Cards to care

What Cards to care does

Cards to care is a Netherlands-based private company founded in 2009 by Marco van der Noordaa that operates a greeting card platform purpose-built for hospitals. The product is a simple embedded link placed on a hospital's website that allows patients' visitors and well-wishers to send real, physical greeting cards delivered to the hospital's mailroom, with cards ordered before 20:00 (Netherlands) or 15:00 (Germany) arriving the next day. Underlying technology, including the card catalog, editing tools, and logistics, is provided by Kaartje2go in the Netherlands and its German brand Send a Smile, with which Cards to care has partnered since October 2017; Cards to care's contribution is a hospital-specific donation module that attaches a minimum €0.50 (average €0.70-0.90) donation per card to the hospital's chosen foundation.

The business model is transaction-based and free to hospitals: no setup or recurring fees, no ICT or logistics burden for the hospital. Donations collected per card are passed through to hospital foundations ("Vrienden van" organizations) on a twice-yearly basis, with a separate employee discount program (10% off Kaartje2go for hospital staff, plus €0.25 per staff order to the hospital's charity). Go-to-market is direct, founder-led outreach to hospitals, supplemented by Kaartje2go channel promotion. The customer base comprises 35+ hospitals in the Netherlands and Germany, including Erasmus MC, St. Antonius Ziekenhuis, UMC Groningen, and Park-Klinik Kiel. The company has no external investors, no disclosed revenue, and operates as a 1-10 person side venture alongside the founder's role at Amsterdam UMC.

Name

Cards to care

Legal name

Cards to care

Website

https://cardstocare.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cards to care provides a hospital-website greeting card service with embedded donations, serving 35+ hospitals in the Netherlands and Germany via its partnership with Kaartje2go and Send a Smile. Revenue is generated from per-card donations passed to hospital foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Card Transaction Donations: Cards to care generates revenue through minimum donations of €0.50 per card sent. The average donation is €0.70-0.90. These donations are collected and transferred twice yearly to the hospital's chosen charity foundation (usually 'Vrienden van' hospital foundations). The service is free for hospitals - no setup costs or recurring fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Cards to care provides hospitals with a simple website link that enables visitors to send real physical greeting cards to patients, with a built-in donation module that routes a minimum €0.50 per card (average €0.70-€0.90) to the hospital's chosen charity foundation. The service is free of charge for hospitals (no setup or recurring fees) and is powered through a partnership with Kaartje2go (Netherlands) and Send a Smile (Germany) for card production and next-day delivery logistics.

Product overview

Cards to Care operates as a unified greeting card platform for hospitals, consisting of three integrated components: a website-based card sending system (hospital website integration), a built-in donation module (minimum 50 cents per card to hospital foundations), and a staff discount program (10% Kaartje2go discount with additional 25-cent donations per order). The platform enables hospitals to offer physical greeting cards through their websites at no cost, while generating fundraising revenue for their designated charitable foundations. The company has partnered with Kaartje2go (Netherlands) and Send a Smile (Germany) for card logistics and fulfillment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cards to Care Platform A greeting card platform for hospitals that enables patients to receive real physical greeting cards through the hospital website. Each card includes a built-in donation module where senders contribute at least 50 cents per card to the hospital's designated charity foundation. Targeted at hospitals and their patient communities.
• Hospital Website Greeting Card Integration A hospital website integration service providing hospitals with a link to embed on their site, offering visitors access to a large greeting card collection with editing options. The integration requires no ICT or logistics effort from the hospital and is delivered at no cost. Powered by Kaartje2go and Send a Smile for production and delivery.
• Hospital Staff Discount Program A staff benefit program in which each hospital receives a Kaartje2go discount code providing 10% off all card orders for hospital employees, with Kaartje2go additionally donating 25 cents per staff card order to the hospital's chosen charity foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35+ hospitals using the service in Netherlands and Germany
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Kaartje2gocoreTechnology or Integration · 1 October 2017Since October 2017, Cards to care has partnered with Kaartje2go to power its card-sending platform. Kaartje2go provides the greeting card collection, editing tools, and logistics for next-day delivery. Kaartje2go adapted their website to accommodate Cards to care's unique donation module for hospitals. Quality and customer satisfaction are key values shared by both companies.
• Send a SmilecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Send a Smile is the German counterpart to Kaartje2go. Cards to care works with Send a Smile for hospitals in Germany since 2023. Customer reviews in Germany are highly positive on Ekomi. Send a Smile handles card production and delivery for German hospital partners.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Kaartje2go: Kaartje2go is the underlying card creation and logistics platform that powers Cards to care's hospital integrations, and operates Send a Smile in Germany. It sells the same physical greeting card product (digital-to-printed, next-day delivery) via the same donation-inclusive model; structurally a direct peer and core platform partner.
• Funky Pigeon: Funky Pigeon is a UK-based online personalized greeting card retailer that ships physical cards through the mail. Same product mechanics as Cards to care: digital customization, paid personalization fees, and postal delivery—serving overlapping gifting occasions.
• Moonpig: Moonpig is a leading online greeting card platform offering personalized cards delivered by post. Comparable business model (digital personalization, printed physical output, one-day fulfillment) and overlap with charity/personalized gifting use cases relevant to hospital fundraising.

Broad incumbents

• American Greetings: American Greetings is a major incumbent greeting card publisher serving mass retail and digital channels. It overlaps with Cards to care in the personalized and digital-to-print greeting card category, though at much broader consumer scale.
• Hallmark Cards: Hallmark is one of the world's largest greeting card companies with an established corporate gifting and consumer card business. While not specifically focused on hospital fundraising, Hallmark competes broadly in the same physical greeting card category.

Emerging players

• Thortful: Thortful is an online greeting card marketplace featuring independent designers. It overlaps in the personalized/printed greeting card category but is more design-and-discovery oriented rather than vertically specialized to hospitals and charity fundraising.
• Givebutter: Givebutter is a fundraising platform used by nonprofits including hospital foundations, offering donation pages and event-based giving. It competes indirectly for hospital-foundation fundraising budget alongside Cards to care's donation module.
• CaringBridge: CaringBridge is a nonprofit platform that helps patients and families coordinate support and communication during health crises. It addresses an adjacent problem—patient/family connection during hospital stays—relevant to the same hospitals Cards to care sells into.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cardstocare
• Xx.com/Cardstocare
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cards-to-care

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Cards to care