CliniClowns

What CliniClowns does

CliniClowns (Stichting CliniClowns Nederland) is a Dutch nonprofit foundation founded in 1992–1993 and headquartered in Amersfoort that delivers professional healthcare clowning services to sick children, children with disabilities, and people living with dementia. The foundation employs approximately 105 full-time, professionally trained clowns — not volunteers — who deploy an internal 'Health Care Clowning' methodology combining improvisational theater, play, humor, and adaptive contact. Services are delivered in nearly all Dutch hospitals with pediatric wards, plus psychiatry, rehabilitation clinics, hospices, special schools (via 'Speel je mee?' improvisation plays and 'Klein Zintuigen Orkest' sensory performances), daycare centers, home visits, and care institutions for people with dementia. The CliniClowns App extends reach digitally, providing monitored video calling and chat between clowns and registered children up to age 18.

The organization runs a multi-channel fundraising and revenue model. Individual donor subscriptions (minimum €2.95 per month) acquired via door-to-door canvassing firms (Activate Nederland, XS Direct), direct mail, telephone, and online channels form the primary income stream, with average donor retention of approximately 6 years. Supplementary revenue streams include corporate sponsorship and salary donation programs, one-time major gifts (notably a €1 million Postcode Loterij grant in March 2025), the Toet plush toy and Gouden Boekje merchandise line via the foundation's own webshop, Zuivelhoeve co-branded retail products, and recycling/clothing partnerships (Eeko at €3 per phone and €0.40 per cartridge; Climpex at €0.10–€0.13 per kilo of textiles). The foundation maintains ANBI status, CBF Erkend recognition, EFHCO quality label membership, AVG/GDPR compliance, and DDMA data marketing adherence. Of every euro spent in 2025, €0.72 went directly to mission delivery.

Name

CliniClowns

Legal name

Stichting CliniClowns Nederland

Website

https://cliniclowns.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

CliniClowns is a Dutch nonprofit foundation that employs approximately 105 professional healthcare clowns to deliver in-person and digital therapeutic clowning visits to sick children, children with disabilities, and people with dementia across nearly all Dutch hospitals, care homes, and special schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Clowning Services (Pediatric and Dementia Care)

NAICS

Ambulatory Health Care Services (621)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Outpatient Mental Health & Counseling Clinics (HLAFABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

School-Based & Community Women’s/Children’s Health Clinics (HLAFAJAO)

Keywords

• Healthcare clowning services
• Pediatric hospital visits
• Dementia care programs
• Therapeutic play interventions
• Charitable donation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Amersfoort

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations and Sponsorship: Recurring monthly or periodic donations from individual donors acquired through door-to-door canvassing, street outreach, online campaigns, direct mail, and telephone fundraising. Donors typically remain supporters for approximately 6 years. Of every euro spent in 2022, €0.73 went to mission work, €0.23 to fundraising, and €0.04 to administration.
2. Direct Charitable Gifts: One-time donations from individuals and corporate donors. Corporate sponsors support through financial donations, in-kind gifts, salary donation programs, and event partnerships.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded products including the Toet plush toy (€10.75, with €4.75 going to CliniClowns), figurines, bracelets, water bottles, clothing, promotional materials, and the special CliniClowns Gouden Boekje edition. Proceeds support the mission.
4. Recycling and In-Kind Partnerships: Revenue from recycling partnerships: €3 per mobile phone, €0.40 per cartridge, €0.10-0.13 per kilo of textiles collected through Climpex and Eeko partnerships.
5. Lottery and Major Grants: Major one-time grants such as the €1 million donation from Postcode Loterij (March 2025) funded by lottery participants. Also includes partnership revenue from product collaborations like the Boer'n Toet yogurt with Zuivelhoeve.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CliniClowns is a Dutch nonprofit foundation that employs approximately 100 professionally trained healthcare clowns to visit sick children, children with disabilities and people with dementia in nearly all Dutch hospitals with pediatric wards, psychiatric institutions, rehabilitation clinics, hospices, special schools, daycare centers and care institutions. Services are delivered through in-person clown visits, home visits, and a proprietary CliniClowns App for remote video contact, complemented by school programs (Speel je mee? and Klein Zintuigen Orkest) and healthcare professional training.

Product overview

CliniClowns is a Dutch healthcare charity organization operating a portfolio of therapeutic clown services for vulnerable populations. The core offering consists of in-person hospital visits, dementia care home visits, and a digital CliniClowns App for remote video consultations. These are complemented by school programs (Speel je mee? improvisation theater and Klein Zintuigen Orkest sensory performances), home visits for housebound children, and healthcare professional training. The organization also runs a merchandise line (Toet plush toys, Gouden Boekje books), recycling partnerships (Eeko), clothing collection (Climpex), and an online action platform for community fundraising. With approximately 105 professional clowns, CliniClowns serves children in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric facilities, and special education schools across the Netherlands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Research by Erasmus MC found that children accompanied by hospital clowns experienced less anxiety and pain during medical procedures than children accompanied by their parents.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• ZuivelhoeveflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 January 2026Commercial partnership launching the 'Boer'n Toet' yogurt (strawberry yogurt with granola and chocolate dragees) inspired by CliniClowns' mascot Toet. Available in supermarkets, Zuivelhoeve stores, and hospitals. A portion of proceeds goes to CliniClowns. Both organizations share a belief in the power of genuine attention and joy.
• Activate Nederland and XS DirectcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProfessional door-to-door and street fundraising firms that recruit new donors for CliniClowns. They operate on a no cure no pay basis and work with student fundraisers wearing branded red jackets or polos. These partnerships are critical to CliniClowns' donor acquisition strategy.
• Eeko ccc B.V.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRecycling partner that processes old mobile phones, tablets, cartridges, and toners. Eeko operates collection points, provides collection boxes, and pays a per-unit fee to CliniClowns (€3 per phone, €0.40 per cartridge). Approximately 10,000 phones/tablets are collected annually.
• ClimpexminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTextile recycling partner that conducts household textile collections and places collection containers. Climpex donates €0.10 per kilo (household) or €0.13 per kilo (collection actions/containers) to CliniClowns. Also handles corporate textile collection drives.
• European Federation of Hospital Clown Organizations (EFHCO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational federation of hospital clown organizations. CliniClowns is a member and has received the EFHCO quality label, which certifies compliance with strict artistic, financial, and organizational standards. The federation facilitates knowledge exchange on Health Care Clowning.
• Stichting Kind en ZiekenhuisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the 'De Kunst van Contact' symposium held in May 2025, bringing 200 healthcare professionals together to explore the importance of genuine contact in pediatric care.
• HAN University of Applied SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership during the Rijnstate pilot (March 2025) where two HAN students, under the supervision of a CliniClowns researcher, measured the effects of extra clown presence on young patients.
• TekenfundminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner managing the Art4CliniClowns web shops where children sell artwork through personal online stores. Tekenfund handles payments and transfers proceeds to CliniClowns within 5 working days after the campaign ends.
• Rubinstein UitgeverijminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher of the special CliniClowns edition of the Gouden Boekjes (Golden Books) series titled 'Op zoek naar Mila's lach', written by Mark Haayema and illustrated by Marijke Klompmaker.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hearts & Minds: Scottish hospital clown charity (formerly Clydebuilt) deploying professional 'clown doctors' to children's hospitals and adult healthcare settings across Scotland and the UK. Compares directly on workforce, hospital-based service delivery, and dementia-care extension.
• Le Rire Médecin: French healthcare-clown charity founded in 1991 that places professional clowns in pediatric wards of French hospitals. Closest direct peer to CliniClowns in mission, professional employment model, and hospital partnerships, with comparable EFHCO membership and donor-funded economics.
• Dr. Clown Foundation: Canadian therapeutic-clown organization delivering professional clown visits in pediatric hospitals and elder care facilities in Quebec and beyond. Direct peer on healthcare clowning methodology, professional workforce, and donor-funded operations.
• Theodora Children's Charity: Swiss-founded international organization that sends professional 'dream doctors' to visit sick children in hospitals across multiple European countries. Directly comparable in its professional-clown model, hospital integration, and donor-funded delivery model.
• Big Apple Circus Clown Care: US program placing trained clowns in pediatric wards across New York metropolitan hospitals. Operates under the same professional-clown-in-hospital model with multi-employer hospital partnerships and donor funding.

Others

• Ronald McDonald House Charities: International charity supporting families of seriously ill children near hospitals. Adjacent in mission (child healthcare experience) and Dutch/Northern-European donor market, but focused on family accommodation rather than direct therapeutic interaction with children.
• Make-A-Wish Foundation: Global charity granting wishes to critically ill children. Operates in the same Dutch donor market under comparable fundraising mechanics (door-to-door, events, corporate partners) and serves an overlapping beneficiary base, but with a fundamentally different intervention model.
• Starlight Children's Foundation: US/international charity addressing the emotional and social needs of seriously ill children through hospital programs. Adjacent mission (wellbeing of hospitalized children), different delivery model (programs, grants, entertainment technology), making it a thematic rather than direct competitor.
• Alzheimer's Association (Alzheimer Nederland): Dutch national dementia charity focused on research, support, and advocacy for people with dementia and their families. Comparable beneficiary population to CliniClowns' dementia program, with overlapping donor base but very different service delivery (information, support lines vs. in-person therapeutic visits).

Broad incumbents

• Gesundheit! Institute (Patch Adams): US-based broader healthcare clowning movement founded by Patch Adams that advocates hospital clowning globally, including through training and missions. A larger, less specialized incumbent that establishes the conceptual category in which CliniClowns operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CliniClownsNederland
• Facebookfacebook.com/CliniClowns
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cliniclowns
• Instagraminstagram.com/cliniclowns
• Xx.com/cliniclowns

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CliniClowns