Looking back...
It’s always a fun exercise to review what’s happened in the last year – and 2023 was a wonderful year!
We have celebrated exciting milestones and welcomed many new members to our dedicated team. We have introduced more new facilities for engaging wider community and enabling families to support families within the school. We have stayed true to our mission of increasing funding for schools and simplifying student payments, and seen some amazing results with our school customers…
- Kindo schools reporting remarkable increases of 60%+ on their donation collection rates.
- A school collecting a record-high 96% of their donations, leaving their auditor in disbelief!
- Facilitated over $329,000 of fundraising through ezlunch, charitable giving at the checkout and Supergenerous donation rebates.
- And received many, many messages of thanks from busy admin staff and families who now have more time in their day.
Digging into our data, we found a few interesting insights to share.
- In Kindo schools, 25% of fees and donations are now made in conjunction with school shopping online… families paying off debt without reminders.
- Schools using ezlunch alongside Kindo Payables were $55,000 better off on average… the platform effect is working.
This reinforces the success of Kindo as a Student Finance System compared to alternative systems where finance is not the full focus.
As a registered Financial Service Provider, we remain committed to ensuring the security of your school transactions. Further, leveraging our funds aggregation capability, we continue to streamline administrative tasks and introduce innovative solutions such as Xero Rapid integration.
Looking ahead to our big goals for 2024, we are excited to announce new-look Kindo apps for iPhone and Android to be launched very shortly! With the widespread use of smartphones, this platform will be a focus for more innovation to improve communication and simplify school life. Watch this space!
A little more about 2023...
Supporting local caterers and students with healthy school lunches
Our ezlunch service simplifies school life with healthy accessible menus, and remains a hit, with 24 new schools joining us this year making ezlunch the largest school lunch delivery service in NZ.
Our partnership with local caterers is thriving and we have welcomed many new suppliers to the Kindo community, delivering thousands of lunches each week across NZ. #supportlocal
And we’ve seen the platform effect of lunch ordering on school payment rates – it’s a winning formula!
To add ezlunch to your Kindo package, get in touch.
Rapid team growth
This year, our team has skyrocketed from 21 to 32 awesome individuals! Much of this growth has come from the technology, training and executive teams ensuring we can deliver more features and improvements for you within shorter time frames.
In December we were excited to introduce Mohammad Aazim, known to his friends and family as Aazim. He joined us as a Senior Backend Developer and comes with a wealth of experience in the technology sector. Welcome to the Kindo family Aazim!
Successful launch to the High School market
Our expansion into High Schools has been a game-changer for our Kindo caregivers, making the transition from Primary to High School incredibly smooth. By eliminating the need to navigate a whole new finance system, we’re ensuring a happier caregiver experience, and reducing payment friction.
We have worked closely with our High Schools this year to ensure Kindo fits seamlessly to their unique needs. Our Kindo High Schools are reporting excellent gains, in the administration and processing time they’ve already saved and the extra funding they’ve gained. This year we have welcomed Westlake Boys High School, Northcote College, Marlborough Girls College, Rototuna Junior & Senior High Schools and Ormiston Senior High School to the Kindo community, and we can’t wait to welcome even more in 2024!
July 2023- Launch of a fresh new look and enhanced navigation for Kindo
July saw the launch of a fresh new look for Kindo. It’s now easier than ever for caregivers to navigate Kindo, further simplifying school life and saving them time.
Most exciting for schools is that caregivers now land on a page showing donations and fees, and Kindo makes sure they are shown again on the way to checkout, increasing the likelihood schools are paid.
August 2023- Launch of checkout gifting for schools
Following the success of KidsCan checkout gifting schools can now create their own checkout gifting items. Enable Caregivers to pay-it-forward to a family in need or contribute to a specific school fundraiser. Just another way Kindo can help you to support your students.
September 2023- Fundraising opportunities extended with the launch of Community Shop
Community Shop is an online store open to everyone in the community, even those without a Kindo account. The extension of Kindo into the wider community lets them buy items that support their local school, participate in school events, and even contribute to fundraisers. More funding for schools, it’s a no-brainer!
December 2023- Launch of ‘Tui’ our Kindo answer bot
‘Tui’, our AI answer bot, was launched to enhance customer service for schools and caregivers. Tui is fresh on the scene but is quickly learning the ropes – making it easier and faster for customers to find the answers they need.
Thank you for being part of our journey so far! We look forward to working with you in 2024 and together supporting the growth of our wonderful Tamariki.
