Fundraising is facing more challenges than ever before.

For years, charities have worked hard to overcome donor fatigue: the task of inspiring people to give when they are already faced with countless worthy causes competing for their attention.

But more recently, those obstacles seem to have become bigger than ever. Now, it’s not just a question of tapping into the right sentiment. Many people do still want to contribute to causes they care about, but they feel constrained by rising living costs, busy schedules, and an overwhelming sense that one small donation cannot make much difference to the chaos that they see in the world.

Again, this doesn't mean people have become less generous. But it does highlight a need to rethink how the act of giving happens, and highlight an opportunity to make giving smoother and easier for potential donors.

Rather than asking people to do something completely new, some of the most successful fundraising initiatives are built around activities people already enjoy or already do. Sports fundraising has demonstrated this repeatedly. Whether through sponsored runs, charity football tournaments or community walks, physical activity provides a motivating, social and highly visible way for people to support good causes.

In Switzerland, cycling to work presents a particularly compelling fundraising opportunity.

With more people choosing bicycles for their daily commute than ever before, cycling has become part of everyday life for hundreds of thousands of employees. That existing behaviour creates an ideal foundation for a fundraising model that feels accessible, sustainable and rewarding for everyone involved.

Why sports continue to be such an effective fundraising tool

Sport has always been closely connected to charitable giving because it naturally combines several powerful motivators.

Firstly, participants enjoy taking part. Unlike many fundraising campaigns that require people to make additional time commitments, sporting activities often align with existing hobbies or personal goals.

Secondly, sport creates stories. Whether someone completes their first 20-kilometre ride, cycles through challenging weather or reaches a personal milestone, supporters feel connected to tangible achievements rather than simply making a financial transaction.

Finally, sport builds communities. Teams encourage one another, colleagues share progress, and participants often inspire friends and family to become involved as donors.

These factors help fundraising feel less like an obligation and more like a shared experience.

Cycling to work builds on exactly these strengths while removing many of the traditional barriers associated with organised fundraising events.

Lowering the barrier to giving

One of the biggest opportunities for nonprofits today is reducing the effort required for supporters to get involved.

Many people genuinely want to help, but not everyone can commit to running a marathon, attending fundraising dinners or making large financial donations. Others feel overwhelmed by the number of appeals they receive throughout the year.

Lowering the barrier to participation does not mean lowering ambition. Instead, it means creating opportunities that fit naturally into people's everyday lives.

Cycling to work is an excellent example.

Employees are already making the journey. Rather than asking them to add another activity to their calendar, organisations can simply connect an existing habit to a meaningful cause. Every kilometre cycled becomes another opportunity to create positive impact.

This approach also reduces another common fundraising challenge: participation fatigue.

When supporting a cause feels like an extension of something people already enjoy doing, engagement often becomes easier to sustain over longer periods.

Switzerland is uniquely positioned for cycling-based fundraising

Switzerland has seen a significant increase in cycling over recent years.

Investment in cycling infrastructure, growing environmental awareness, and greater interest in health and wellbeing have all contributed to more people choosing bicycles for commuting and everyday transport.

The popularity of cycling is perhaps best illustrated by Bike to Work, Switzerland's long-running national cycling challenge. For more than a decade, the initiative has encouraged employees across the country to commute by bike, with thousands of companies and tens of thousands of participants taking part each year. While the programme is focused on promoting health and sustainable mobility rather than fundraising, its continued success demonstrates the enormous appetite for workplace cycling initiatives and the scale of the potential participant pool for cycling-based fundraising campaigns.

At the same time, many employers are actively encouraging sustainable commuting as part of their environmental and employee wellbeing strategies. Cycling aligns with multiple organisational objectives, including reducing carbon emissions, improving employee health and supporting corporate social responsibility initiatives.

This combination creates a rare opportunity where one activity can simultaneously benefit individuals, employers, communities and charitable organisations.

Rather than creating an entirely new fundraising campaign from scratch, organisations can build upon an existing cultural shift that continues to gain momentum.

For companies: Turning everyday commuting into meaningful impact

Corporate social responsibility has increasingly moved beyond one-off donations or annual volunteering days.

Employees often want opportunities to contribute throughout the year in ways that feel authentic rather than compulsory. At the same time, businesses are looking for employee engagement initiatives that strengthen workplace culture while supporting wider environmental and social objectives.

A cycling-to-work fundraising campaign, like Copalana’s Bike4Good, brings these priorities together.

By inviting employees to pledge their commute in support of a nonprofit partner, companies can encourage healthier lifestyles, reinforce sustainability goals and create measurable social impact through an activity many employees already undertake.

Because participation fits naturally into existing routines, there is far less friction than with many workplace fundraising initiatives.

Employees are not being asked to sacrifice weekends or complete demanding physical challenges. Instead, they simply continue commuting while knowing each journey contributes towards a cause they care about.

This also helps create more inclusive fundraising opportunities. While not everyone can participate in intensive sporting events, many employees can choose to cycle one or two days a week, making involvement feel achievable rather than intimidating.

The result is often broader participation across the organisation, stronger employee ownership of the campaign, and a CSR initiative that feels genuinely engaging rather than another corporate obligation.

For nonprofits: Creating stronger, longer-term corporate partnerships

For nonprofits, corporate fundraising increasingly depends on creating partnerships that deliver value to everyone involved.

Businesses want initiatives that align with their internal priorities, employees want experiences that feel enjoyable and meaningful, and charities need sustainable sources of support rather than isolated fundraising events.

Cycling-based pledge campaigns can satisfy all three.

Instead of asking companies for a single annual donation, nonprofits can collaborate with corporate partners on fundraising campaigns that actively engage employees over several weeks or months.

This creates repeated opportunities for storytelling, friendly competition, milestone celebrations and shared achievements, all of which help maintain momentum throughout the campaign.

Importantly, these campaigns also encourage supporters to see their impact accumulating over time. Every commute contributes another step towards the collective goal, reinforcing the idea that small individual actions genuinely do make a difference.

That sense of visible progress can be particularly valuable at a time when many supporters question whether their contribution matters.

Rather than competing with countless other fundraising appeals, cycling campaigns meet supporters where they already are: on a journey they're making anyway.

The importance of making support feel achievable

People rarely stop caring about social causes.

More often, they stop believing they have the capacity to help.

When fundraising asks supporters to make major financial commitments or significant lifestyle changes, participation inevitably narrows. But when opportunities feel manageable and closely connected to everyday life, more people are willing to take the first step.

That principle extends beyond cycling.

Across the nonprofit sector, there is growing recognition that future fundraising will involve more flexible forms of support: micro-volunteering, small recurring contributions, activity-based fundraising and community participation built around existing routines.

These approaches acknowledge the realities of modern life while preserving something essential: the feeling that everyone can contribute in a meaningful way.

Cycling to work is a particularly powerful example because it combines personal wellbeing, environmental responsibility and charitable impact within a single activity.

Bike4 Good: A model built for long-term engagement

Perhaps the greatest strength of cycling-based fundraising is that it encourages habits rather than one-off events.

A charity ride may inspire participants for a weekend. A cycling-to-work pledge campaign can continue for weeks, months or even become part of everyday working life.

That creates repeated moments of engagement instead of a single fundraising peak.

Employees see their progress accumulate. Companies can celebrate collective achievements. Nonprofits receive ongoing opportunities to communicate impact back to supporters.

Everyone remains connected to the shared purpose for longer.

As fundraising continues to evolve, the most successful initiatives are likely to be those that remove unnecessary barriers while strengthening genuine human connection.

Rather than asking supporters to do more, they ask a simpler question:

What are people already doing that can become a force for good?

For many organisations in Switzerland, the daily cycle to work may already provide the answer.

This is precisely the thinking behind Bike4Good, Copalana's cycling-to-work fundraising programme, which enables companies and nonprofits to turn everyday commuting into meaningful support for charitable causes through simple pledge campaigns.

By building on an activity that thousands of employees already enjoy, Bike4Good offers a practical, low-friction approach to corporate fundraising that benefits businesses, nonprofit partners and participants alike.

You can learn more about the programme on our Bike4Good page.