Our old MS Access database needed replacing. We were therefore looking for a new tool to support our membership administration and to easily send newsletters. This tool had to be closely linked to our website.

With some team members who each had knowledge of specific processes within the organization we translated our operation to the configuration of CiviCRM. We did this in blocks of several days (sprints) based on user stories about partial aspects, which we then set up and tested in CiviCRM ourselves. Fortunately, this was done under the guidance of the CiviCooP team, who kept both the progress of these sprints and the technical hurdles under control. And they also kept our feet on the ground. It soon became clear that we would start with the basic functionality and a lot of manual intervention, like before the implementation. During the first year of operation, we could then introduce innovations, such as online payment of membership fees, automatic reminder e-mails and invoices, etc.

CiviCRM is now the heart of our membership administration. It is connected to our website, to a separate learning platform, to the accounting package and to an external facilitation service. CiviCRM has largely automated a number of processes, leading to shorter turnaround times and better customer service. This, in combination with other factors, has led to an increase in membership and revenue.

CiviCooP has introduced us to working in sprints, using user stories. They helped us to select the right stories for a feasible, step-by-step implementation. Besides this project support, we could also count on their in-depth technical knowledge for configuration, customisation and migration of data. Today we continue to rely on CiviCooP to further develop our online services.