Fundraising strategy for Chill Austria & Germany

04.03.2026
Practical Project

Students of the Master's program in Sports, Culture & Event Management at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol together with project supervisors and representatives of Chill at the final presentation in Innsbruck.

How can social sports programs be financed in the long term when funding landscapes are becoming increasingly complex? A practical project at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol addressed precisely this question. Students developed a sound fundraising strategy for the Chill programs in Austria and Germany.

On 30 January 2026, students from the part-time Master's program in Sports, Culture & Event Management at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol presented the results of their practical project with the Chill Foundation at the Burton Snowboards flagship store in Innsbruck.

From October 2025 to January 2026, a four-member project team systematically analyzed potential financing and funding opportunities for Chill Austria and Chill Germany. The goal was to develop a strategic basis for securing long-term financial support for the organization's programs.

FACTBOX: WHAT IS CHILL?

The Chill Foundation is an international non-profit organization that empowers young people through board sports programs. It was founded in 1995 by Donna and Jake Burton Carpenter, the founders of Burton Snowboards. Its approach combines sports activities such as snowboarding, skateboarding, and other board sports with targeted personal development programs. The goal is to give young people self-confidence, social skills, and new perspectives.

THE ORGANIZATION IS ALSO ACTIVE IN EUROPE:

Chill Austria was founded in 2008 in cooperation with Burton Europe and organizes snowboarding and skateboarding programs around Innsbruck in collaboration with social institutions, among other things.
Chill Germany started in 2022 and offers winter programs for young people from Germany.

RESEARCH IN A COMPLEX FUNDING ENVIRONMENT

Financing social sports programs poses challenges for many non-profit organizations. Funding landscapes are often fragmented, responsibilities are spread across different levels, and the requirements for funding applications are constantly increasing.

Against this backdrop, the project team investigated funding opportunities in the areas of sports, youth, education, and social affairs in Austria and Germany. Among other things, the following were analyzed:

Funding criteria and funding priorities
Regional responsibilities
Thematic alignment with Chill's programs and values

The research was based on literature and internet analyses as well as on the evaluation of internal documents from the organization. All results were documented in a uniform structure and evaluated using defined criteria in order to create a comparable basis for decision-making.

CONCRETE TOOLS FOR STRATEGIC FUNDRAISING WORK

The main outcome of the project was a structured funding database that clearly summarizes potential funding programs. In addition, the team developed:

A prioritization matrix for evaluating funding opportunities
A strategy memo with specific recommendations for action

These instruments are intended to help Chill plan its funding activities in a targeted manner and use existing resources efficiently in the future.

THE STUDENTS SHOWED REMARKABLE DEPTH [...]. THE RESULTING DATABASE AND STRATEGY MEMO WILL BE A REAL TREASURE TROVE FOR CHILL AUSTRIA AS WE MOVE INTO THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR WORK.

Anne-Laure Pernée

Director of Chill Europe

PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS IN INNSBRUCK

The practical project concluded with the presentation of the results at the end of January 2026 in the Burton Snowboards flagship store in Innsbruck.

During the event, the students presented their analyses and discussed the results with representatives from Chill. Participants at the event included:

Hermann Kapferer (Vice President of Chill Austria)
Reinhard Schramm (Treasurer of Chill Austria and former CFO of Burton Snowboards)
Bene Pelikan (Managing Director of Burton Snowboards)

Micha Schmid (Development Coordinator at Chill Europe) and Anne-Laure Pernée (Director at Chill Europe), who had accompanied the project throughout its entire duration, also joined online.

Pernée emphasized the importance of collaboration: “The collaboration with the project team at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein was outstanding. The students demonstrated remarkable depth, professionalism, and an exceptional ability to translate our requirements into a clearly structured approach to fundraising market analysis. The resulting database and strategy memo will be a real treasure trove for Chill Austria as we move into the next phase of our work.”

The direct exchange during the closing event enabled a joint assessment of the results and at the same time demonstrated the potential of the instruments developed for Chill's future strategic work.