Topic · Funding

When grant programs fall away,
your audience becomes the load-bearing base.

It’s already clear that in 2026, public and foundation-based funders will reshuffle, cut, or end programs. Anyone whose work has so far rested mainly on program funding now needs to string a second instrument. Micro-donations and crowdfunding are the obvious answer — but only if the technology doesn’t get in the way.

Why this is becoming strategic right now

Several developments are converging in 2025/2026: federal and state budgets are taking the knife to civil-society projects in particular, large foundations are reshuffling their programs, and EU funding pots are increasingly tied to tight impact and reporting obligations. For many NGOs this means: the funding model has to become more resilient — less dependent on a few large funders, more carried by many small contributions.

And that’s exactly where the strength of micro-donations lies: thousands of people giving small monthly amounts are, in aggregate, more reliable than a single program grant — and they’re also engagement, reach, and political backing all at once.

What stands between intention and reality: the technology

This is where my background as a computer scientist comes in. At Mein Grundeinkommen e.V. I spent nine years — most recently as Managing Director and Board Chair — building a donation platform with a team that today processes hundreds of thousands of contributions a month and has turned donation volume into the load-bearing pillar of the organization.

The main lesson it taught me: crowdfunding at NGOs rarely fails on the idea. It fails on friction in the technical stack. Concretely, at places like…

Payment processing — SEPA direct debit, credit card, PayPal, Apple/Google Pay, Klarna; each integration with its own fees, refund handling, and reporting logic.
Donation receipts — legally compliant, automated, and free of the annual January bottleneck.
CRM & data flow — from donation event to personalized thank-you, without anyone manually copying between systems.
Conversion friction — every additional click on the donation flow measurably costs conversions; at the same time, a form that’s too lean breaks on data protection or tax law.
Reporting & forecast — without a clean data base, crowdfunding stays a gut feeling; with it, it becomes plannable income.

In all of these areas, the issue is rarely exotic technology — it’s clean architecture and realistic requirements. The intersection of mission, operations, and technology is exactly where I most enjoy working.

What I often see in consulting

Organizations want to take their crowdfunding strategy “to the next level” and jump straight into campaign concepts. Four weeks later the campaign breaks on the payment page, not on the story. Anyone taking donations seriously looks at the funnel first — every bit of friction avoided there works like an extra euro of advertising spend.

Building blocks for your own crowdfunding and micro-donation flow

There isn’t one right path, but there is a proven order:

Get the mission story clear. What exactly is someone donating for — and how does that person notice that it had an impact?
Design the donor journey. From the first touchpoint through the first gift to monthly supporting membership.
Clarify the technical base. Which platform, which payment providers, which CRM — and above all: which interfaces?
Test with small volumes. Before a big campaign runs, you learn most from a small one.
Scale what works. Only then does it pay to invest in performance marketing, partnerships, and brand campaigns.

Who this topic is relevant for

For NGOs that are currently mainly grant- or subsidy-funded and need a second pillar by 2026.
For organizations with a first donation platform that’s starting to creak under the next stage of growth.
For founding teams who want to think of crowdfunding not just as start-up funding, but as a long-term model.
For boards who have to own tech decisions in their organization without coming from a tech background themselves.

Let’s talk about your funding base.

30 minutes on video — I listen to where you stand, take a look at your donation flow with you, and tell you honestly where the biggest leverage sits.