On 16 June 2026, AEIDL organised the third SERIGO Community of Practice (CoP) Workshop on ‘Access to funding and finance for community-led social innovation in rural areas’ in Villach, Austria. The topic is particularly timely, as access to sustainable funding continues to be one of the main challenges that social economy organisations face across Europe. Many organisations who are active in addressing local social needs often struggle to secure stable, long-term financing that allows them to grow and sustain their impact.
The discussions brought forward that innovative private financing models, community-driven approaches, and public financial and non-financial support can significantly strengthen social economy organisations’ resilience, social impact and long-term sustainability. However, challenges still persist in securing long-term funding, especially for community-led initiatives that often depend on short-term grants and fragmented funding streams.
Rural experiences
During the 3-hour workshop, multiple organisations shared their experience with accessing and maintaining funding.
KAZ Newspaper (Austria), a social enterprise which not only maintains independent journalism but also creates employment opportunities for people with migrant background. The organisation is funded by small individual donations, philanthropic support as well as newspaper sales and subscriptions. It intentionally remains free from advertising as it is not profit-oriented and wants to remain independent. To strengthen its financial sustainability, KAZ has diversified its income through an initiative selling artwork created mainly by young people and women living in poverty. While 50% of sales go directly to the artists, the remainder supports KAZ’s activities. However, the organisation faces challenges in securing stable funding, reaching new audiences, and balancing income generation with its social mission.
Dorfservice (Austria) presented its community-based model supporting older people in offering transport services, social visits and companionship, memory training, and reading activities. The goal is to help the older adults remain independent in their homes. Its work relies on a mix of public funding, donations and sponsorship. The organisation operates across 20 local communities and counts mainly on the help of volunteers. Recently it has celebrated its 20th anniversary and received the first community award against loneliness. However, challenges like increasing financial pressure, shrinking public budgets, and inflation persist. Additionally, it becomes more difficult to attract sponsors for their services as well as recruiting volunteer staff, training them, and providing the right infrastructure for them to thrive.
Diakonie de la Tour (Austria) demonstrated how EU funding can support projects addressing refugee integration, labour market inclusion and other social needs. Hereby, the welfare and social services are linked to the Protestant church. Currently, the Diakonie de la Tour manages 12-16 projects, with a planned 2026 budget of EUR 2.5 million. It draws the funding from the EU, national ministry, the state of Carinthia and local municipalities. However, the organisation also highlighted the difficulties created by short-term funding cycles and increasing pressure to deliver more with limited resources.
Platform Migration (Austria) shared how grassroots action, volunteer commitment and small public grants can help promote inclusion and raise awareness on migration. By regularly organising community events, school workshops and public campaigns, Platform Migration often relies on volunteers and their commitment to the cause. The organisation functions as an association without individual membership fees.
Inspiring good practices
We also explored successful schemes/practices that seemed both inspiring and useful for the upcoming years. Fritz Fessler, CEO of the Cooperative for the Common Good in Austria, presented a financing model that connects customers’ savings directly to loans for projects that generate positive social and environmental impact. Beyond ethical banking, the cooperative also operates a crowdfunding platform, where projects are assessed against Common Good criteria before being made available for community investment.
Kenneth Mellkvist, from Trainstation in Karlskoga, Sweden, shared how a project initially funded through the European Social Fund and municipal support evolved into a permanent municipal initiative. Trainstation combined digital inclusion, skills development and community engagement and is helping long-term unemployed people, young people and migrants build confidence and develop pathways into education and employment.
On 15 October 2026 SERIGO is organising a webinar to showcase good practices in accessing to funding and finance for community-led social innovation in rural areas. More information is available here. Stay tuned for the agenda!
Follow us on social media to stay updated: LinkedIn, and Bluesky.