Swisscom info and facts
Berne, 16 January 2018
Switzerland is one of the most charitable nations in the world. According to statistics from the Zewo Foundation, in 2016, charities in Switzerland received donations amounting to almost 1.8 billion Swiss francs.
The Swiss donation platform letshelp.ch was launched by Swisscom in mid-2016, in partnership with Zewo and Swissfundraising. The platform gave certified charities an efficient and effective means of publicising their projects, and gave donors straightforward access to legitimate projects to which to donate online.
According to statistics from Zewo, 99 percent of donations received by certified charities are made through traditional payment channels, such as postal or bank transfer, rather than online. After 18 months of operation, it is apparent that letshelp.ch is not generating sufficient donations, and that demand from Zewo’s 500 approved charities is too low. The maintenance, support and business development costs have proven disproportionately high for all stakeholders, and letshelp.ch will therefore cease operations as of 31 January 2018.