Switzerland is not tired of donating

After two difficult years with the epidemic, there was a large increase in prices by Swiss standards. Many Swiss are thinking about where they can save. In such cases, most of them are those closest to them.

But let’s see: Switzerland donated more than ever before in 2022. “The Swiss Red Cross has received more donations than ever before in 2022,” spokeswoman Katharina Schindler said. The donation volume amounted to approximately 77 million Swiss francs, 41 million of which were donated by private individuals.

Sounds similar in Caritas Switzerland. Spokesperson Livia Leykauf says the organization has never received so much support in any previous year: more than 44 million francs. “Switzerland’s solidarity with people in need has been overwhelming,” Leykauf said—especially knowing that this has been a year of uncertainty and anxiety around the world and in Switzerland.

Great solidarity with Ukraine

Most donations went to Ukraine. According to the Zewo Foundation’s 2022 donation statistics, 285 million francs were raised in the first few months after the outbreak of war alone. Almost as much as in the 2005 tsunami disaster in Asia.

The request to donate is usually close to the event. However, the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) still records large numbers of donations for Ukraine during the winter months. “The extraordinarily positive annual result is clearly due to the Ukraine crisis,” says SRK-Schindler. However, towards the end of the year, the income from donations on other issues was slightly lower than in the previous year. “We have experienced in the past years that after a major catastrophic event with a large number of donations, a certain donation fatigue can be observed for a short time,” Schindler concludes.

Meanwhile, Caritas notes that donations continue unabated for projects that receive less media attention: fighting famine in Africa, climate justice projects, aid to Syria, as well as poverty alleviation in Switzerland. Regarding the latter, Daniel Römer (60) from Winterhilfe Zurich explains that the campaign launched in the autumn has so far brought in the same amount of donations as in previous years. Still no sign of an economically triggered “donation fatigue”.

More major donors than before

Organizations want to keep a close eye on whether the currently more difficult economic situation is putting pressure on donations over the next few months.

Georg von Schnurbein (45), head of the Center for Philanthropic Studies (CEPS) at the University of Basel, would not be surprised by the persistently high level of donations. “Private donations are largely independent of the economy,” he notes. Research after the subprime crisis in the US shows that people are more willing to donate in times of crisis. Therefore, general uncertainty will have little effect on willingness to donate. However, it assumes that the purpose of the donation will be shifted from Ukraine to “normal” topics such as children, the disabled or climate protection.

This does not mean that everything is rosy: According to von Schnurbein, the proportion of donors in the community is falling. In contrast, the remaining donors give more, so the total amount remains constant. “In recent years, due to the declining number of donors, charities have invested in large donors and foundation fundraising, so larger contributions are now coming from these sources.” Despite the larger average amounts, do not be fooled here: “More than 80 percent of foundations are less than 5 million francs in capital, so annual distributions are in the low five-digit range.”

When it comes to private donations, the majority continues to come from Mr. and Mrs. Schweizer. And they show solidarity: According to Zewo, 80 percent of households in Switzerland recently donated; one out of every two households donates more than 360 francs a year.