Non-profit · Pro bono
Ongoing since December 2025~575 hours saved per year: a foundation rebuilt as a fully digital organisation — pro bono
A 3-person team stuck in Excel and manual processes — transformed into a digitally equipped organisation with an automated donor CRM and scalable infrastructure. Pro bono: because we can, and because it is the right thing to do.
Evidence classes: measured = counted or observed in operation · calculated = computed from confirmed inputs · modelled = conservative model with stated assumptions · planned = target state, not yet realised.
- Organisation
- Swiss foundation (anonymised)
- Area
- Charitable / non-profit
- Team size
- 3 people
- Project
- Digital foundation structure, donor CRM, document setup, knowledge chatbot
- Duration
- Since December 2025 (ongoing)
- Model
- Pro bono — no project costs (only infrastructure & tool costs)
- Impact
- Foundation now runs fully digitally
- Reference
- Anonymised at the foundation's request
Starting point
The foundation was run by a small team of 3 people. Every process was handled manually. What started out as manageable became an operational bottleneck as the donor base grew: the foundation could not grow because administration was blocking the team — more donors would have meant more work.
Donor management in Excel
No automation, no history, no quick access to donor profiles. Donation processing alone tied up ~16 hours per month.
Everything by hand
Every donation confirmation, every certificate, every thank-you letter was created and sent individually.
Knowledge tied to individuals
No central repository, no standards, no templates. If one person was out, the knowledge was gone.
No systematic fundraising
No regular communication with donors, no reactivation, no predictable growth.
The system
Arthova implemented a complete digital foundation — not a single tool, but a coherent system covering all core administrative processes. Pro bono, with the same care as any paying project.
Donor CRM with automatic capture
Every incoming donation is recorded automatically: donor profiles, history, communication log — central and instantly available.
Automated certificates & thank-you letters
Donation confirmations, certificates for tax purposes and thank-you letters are generated and sent automatically.
Donor activation
Structured communication flows for campaigns, regular updates and automated reactivation of inactive donors.
Knowledge base as a chatbot
A document-based chatbot with access to statutes, regulations and templates. Knowledge is no longer tied to individual people.
Team approval and audit trail
Critical steps are presented to the team for confirmation, and every donation has a complete audit trail. Control is non-negotiable.
Impact
Baseline: ~15–20 donations per month, ~100 active donors.
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative workload | Manual, capacity-consuming | Reduced by ~70–75% |
| Donation processing | ~16h per month | ~3h per month |
| Certificates & confirmations | Manual, one by one | −90% time spent |
| Data maintenance | Manual, error-prone | −65% effort |
| Processing capacity | ~100 donors | 500+ donors without extra effort |
| Fundraising campaigns | Ad hoc, rare | Now possible on a regular basis |
Value calculation
- Hours saved per year
- ~575 hours (~48h × 12 months)modelled
- Value of time saved (CHF 35–40/h)
- CHF 20'000–23'000 per yearmodelled
- Project cost to the foundation
- CHF 0measured
- Running costs
- Tool subscriptions onlymodelled
The real value is not in the CHF figures but in the capacity released: ~48 additional hours per month that the team now puts into the foundation's actual mission.
See the calculation — how these numbers are derived
The ~48h/month are made up of eight administrative processes: donation processing ~13h, certificates & confirmations ~5h, data maintenance ~7h, correspondence & thank-you letters ~7h, document search & creation ~4h, donor enquiries & in-kind donations ~5h, on-site coordination ~4h, miscellaneous ~3h. Basis: 15–20 donations per month, ~100 active donors. ~48h × 12 months ≈ 575h/year, valued at CHF 35–40/h for the Swiss non-profit sector gives CHF 20'000–23'000 — a conservative model.
What we take from it
Administration is the hidden problem
Small non-profits rarely fail for lack of goodwill — they fail on operational capacity. Solve the administration and you solve the growth problem.
One shared record reduces duplicate work
CRM, automated correspondence and structured filing use the same record. This reduces searching, duplicate entry and conflicting versions.
Approvals stay with the team
A named person confirms each critical step. Every donation retains an audit trail, and the team can stop the workflow at any time.
Pro bono does not mean second class
This project received the same care and the same technology as any paying project. AI should not be reserved for the biggest players — which is why we deliberately reserve part of our capacity for charitable organisations.
A similar starting point in your company?
In an intro call we work out whether a closer look is worthwhile — and tell you honestly if it is not.