01The challenge
D66 treats membership as a designed journey rather than a single transaction. People join for different reasons, from defending democracy to developing skills, getting involved locally or standing for office, and the party wanted that insight to shape everything from onboarding to leadership development.
The funding model had to follow the same thinking. Members needed to be able to contribute at different levels while sharing the same core belonging. And because Dutch political parties are required to identify their donors, every payment had to be tied back to the right member.
“We have donor clubs where people get memberships for maybe 300, or 660 euros, sometimes it goes up to 2000 or even 10,000 per year. One of the things we’ve become really good at is allowing flexibility: above a certain minimum people can contribute what they want.”
02The solution
D66 runs its membership sign-ups and donations on SmartRaise. SmartRaise manages every payment, renewal and upgrade, and syncs each one to the member’s record in NationBuilder, so the party has a single view of every member and their giving. The journeys were designed by the team behind SmartRaise around what actually motivates D66 members to join and give.
“We just ask them to fill the survey out from the moment they log in… The biggest reason people give is, I want to defend democracy... then political influence, self-development, local involvement, even becoming a politician ranks highly. This helps both us and the member, because it really feeds into our member messaging and experience, as well as our talent development.”
- Flexible giving above a minimumMembers can contribute what they want above a set minimum. Higher contributions subsidise broader participation, so everyone gets the same core membership.
- Donor clubs for committed supportersDonor club memberships run from around €300 or €660 a year up to €2,000 or even €10,000, all managed on the same platform.
- Upgrades and retention, handled automaticallyPayments, retention and upgrades are managed through SmartRaise, giving D66 both flexibility and financial resilience.
- Donor data linked to every memberPayments are linked to member records in NationBuilder, so the party can identify its donors as Dutch law requires without extra admin.
03The results
Combined with strong branding and storytelling, this design-led approach has contributed to 25% membership growth and helped underpin a strong performance in the 2025 elections.
On 29 October 2025, D66 finished first with 26 seats and 17% of the vote, its best result ever, according to the ALDE Party.
About this case study. This case study is adapted from the D66 profile in The Future of Membership, a report by Brand Response, the team behind SmartRaise. Quotes from Damien Storimans are taken from that report. Election results are from the ALDE Party’s article Liberals win big in Dutch legislative elections (4 November 2025).
