The 10 best platforms in Switzerland for ongoing community funding

What is community funding?

Community funding means building a solid base of people who support you and your project on a long-term basis – through recurring contributions, memberships or subscriptions. This makes your funding more predictable, rather than relying on one-off campaigns, sponsorships, grants or, sometimes, sheer luck.

Typical features of community funding include:

• Regular contributions: monthly or annually
• A clear relationship between you and your community: from close to loose
• Content, a sense of connection or a say in the matter in return
• A place where this community has a home and can grow

How it differs from traditional crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is designed for a campaign with a target amount and a clear end date: you mobilise your community for a sprint, reach your target and wrap up the funding. Ideal for a book, a tour, a first production or an album.

Community funding, on the other hand, is a long-term vision:

• no fixed end date
• recurring income rather than a one-off sum
• focus on nurturing relationships rather than a one-off push

The two go hand in hand. You can use crowdfunding to build your community – and then transition it into ongoing funding. Or the other way round. Mix and match!

But this is about something else entirely: long-term support. We distinguish between:

• Funding platforms
• Content platforms
• Donation platforms

All of them help you reach your goal. But in very different ways. Let’s take a closer look.

1. The most important classic funding platforms

wemakeit Communities

Communities is wemakeit’s offering for creators of all kinds who live in Switzerland, Austria or Germany and want to fund a long-term project with their community.

What makes Communities special:

• A Swiss platform with community skills in its DNA and a DACH community
• A space for everyone whose work makes the world a better place for our grandchildren
• With a focus on musicians, artists, creators, sportspeople, activists and scientists
• A combination of two services: one-off crowdfunding & ongoing communities
• GDPR-compliant, a trusted brand with strong recognition in Switzerland
• Twint as a payment solution (and, of course, credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay)
• A controlled environment in line with guidelines and moderated direct messages
• Every community page is reviewed by the wemakeit team before going live
• Update feature: public updates and exclusive updates that give you a direct line to your community

Costs: You pay 10 % of your earnings (including all payment fees).

If you’ve already run a crowdfunding campaign on wemakeit, you can continue working directly with that community and transition it into long-term funding without switching platforms.

Patreon

The best-known player! Patreon is one of the world’s best-known membership platforms and is based in the US. You can offer various membership tiers there and provide your community with exclusive content, insights and benefits.

Patreon is particularly suitable if:

• you operate internationally.
• your community is predominantly English-speaking.
• you regularly produce digital content (video, audio, art, tutorials).

The platform offers a comprehensive infrastructure with membership statistics, payment processing and e-commerce features. The focus is clearly on a global creator community, rather than a specific Swiss context.

Costs: The platform’s commission is 8–12 %, with payment processing fees of 2.9–3.4 % on top.

FanKlub

FanKlub is a platform that focuses heavily on music and live performances. Here, you fund your work as a band, DJ or musician through a community that follows you, attends your shows and subscribes to your content directly from you. The platform is tailored to the needs of acts in German-speaking countries and is aimed particularly at independent artists with their own fanbase.

Typical features of FanKlub:

• Focus on music: Bands, DJs and musicians take centre stage; other types of creators play hardly any role.
• Fan-Klub + social feed: You build a private space for your fans featuring posts, information, playlists and behind-the-scenes insights.
• Geo-filters and gig information: You can target your fans locally and, for example, draw their attention to shows in specific cities.

Monetisation works via membership tiers with monthly fees. Your fans pay a fixed subscription fee, and in return you provide a steady stream of content, a sense of connection and regular updates. You can also include links to merch in your existing shop, accept fan mail and reach out to your community via direct messages.

Costs: FanKlub charges a 10 % commission, plus payment processing fees.

2. Content platforms for community-based funding

Steady

Steady Steady is a European membership platform that allows you to fund your community through memberships and newsletters. The platform is primarily aimed at bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers and media projects in the DACH region.

Steady stands out for the following:

• Various membership tiers with monthly and annual contributions
• Strong integration of newsletter formats
• A clear focus on independent media and journalistic projects
• If you have regular, text-based or audio-based formats
• For people with a journalistic mission
• If you want to manage your content within the same system as your funding

For you as a creator in Switzerland, Steady could be an exciting option if you run a media-related format with regular content, such as a podcast, newsletter or blog. The focus is clearly on media memberships.

Costs: FanKlub charges a 10 % commission, plus payment processing fees.

Substack

Substack is particularly strong in the area of newsletters and written formats. You can offer your content for free or behind a paywall and build a subscriber base from within your community.

Typical Substack features:

• Newsletters + subscription network
• Discovery features to reach new readers
• Global reach with a strong focus on the English-speaking market

Substack is worth considering if your project is heavily text-based and you want to make your newsletter the main source of your funding. However, the Swiss context plays no role on the platform itself; you’re part of a global publishing network.

Costs: Substack charges a 10 % commission, plus payment processing fees.

OnlyFans

OnlyFans is a platform where creators fund their community through subscriptions, pay-per-view content and bespoke offers. Originally established in the adult content sector, it is now also used for sport, fitness, coaching, art and exclusive fan formats.

What sets OnlyFans apart:

• Strong monetisation mechanisms with various revenue streams
• Direct access to a paying community
• A platform image that you need to plan for carefully – especially if you’re working with a broad audience or institutional partners

For long-term projects with a social, cultural or political focus, OnlyFans is often less suitable. If your target audience lives in Switzerland and you rely on public visibility and collaborations with funding bodies or institutions, you should carefully consider whether the platform’s context suits you and your project.

Costs: The platform takes 20 % of your earnings as commission, meaning you are paid 80 % of the revenue you generate (subscriptions, tips, paid messages).

Instagram Subscriptions

Instagram Subscriptions are a feature within Instagram that allows your followers to receive exclusive content – such as Stories, posts or badges – for a monthly fee. You stay within your familiar social media ecosystem and build a paying community there. Handy!

Typical Instagram:

• Seamless integration into your existing Instagram community
• Familiar interface – no need for your fans to switch platforms
• Ideal for creators with strong visual content and a wide reach
• You’re bound by Meta’s algorithm and rules
• Less depth in community relationships than on specialised platforms
• Limited control over data, analytics and community tools
• You need at least 10’000 followers, a free Professional account and compliance with the monetisation guidelines

For you as a creator in Switzerland, this can be a useful addition – but it is rarely the sole pillar of long-term funding.

Costs: Around 30 % of subscription revenue is deducted by Apple or Google via the smartphone apps. Instagram itself currently charges 0 %, meaning you’ll ultimately be paid around 70 %.

3. Donation platforms for community-based funding

Ko-Fi

Ko-Fi is an international platform where your community can treat you to ’a coffee’ – in other words, small, spontaneous contributions. You can receive one-off payments, but also set up memberships and shops.

Ko‑Fi is well suited for:

• occasional support.
• international communities.
• small amounts and spontaneous gestures.
• collecting donations.

If you need predictable, ongoing income for a larger project in Switzerland – for example, an annual production, a charity or a long-term initiative – then Ko‑Fi is more of a supplementary option rather than a main source of income.

Costs: 0 % on the Free Plan, 5 % on the Membership Plan, plus payment processing fees on top.

Happy Pot

Happy Pot is a Swiss platform that combines a focus on donations with a modern user experience. You can launch campaigns for projects, organisations or initiatives and encourage your community to provide recurring support.

Typical Happy Pot features:

• Swiss context and familiar payment processing
• Clear focus on donations for projects and organisations
• Easy to use for supporters in Switzerland

Happy Pot is a good option for you if you primarily want to operate on a donation-based model – i.e. without clear rewards in return – and are active in a charitable or project-oriented context.

Costs: When paying via Twint or bank card, a commission of 4.5 % is charged directly by Twint or the bank card provider. Participation is free of charge only via bank transfer. Happy Pot does not charge any commission.

RaiseNow

Surprised? Yes, and rightly so. Because RaiseNow isn’t a traditional platform. Nevertheless, this solution deserves a place on the list as it also meets the need for community funding. RaiseNow is one of the best-known solutions for professional digital fundraising in Switzerland and the DACH region. Organisations, associations and initiatives use RaiseNow to centrally manage online donations, membership fees and other payments.

RaiseNow is a great option if you …

• want to take care of everything yourself (from admin and technical set-up to handling payment failures).
• are an organisation with a medium or large volume of transactions.
• want to process your donations and contributions with technical precision.
• value integrations, data control and a professional fundraising set-up.

The platform is less of a traditional ’community interface’ like wemakeit Communities or Steady, but rather a robust backend for digital revenue and donation management.

Costs: The total costs consist of a variable RaiseNow platform fee of between 1.3 % and 2.5 %, plus the additional fees charged by the chosen payment provider (e.g. TWINT or credit card). The exact amount depends on the form used and the payment method.

Which community funding option is the best?

The «best» solution depends on who you are, how you work and what your long-term plans are. From a Swiss perspective, three platforms stand out in particular. We’ll find out which one is best for you in a moment.

We’ll admit it openly: Yes, of course we’re biased. We want to be that honest. Nevertheless, our recommendation is well-considered and comes from a place of complete conviction.

wemakeit Communities – if you live in Switzerland and are thinking about crowdfunding + community

If you live in Switzerland and your projects are based here, wemakeit Communities is often the ideal choice. You combine traditional, one-off crowdfunding with your long-term vision. When you launch a community on wemakeit, you’re using a platform that many people in Switzerland are already familiar with. That’s one less hurdle!

Communities is ideal if you …

• have a project that is social, sustainable or creative and champions a future fit for our grandchildren.
• are active in these circles: art, culture, music, media, activism, science, content creation or sport.
• want to combine ongoing contributions with one-off funding rounds.
• value a Swiss context, GDPR compliance and a strong DACH community.
• you’ve already run a wemakeit campaign or are planning to
• want to operate in an environment where there’s no place for hate or trolls.
• prefer a Swiss solution and want to move away from Big Tech.

In short: Communities is the place where you don’t just mobilise your community once, but build a long-term relationship with them.

Steady – if you have a media format with a loyal readership

If you have a media-related project, such as an independent newsletter, podcast or blog with a loyal readership in the DACH region, then Steady might be your best option. The platform is like a home for media memberships.

Steady is ideal if you …

• have content that is published regularly as your core product.
• focus heavily on journalism and engage your community through text and audio.
• operate primarily within the DACH media landscape, but are also seeking an international audience.
• prefer a platform with minimal oversight.

For media-driven projects with a clear readership and regular publications, Steady is a strong choice, even from Switzerland.

RaiseNow – if you’re an organisation with a professional fundraising approach

If you operate as an association, foundation or organisation and fund your community primarily through donations and membership fees, RaiseNow is a sensible solution. You get a robust infrastructure for online donations, memberships and payment processing.

RaiseNow is ideal if you …

• are active in the non-profit sector.
• want to professionalise your digital fundraising.
• need to coordinate many different channels and campaigns.
• want to take everything into your own hands and manage it yourself.

The platform is less of a «community stage» and more of a tool for everything to do with payments and donations.

Checklist: Which platform should you choose?

Take an honest look and let your gut feeling guide your decision:

• Do you live in Switzerland and want a local solution incl. Twint?

  Start with wemakeit Communities. Also only possible on wemakeit: Your community remains within the same ecosystem as your crowdfunding campaigns.

• Is your core product a specific media format with a loyal readership?

  Steady is the place for content-based memberships.

• Are you an organisation focused on donations and membership fees?

  Integrate RaiseNow directly into your website and set up your own professional fundraising campaign.

• Are you looking for spontaneous contributions or tips?

  Then add-ons such as Ko‑Fi or Happy Pot make sense.

If you’re torn between two platforms, ask yourself one final question: «Where does my community feel at home, and where does my funding feel secure?» The answer will guide you to the right choice.