Italy: Ferdinando Orlando

Athla Onlus is a Milan-based association that takes care of the free time of people with learning disabilities. Five teachers gave birth to this Association 20 years ago. The honorary president is a great character of the fashion Business, Naomi Campbell. We talked with Ferdinando Orlando Communication and Public Relation Manager at Athla Onlus since 2005.

Ferdinando, what is the impact of the individual fundraising for Athla Onlus?

It is about 20%. Our donors are 50 people, they are families that are connected to Cascina Bellaria, an old mansion given to Athla from the Milan Municipality, that is the headquarter of Athla since 1992.

Which is the most preferable channel for making a donation?
Cash donations and through bank transfers. The average donation is around 150 euros. We haven’t implemented a strategy for individual fundraising system yet, but we are planning to do it. We would like to start an online fundraising activity in order to reach the younger audience.

 

What do you also do to raise money for your organisation?

We have been taking part to Fabbrica del Sorriso the most important initiative that aim at raising funds to support Associations that operate in favour of Children, for three years. Thanks to these events we were able to raise 800,000 Euros for our projects. We also turn to the support of companies and the municipality.

We always collaborate with the Milan Municipality, that allocates funds to our projects every year. The total amount of money that we normally raised ranges from 15,000 to 20,000. We have also had corporate donations, Nike Italy has financed our projects.

To find out more visit www.athlaonlus.eu

See also other interviews:
– WWF: Paolo Giganti
– Action Aid: Manuela Sorrentino
– Cesvi: Daniele Fusi