Get to know the new Management Team

In 2022, Kentaa became part of the iRaiser Group. A significant change for us, of which you noticed little in the day-to-day cooperation. Marc Schoutens and Carlo van Herwaarden stayed on as Kentaa's MT for the time being, and the rest of the Dutch team also remained essentially unchanged.

Behind the scenes, things have transitioned. After ten years, there was a change of guard on 1 January this year: Marc and Carlo no longer form our MT. However, they will remain involved in the background until the end of April.

Marc and Carlo have handed the baton to four familiar faces within Kentaa, with Marien Visser and Wouter Krus most visible to you. Marien as Market Manager Netherlands and Germany and Wouter as Product Owner of the Kentaa platform and Digicollect. Twan Maus and Peter Postma, senior members of our development team, manage the technical team and technical development.

With Marc, Carlo, Marien and Wouter, we look back at our rich past and forward to the bright future we see within the iRaiser Group.

In 2014, Kentaa was formed with a mission - to develop the best online fundraising tools and, in doing so, help charitable organisations achieve their goals and make the world a little better. Kentaa emerged from Mobillion, taking its first steps into the non-profit sector. "That turned out to be a very nice sector to work for and also gives your work meaning," Marc says.

"True, and we also saw much potential in this sector. The forms of fundraising for which we were going to develop tools (peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding) still needed to be used by charities. We were convinced that this would change by providing the right tools. It was exciting in the first few years. We went from a declining market focused on SMS services to a new market with our existing team. That's quite a switch, and that requires investing a lot."

Despite that risk, Kentaa has become the market leader in the Netherlands in recent years. According to Marc and Carlo, this is due to a combination of key factors.

"We had a very clear focus right from the start, from which we never deviated," says Carlo, "while doing so, we always thought from our customers' point of view. What they needed, and then we developed it very lean and together with them. That is, build, test, adjust, and test again."

"Also, in the development of our company, we took it step by step, from start-up to scale-up to where we are today. With our team, we have built and retained much knowledge," says Marc.

Over the past ten years, the industry has also changed. "When we started Kentaa, we still had to explain very much to organisations the use of action platforms, crowdfunding and event fundraising, and their potential. Now there is much more focus on these forms of fundraising. Thus, we see our clients achieving greater and greater success using our tools."

Kentaa has mostly stayed the same thanks to its sharp focus but has grown tremendously with trends and developments.

When asked what they are most proud of, Marc and Carlo find it hard to give just one answer: "A huge milestone was the moment we broke even. The moment that, after investing for a long time, we became a healthy company. I am proud of that," Carlo appoints.

This went hand in hand with our customers' successes. Marc stresses: "The moment 25 million was raised with our platforms, for example, or the enormous successes of Hersenstichting with Digicollect, BuurtAED and Amsterdam City Swim. What I am also proud of is the great loyalty of our customers to us. And, of course, it's incredibly cool to see that our product is now being used all over Europe!!!"

During the COVID-19 crisis, it also proved how resilient Kentaa and the industry are. "With our customers, we switched gears at lightning speed then and expanded Digicollect. This ensured we could partly cushion the impact of cancelled fundraising events."

Marc and Carlo hope that their work at Kentaa has enabled charities to meet and exceed their targets and that their original mission of making the world a little better has succeeded. Marc: "I also hope we have helped the sector with the necessary innovation in their fundraising strategy. To maintain and grow revenue levels and reach new audiences." Carlo agrees.

As they are leaving Kentaa, they have some tips for their successors:

"Stay nice and stubborn when it comes to development. While doing so, also maintain your vision well!"

Marc reiterates the importance of our customers' relationships: "Invest in that relationship. Listen to their issues and challenges and help them achieve success with our tools. That way, you can build long-term relationships with your customers."

A look to the future with Marien Visser and Wouter Krus

The baton has been handed over. Marien and Wouter take their place in the MT but are familiar faces within Kentaa. How was that again?

Wouter has had the longest journey within Kentaa. He started at Mobillion as a graduate student and thus knows Kentaa, the platforms and the team like no other. He graduated in design, became a designer, and has focused on testing our platforms in recent years. He has also played an essential role in coordinating product development as Product Owner. So the role of Product Owner Community Fundraising Platform (Kentaa platform) and Digicollect within the iRaiser Group is also a logical next step.

"In this role, I monitor the continued development of our platforms, make sure we can reflect our vision in them, and ensure the quality of the product." He works closely with iRaiser's CCO, Simon Romain, to ensure that we build the best product for all our customers, in the Netherlands and abroad. "In doing so, I think it is important that the platforms are easy to use (intuitive) and pleasant to work with so that the user easily achieves their goals."

Marien, too, is no stranger. He started as a Sales Consultant when Kentaa had only a handful of customers and saw the company and the industry grow thanks to great platforms with exceptional time to market. After five years, he became Sales and Marketing Manager, but after two years, he still took on a new challenge outside Kentaa. So, he worked for Hubspot implementation partner Bright and for Adwise but stayed in touch with Marc.

With the acquisition by iRaiser in 2022, he returned with an eye on a management role. "That was an exciting move with a lot of responsibility, but always staying within your comfort zone is an ambition killer, so I accepted the challenge."

Under the wings of Marc, who remained managing director for two more years, Marien got used to a role as Market Manager in the Netherlands and Germany and the baton was handed over to him bit by bit. "In the time I was away, a lot changed, but also a lot remained the same. The culture within Kentaa was still as good as ever." Within the Kentaa team, Marien manages the Marketing, Sales, Support and Administration departments.

What did both men learn from their predecessors? "In terms of product development, I learned that it is important to stick to your vision. You have to listen carefully to customers and find out the challenges behind their product requirements. Often, the customer has already come up with a solution, but I see it as my job to find out what the end goal is and, in doing so, come up with the best solution that also benefits all our customers," Wouter says.

Marien has learned from Marc's management style and hopes to learn from it. "Marc has created an accessible culture with his open style, which I also feel comfortable with. This is something I would like to continue. Marc has also taught me how important it is to reason from the outside in, keeping our customers in mind."

In recent years, many steps have already been taken to merge Kentaa and iRaiser, and this will continue in 2024. This mainly means an internal change. But: our entire team will continue to operate from Arnhem, and the Kentaa platform (CFP) product development and Digicollect will also remain in the Netherlands.

However, our teams are already working more closely together internationally. That is good news because it means that with our joint knowledge, we can build even better products. The key pillars here are user experience, data, and links.

"By 2024, our software will be further rolled out internationally. That is an important basis of our growth ambition. It also has the advantage that experiences from abroad can improve and innovate our products," says Marien. I hope this will make our customers even more successful and see online fundraising even more as a strategic pillar."

He also has wishes for the Kentaa team: "With our team in the Netherlands, we will continue unabated to surprise you in speed and quality. So you can keep calling us on that!"

What do all these changes mean for our customers?

New perspectives on online fundraising. What can we learn from the UK, or what successful trends are there in France? In the Nordics, gaming for good is increasingly successful. With the ongoing integration between Kentaa and iRaiser, the international exchange of ideas is a daily practice in several areas. We firmly believe that this melting pot will lead to an improved product experience.

Is it just a good news show? No, with an acquisition come organizational challenges. A change like this demands a lot from the team. We are exchanging the familiar for a new, international future.

Whereas Kentaa has more than ten years of experience with an online fundraising platform, iRaiser has this in donation forms. We are impressed with the product's capabilities and finesse, and we see opportunities to also provide the Dutch non-profit sector with top-of-the-class donation forms. You are going to hear more about this!

If you have questions about the transition, plan a (digital) cup of coffee with Marien.