Case: Johan Cruyff Foundation - Ultimate participant experience during a virtual event

They achieved exceptional results through matchfunding, company pages and the link between Kentaa and eRoutes.

Every year, the Johan Cruyff Foundation organises the Cruyff Legacy 14K, a running and walking event to raise money for the foundation's goal: to give vulnerable children the space to play sports and exercise. The event takes place on April 25, the birthday of the football legend in 'his' city of Amsterdam.

While the preparations were in full swing, in March 2020 the corona measures put a stop to the event. The run was cancelled and 2021 would be the year in which everyone would come together again during an extra festive edition. Unfortunately, the pandemic lasted longer than expected and a physical event was also not possible in 2021.

But the team of the Johan Cruyff Foundation did not give up. With creativity and entrepreneurship, they managed to convert the event into a successful, fully virtual edition by optimally using their Kentaa platform and also linking it to eRoutes.

Results of the Cruyff Legacy 14K virtual edition

Before we look at what has been done, first the why: the proceeds! Because that's what we all do it for after all.

In total, the revenue amounted to € 112,740,-. A great achievement and an exponential growth compared to the 2019 edition, which raised more than € 15,000 in donations via the platform.

This result has a direct relationship to the number of participants raising funds. The registrations for this virtual edition were entirely facilitated via the Kentaa platform of the Cruyff Foundation. For the physical event, the registrations were managed via LeChampion and participants could also create a fundraising page via the Kentaa platform.

Because this time, the registrations were facilitated directly through the Kentaa platform, participants were immediately asked if they also wanted to start a fundraising page. As a result, many more people responded to this call and became fundraisers. If 401 participants raised funds in 2019 (about 4000 people participated in the event), this number increased more than fivefold in the virtual edition. No less than 2,139 participants registered and received a sponsor page!

Virtual participants less motivated?

That sounds logical, creating a fundraiser is more accessible and therefore attracts more people. But are these people just as motivated to raise funds? And are donors just as willing to give for an event in your own backyard? Here, too, the figures surprise positively.

If we look at the average revenue per fundraiser, we see that participants raised almost € 5 more in 2021 than during the last physical edition.

Average revenue per fundraiser 2019 = € 32.99

Average revenue per fundraiser 2021 = € 37.53 

Moreover, a larger percentage of the registered fundraisers, actually raised funds. At the physical Cruyff Legacy 14K, 42% of the participants with a fundraising page, had at least 1 donation. In the virtual edition, almost half (48%) became active. So they were not less but more motivated to raise funds for charity.

Finally, if we look at the willingness of donors to sponsor someone to participate in the virtual Cruyff Legacy 14K, we see another growth. In 2021, donors gave an average of € 15.70. Almost € 2,- per donation more than the average of € 13,68 two years earlier.

Apparently, the Johan Cruyff Foundation has managed to turn the right knobs: recruit more fundraisers, activate more fundraisers to gather donations and increase the donation amount. How did they do that? The three assets that have been used are: eRoutes, matchfunding and business teams.

Alone and yet together thanks to eRoutes

It was important for the organisation that, despite the fact that people could not physically come together, the feeling of a great event would still be evoked. Thanks to a link between their Kentaa platform for online fundraising and walking/running app eRoutes, the Johan Cruyff Foundation was able to create this experience of togetherness.

With this link, participants could easily activate their participation in the Cruyff Legacy 14K in the eRoutes app on their phones. To create the feeling that the participant had to complete a course, just like in a physical running event, the app offered routes and instructions from the participant's location that suited the distance (1, 4 - 5 - 14 - 21 - or 42 km.) that he or she wanted to run. At the start and finish, a video of ambassador Frank Rijkaard and director Niels Meijer was shown, telling the participants where the proceeds would go and expressing their gratitude.

In order to offer an experience of a real event along the way, the participants were surprised with encouragement and personal stories from Johan Cruyff's relatives, such as his daughter and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. This was done by means of audio messages so that the participants could continue walking. Participation was possible through the app between April 19 and May 3, but the original event was on April 25. On this day, the participants were surprised with a live radio broadcast in which songs could be requested and personal stories were shared. The broadcast could be listened to via the app and made you feel like you were participating together, despite walking in different places.

De radio-broadcast

Afterwards, the completed challenge could be shared by the participants via social media and Whatsapp to stimulate more donations.

A boost from the main sponsors thanks to matchfunding

Another challenge was how to attract sponsors and give them visibility without a physical location. Of course, you can include logos in all digital communication, but that has a limited value. So innovative and entrepreneurial thinking was key.

In the matchfunding functionality of the Kentaa platform, the Cruyff Foundation found a way to use the financial contribution of their sponsors on the platform and use it as an extra boost for the fundraisers. Main sponsors AFC Ajax & OTTO Work Force donated €10 to each fundraiser and thus ensured a good start. This starting amount was immediately on the counter after a participant had registered (and thus got their own sponsor page). A nice surprise and motivation for the participants and a way for the sponsors to present themselves very directly and sympathetically. In other words: a win-win-win for sponsor, foundation and participant.

Companies (teams) facilitated online at the event

The third asset was recruiting business teams to actively participate in the run. This is an interesting target group for events. Business teams are competitive, see this as an interpretation of their CSR policy, have a large (business) network and usually raise higher donation amounts. The Johan Cruyff Foundation was one of the first organisations to use a Kentaa innovation for this: the registration flow for companies.

This functionality allows companies to easily sign up by choosing a business package. Business packages are a kind of online sponsorship packages based on a number of 'tickets' for the fundraising event. These places are purchased in one go and are then reserved for the company. At the 14K Legacy Run, these business packages ranged from 5 to 30 spots per company. The company gets a unique, "branded" page on the platform. Employees or business contacts can then claim their reserved spot via a unique company link. Just like other participants, they then receive a sponsor page, linked to their organisation.

The 26 participating companies and their business teams raised € 15,525 in donations with their teams.

A virtual event isn't that bad?

The numbers don't lie: a virtual event can be very successful. With a cool experience and many new participants. The virtual edition of the Cruyff 14K Legacy can certainly be called a success.

Nevertheless, the Cruyff Foundation will once again focus on a fully physical event in 2022. Because although a virtual event has much less impact on the organisation operationally, they still miss the essence and the real-life experience. Such as finishing together in the ArenA and the personal contact with the participants. With the physical edition, the Cruyff Foundation can also respond better to its partners and give a greater interpretation to this collaboration.

The organisation of a virtual event also involves a lot of work and costs, while it is much less "rewarding" for the team and the participants. And that is also worth a lot.

Would you like to know more about virtual or hybrid events and the possibilities of Kentaa or the link with eRoutes?

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