the combination of the right attention in the RTL program and CM.com's thoughtful campaign design and technical expertise. Viewers of RTL Boulevard were invited to text the word “WISH” to 7171, which activated an automated text message response with a link to a donation landing page. On this page, formatted in Make-A-Wish Netherlands' corporate identity, donors could choose their donation amount and complete their iDEAL payment securely. A follow-up chat guided donors through additional steps, such as sharing their contact information, removing barriers to engagement.
This integrated approach ensured that every part of the donation process - from sending a text message to making a payment - was smooth and intuitive. The campaign achieved remarkable results, surpassing the goal of 200 wishes with as many as 340 dearest wishes fulfilled for children with serious sometimes life-threatening illnesses.
“CM.com has a wonderful triangle in place that brings together payments, text messaging and campaign pages - including Abbi-chat. These tools made the donation process incredibly easy,” Vos said.
The collaboration took place both on a technical level and in terms of content, Vos explains. For example, CM.com not only realized a landing and payment page in the corporate identity of Make-A-Wish Netherlands, but also gave advice on the use of colors for call-to-action buttons.
“In doing so, we had a dedicated point of contact from CM.com who not only kept us constantly informed, but also helped proactively throughout the process. It actually felt like we were connecting with a direct colleague with a 'blue heart,' as we call it here. We felt nothing but a close partnership in the weeks of preparation, but also during completion. That was really nice.”
The campaign not only achieved short-term results, but also laid the foundation for long-term donor engagement. Using CM.com's chat integration, donor data was collected to increase customer lifetime value. Donors were encouraged to join the organization's newsletter, which led to a significant increase in subscribers. Additionally, follow-up campaigns invited participants to become repeat donors or make an additional one-time contribution, further increasing the impact of the campaign.
The success of the 2023 campaign inspired future collaborations. In December 2024, Make-A-Wish Netherlands collaborated with Talpa channels, including SBS6 and Radio 538, for a new donation campaign.
“Of course, we are working closely with CM.com again in 2024, in exactly the same way as in 2023. With the difference that back then we deployed a TV campaign in this way for the first time and this year, due to the experience gained in 2023, it is running even more streamlined. We are confident that with CM.com's help we can get the most out of the campaign.”
Make-a-Wish uses SMS campaigns and landing pages for the first steps of the donation process.
All online donations are made through a CM.com payment page with iDEAL payments on the CM.com payments platform.
With the use of the CDP, Make-a-Wish is able to build rich 360° donor profiles and work data-driven.
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