What ROTE NASEN Österreich does

ROTE NASEN Clowndoctors Österreich is an Austrian non-profit charitable association (Gemeinnütziger Verein) founded in 1994 and headquartered in Vienna (Wattgasse 48, 1170 Wien). The organization deploys 83 professionally trained healthcare clown doctors to deliver in-person visits across 199 healthcare facilities spanning all nine Austrian federal states. Core services include Clownbesuche (clown visits) for children in hospitals, adults in rehabilitation, seniors in nursing homes, and crisis-affected individuals (including refugees and displaced persons), plus a specialized Clowns im Behandlungsalltag (CliB) program that embeds clowns in clinical procedures such as blood draws, MRI scans, sedations, and operating-room accompaniment. The organization also operates Virtual Clown Visits for isolated patients. ROTE NASEN is a founding member of RED NOSES International, granting access to the International School of Humor for ongoing professional training.

The business model is donation-based, structured as a non-profit with tax-deductible giving status under the Austrian Donation Quality Seal (Reg.Nr. 05427), with financial statements audited by Ernst & Young. Revenue streams include individual one-time and recurring donations (Lachpatenschaft / laughter sponsorship subscriptions at €21–€168/month tiers and unit-priced visits at €10–€84), the annual ROTE NASEN LAUF charity running series (Wiener ROTE NASEN LAUF plus regional events), corporate partnerships and event sponsorships, gift donations (Geschenkspende), personal online fundraising campaigns via FundraisingBox, and door-to-door canvassing. Marketing is multi-channel: social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn), email newsletters, seasonal collections (Spring, Christmas), PR/earned media, and street fundraising. Go-to-market combines direct B2B-style relationships with hospital administrators (clinical integration) with consumer-facing event-driven and community-led fundraising motions.

The organization's scientific base is anchored in academic partnerships with Medizinische Universität Wien and Universität Wien running ethics-approved studies on stress and anxiety reduction in pediatric and adolescent populations, supporting evidence-based differentiation of the CliB program. Cumulatively, ROTE NASEN reports ~8 million people supported since 1994, 267,307 documented encounters, and 500 clowns trained through its program.

Name

ROTE NASEN Österreich

Legal name

ROTE NASEN Clowndoctors

Website

https://rotenasen.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ROTE NASEN Österreich is a Vienna-based non-profit founded in 1994 that deploys 83 trained healthcare clown doctors to children, adults, seniors, and crisis-affected individuals across 199 healthcare facilities in Austria, funded by donations and charity runs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations from private individuals supporting clown visits to healthcare facilities. Donors can make single or monthly donations, with specific amounts tied to particular services (e.g., €29 for an ICU visit, €168 for a month of visits). Donations are tax-deductible in Austria.
2. ROTE NASEN LAUF Events: Charity running events held across Austria where participants pay starting donations (entry fees) to run or walk designated routes. Events include the Wiener ROTE NASEN LAUF (September), as well as regional events. Starting donations vary by period and category (children, adults, families).
3. Corporate Partnerships: Support from Austrian businesses through company donations, employee giving programs, and event sponsorship of the ROTE NASEN LAUF events. Includes opportunities for companies to participate as teams in charity runs.
4. Gift Donations (Geschenkspende): Donations made as gifts for special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, jubilees) where donors can create personalized certificates to give to recipients, with the donation supporting ongoing clown visits.
5. Laughter Sponsorship (Lachpatenschaft): Regular monthly commitment where sponsors support ongoing clown visits, with recognition and updates about the impact of their support.
6. Online Fundraising Campaigns: Individuals can create personal online fundraising campaigns for birthdays and special occasions, collecting donations from friends and family through the FundraisingBox platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ROTE NASEN Clowndoctors is an Austrian non-profit organization that provides professional healthcare clown visits (Clownbesuche) to children in hospitals, adults in rehabilitation, seniors in nursing homes, and crisis-affected individuals across Austria. Core service delivery includes the specialized Clowns im Behandlungsalltag (CliB) program that places clowns alongside medical staff during procedures such as blood draws, MRI scans, sedations, and operations. The organization also operates the annual ROTE NASEN LAUF charity running event series and supports its mission through individual donations, recurring Lachpatenschaft sponsorships, corporate partnerships, gift donations, and personal fundraising campaigns.

Product overview

ROTE NASEN Clowndoctors is a non-profit healthcare clowning organization operating across Austria with a portfolio of core clown visit services and supporting donation programs. The core offerings include Clownbesuche (clown visits) for children, adults, seniors, and crisis-affected individuals visiting hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and care facilities, with a specialized Clowns im Behandlungsalltag (CliB) program for medical procedures. The organization supports its mission through donations via Spendenaktionen (fundraising campaigns), Geschenkspende (gift donations), Lachpatenschaft (sponsorship), and Spenden statt schenken (donation-in-lieu-of-gifts). ROTE NASEN LAUF charity running events across Austria provide additional fundraising opportunities. The organization maintains regional operations in Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, and Vienna.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Clownbesuche bei Kindern (Children's Hospital Clown Visits) Professional healthcare clown visits for children in pediatric wards, intensive care units, oncology departments, and rehabilitation centers, providing humor, distraction during painful procedures, and emotional support during treatment.
• Clownbesuche bei Erwachsenen (Adult Rehabilitation Clown Visits) Clown visits for adult patients in rehabilitation centers following serious illness, accidents, or medical events, providing emotional support and motivation during physiotherapy and recovery.
• Clownbesuche bei Senior*innen (Senior Care Clown Visits) Clown visits for elderly residents in nursing homes, care facilities, and geriatric wards, combating loneliness and providing social interaction and joyful connection.
• Clownbesuche bei Krisenbetroffenen (Crisis-Affected Clown Visits) Clown visits for people affected by crises, including refugees (particularly from Ukraine) and individuals in emergency housing and first reception centers, providing psychological support through humor and play.
• Clowns im Behandlungsalltag (CliB) Specialized clown intervention during medical procedures including blood draws, MRI scans, sedations, and operations. Clowns accompany patients to operating rooms and motivate during physiotherapy sessions.
• ROTE NASEN LAUF (Charity Running Events) Charity running events held annually across Austria where participants pay starting donations to run or walk designated routes. Events include the Wiener ROTE NASEN LAUF (September) and regional events following Green Event Austria guidelines.
• Lachpatenschaft (Laughter Sponsorship) Recurring monthly giving program where sponsors commit to regular donations supporting ongoing clown visits, with recognition and updates about the impact of their support.
• Geschenkspende (Gift Donation) Donation service where donors can make a donation as a gift for special occasions and receive a personalized certificate to give to recipients, supporting ongoing clown visits.
• Spendenaktionen (Personal Fundraising Campaigns) Online fundraising campaigns allowing supporters to create personal donation pages for birthdays, anniversaries, or other occasions to collect donations from friends and family.
• Spenden statt schenken (Donate Instead of Gifts) Alternative gifting service encouraging celebrants to request donations to ROTE NASEN instead of traditional gifts for birthday parties, anniversaries, and other events.
• Zeit spenden (Volunteer Time Donation) Volunteer time donation program allowing supporters to help at events like ROTE NASEN LAUF as event helpers with setup, registration, refreshment stations, and cleanup.

Quantifiable outcome

• 267,307 documented encounters with patients and families across Austria
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Allgemeiner Sportverband Österreichs (ASVÖ)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2024ASVÖ is a sports federation that partners with ROTE NASEN for the organization of the ROTE NASEN LAUF charity running events. ASVÖ provides sporting event expertise and organizational support for the running events held at healthcare facilities.
• Medizinische Universität Wien (Medical University of Vienna)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2021Academic research partnership conducting pilot studies on stress reduction in children and adolescents related to clown visits. Under scientific direction of Ass.-Prof. Dr. Daniela Dörfler and Mag. Dr. Karin Windsperger, with ethics commission approval for research on anxiety reduction, stress indicators, and the effect on accompanying persons and treatment staff.
• RED NOSES InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRED NOSES International is the international umbrella organization for RED NOSES/ROTE NASEN clown doctor programs. ROTE NASEN Österreich is a founding member and partner organization, receiving access to the International School of Humor for professional training, sharing best practices with sister organizations globally, and participating in international program development.
• Healthcare Facilities (Hospitals, Rehabilitation Centers, Nursing Homes)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnerships with over 199 healthcare facilities across Austria including children's hospitals, general hospitals with pediatric wards, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and crisis accommodation facilities. ROTE NASEN clown doctors conduct regular visits integrated into facility operations.
• Universität Wien (University of Vienna)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for scientific research on the effects of healthcare clownerie, including stress reduction studies and development of evidence-based practices for clown visits in medical settings.
• ROTE NASEN LAUF SponsorsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsors of the annual ROTE NASEN LAUF events including TU Wien, KIWI, B. Braun, iSi, Stadt Wien Marketing, GRAWE, Libro, Pagro, TV Media, kronehit, MeinBezirk, and familiii. Companies participate by sponsoring the event and/or fielding running teams.
• Rolando VillazónminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInternationally renowned opera star and artistic director of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg who serves as a humor ambassador for RED NOSES/ROTE NASEN. Participates in clown visits as 'Clown Rollo' and lends his celebrity status to raise awareness and support for the organization.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CliniClowns Nederland: Dutch nonprofit providing healthcare clown visits to children, seniors, and people with dementia across the Netherlands. Directly comparable in service portfolio, segment coverage, and donation-funded operating model.
• Theodora Foundation: Swiss nonprofit running professional hospital clown visits for children across Switzerland and internationally. Comparable in mission, training rigor, hospital integration, and donation-funded model to ROTE NASEN.
• Le Rire Médecin: French nonprofit operating professional hospital clowns in pediatric wards across France. Comparable scale, mission, hospital-embedded delivery, and reliance on individual donors and corporate partnerships.
• RED NOSES International: Umbrella organization and founding network of ROTE NASEN Österreich. Operates healthcare clown programs across multiple countries with the shared International School of Humor training methodology, making it the closest functional and structural peer.

Emerging players

• Hearts & Noses Hospital Clown Troupe: US hospital clowning nonprofit operating in Rhode Island and Massachusetts pediatric hospitals. Smaller-scale direct peer sharing the same volunteer-trainer-donor model for pediatric hospital visits.
• Healthy Humor: US nonprofit deploying professional performers in pediatric hospitals across the United States. Comparable hospital-clowning mission and donation-funded model, with overlapping training standards but smaller geographic footprint than ROTE NASEN.

Regional players

• Klinikclowns Bayern e.V. German healthcare clown nonprofit operating primarily in Bavaria. Comparable service model and donation structure but focused on Germany rather than Austria.
• Humor Foundation Australia (Doctor Clowns): Australian nonprofit operating the 'Doctor Clowns' program in children's hospitals. Functionally comparable in healthcare clowning mission but geographically distinct.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCiEGz2c3NXSaoAN_Lu1n65Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/rotenasen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rote-nasen-clowndoctors
• Instagraminstagram.com/rotenasenclowndoctors

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ROTE NASEN Österreich