Institutional fundraising
In most Swiss associations, fundraising runs on volunteers. I build the function: documents, method, calendar. Then you decide how to continue.
In most Swiss associations and non-profit organisations, fundraising does not exist as a function. It is almost always handled by one committee member: a volunteer, unpaid, with a job and a life elsewhere, who gives the cause whatever time is left. It is precious work — often the only reason any funding arrives at all.
But however generous, that commitment cannot replace a structured function: a method, a calendar of deadlines, documents ready when needed, relationships with funders built year after year. Not for lack of ability: for lack of time, which a volunteer by definition does not have.
And this is not just about small organisations. There are structures with budgets in the millions and dozens of employees that have never had an institutional fundraising function: nobody who systematically covers grant-making foundations, public authorities and calls for projects.
My job is to build this function where it has never existed. Not to replace those who have carried the work so far: to give that commitment the infrastructure it deserves.
What “building the function” means
It is not a one-off campaign, and it is not a dossier written in a rush for a looming deadline. Building the fundraising function means creating the infrastructure that allows an organisation to ask for funds credibly, year after year:
- Documents in order. Statutes, activity reports, accounts: everything a funder wants to see, prepared and organised. And when a document is missing, we create it — starting with tax exemption, which many associations have never applied for.
- A solid presentation dossier, adaptable to private foundations, public authorities and calls for projects.
- Readable budgets, estimates and final accounts that hold up in front of funders.
- A calendar of deadlines: whom to approach, when, with what response times.
- Reporting, because the second grant depends on how you accounted for the first.
And then? You decide
Once the function exists, there are two paths — and the choice belongs to the organisation.
You carry on by yourselves
Whoever handled it in their spare time can keep doing so, but starting from a solid setup instead of from scratch — documents ready, calendar in place, a method to follow.
I stay on
An ongoing mandate: applications, calendar and funder relationships stay in the hands of the person who set up the function.
There is no right answer. There is yours.
Where I have already done it
- Radio Gwendalyn (Chiasso): I created a role that did not exist. Today that function brings in around CHF 200,000 a year from foundations, public authorities and calls for projects, across more than 20 projects.
- Wikimedia CH: a community that lives on voluntary, private donations. With them I am building the missing piece: institutional fundraising.
- Zona’B, Casa Astra, Associazione Culturale Lumina: three different organisations, the same starting point: plenty of good work, and fundraising left to committee volunteers. In all three cases the mandate was the same — setting up the function.
Who it is for
Cultural and social associations and organisations in Switzerland that have never had a structured fundraising function: from volunteer-run committees to structures with employees that have run on other income so far.
If you need a single dossier for a specific deadline, that is a different job: you will find it in What I do. And if your organisation operates outside Switzerland, I am not the right person.
Let’s talk
The first step is a conversation: you tell me about your organisation, and I tell you honestly whether there is something worth building.
Frequently asked questions
How long before we see the first funds?
A few months to set up the function, then the applications go out. Funders’ first responses arrive within six months on average: those are their timelines, the same for everyone. What makes the difference is what happens in the meantime — with a structured function, applications go out in parallel, on a calendar, instead of one at a time when someone finds a moment. That is why institutional fundraising is judged by the year, not by the week.
Our association is small: is it worth it?
Yes, if you have concrete projects to fund. Size matters less than the clarity of the project.
Does the person who handled it so far have to step aside?
No, quite the opposite: someone who knows the organisation from the inside is an asset. The function is built together, and if you choose to run it internally, it stays in your hands.
Do we need tax exemption?
For many grant-making foundations it is a de facto requirement. If you do not have it, applying for it is among the first things we do.