Broadly based monetary donations

To expand the registry of blood stem cell donors, Swiss Transfusion SRC depends on contributions from private individuals and institutions. In 2017, the total amount donated came to almost CHF 875 000.

Swiss Transfusion SRC has to cover the costs for the registration of every new blood stem cell donor; no funds for this purpose are provided within the framework of our mandate from the Swiss government. The funds provided by private and institutional donors contribute directly towards expanding the registry and thus towards giving patients who have a life-threatening blood disease a chance for a cure.

Competition on the Swiss donor market is tough. Nonetheless, at CHF 874 767, the total amount of donations received in 2017 was 8.5 per cent above the figure for 2016 (CHF 806 000). A total of CHF 487 167 came from private individuals, associations and businesses; CHF 387 600 came from foundations.

Public fundraising: new donor pools

Donations from the public fundraising area, amounting to CHF 487 167 in 2017, were down by 6.9 per cent (2016: 523 000). There were a record number of new donors registered in 2016, partly as a result of appeals by patients. In 2017, almost 18 per cent of all new donors registered contributed towards the costs of their registration (2016: 16.5 per cent). Each person who pays for his or her own registration is doubling their support of the “Together against Leukemia” efforts. With total contributions of CHF 224 800, these donations accounted for almost half of the donations in the public fundraising area. At the same time, Swiss Transfusion SRC was able to tap new donor pools in the context of benefit events last year. A particularly high-yield event was the sponsored run in Basel held by the student association Marrow, which brought in over CHF 30 000. In addition, activities in the direct marketing sector met with a positive response, e.g. a variety of mailings to existing benefactors.

Foundations: focus on French-speaking Switzerland

The contributions from foundations rose by 37 per cent in 2017, totalling CHF 387 600 (2016: CHF 283 000) This is the largest total ever donated by foundations for expanding the registry. By their actions, the foundations proved themselves to be generous in spite of what continue to be poor interest rates. Many of them regard investments in the registration of new donors as investments with a lasting impact.

The largest share of the contributions (45 per cent) came from foundations in French-speaking Switzerland, which was at the focus fundraising efforts aimed at foundations in 2017. Another 35 per cent came from German-speaking Switzerland and 20 per cent came from the Principality of Liechtenstein. In 2017, as in 2016, no grants came in from the lottery funds. New applications can be submitted again in 2018.

Additional income imperative

Costs for the registration of a new donor currently amount to CHF 140. To meet these costs, we intend to tap new pools of donors and motivate existing benefactors to donate regularly. In 2018, foundation fundraising efforts will focus on German-speaking Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, and also on the applications to the lottery funds.