Salvation Army Switzerland

What Salvation Army Switzerland does

Salvation Army Switzerland (Stiftung Heilsarmee Schweiz), headquartered at Laupenstrasse 5 in Bern, is a ZEWO-certified, tax-exempt charitable foundation (CHE-109.029.743) operating as part of the global Salvation Army network with territorial oversight of Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary. The organization delivers a comprehensive continuum of social services across more than 150 locations in German- and French-speaking Switzerland, anchored by six emergency shelters providing over 70,000 overnight stays annually, 11 residential homes and six workshops for people with disabilities housing 500+ individuals per year, senior and care homes accommodating 160+ residents, ambulatory Spitex home nursing in Neuchâtel, supported-living and housing-coaching programs, children's and youth homes, refugee collective accommodations in and around Bern, a women's shelter for victims of domestic violence, prison chaplaincy services, and the Angeh\u00f6rt counseling program for relatives of incarcerated individuals established in 2016. The organization also runs the brocki.ch secondhand retail chain as a social enterprise, the #StandByMe recurring donation program, and a Finding Home housing-guidance platform.

The foundation operates no proprietary technology product or software platform; service delivery is built around trained social workers, pastoral staff, and trained volunteers across its owned facility network, with a reported 29,345 volunteer days contributed in 2025. The business model rests on three revenue streams: individual and corporate charitable donations (including the Topfkollekte annual campaign, the #StandByMe recurring program, and testamentary bequests) governed by ZEWO standards, performance-based government contracts with cantons and municipalities totaling CHF 60 million in 2025, and brocki.ch secondhand retail revenue. In 2025, 92% of donations were allocated directly to project operations versus the 65% ZEWO minimum threshold, and the organization maintains a 3.5:1 internal pay ratio cap with CEO Daniel Imboden receiving approximately CHF 72,000 gross annually.

Name

Salvation Army Switzerland

Legal name

Stiftung Heilsarmee Schweiz

Website

https://heilsarmee.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1882

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Salvation Army Switzerland (Stiftung Heilsarmee Schweiz) is a ZEWO-certified charitable foundation operating 150+ social service and church facilities across German- and French-speaking Switzerland, providing emergency shelter, supported housing, senior and disability care, refugee accommodations, and reintegration programs funded through donations, government contracts, and secondhand retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian & Social Welfare Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Community Food Services (624210), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Humanitarian Aid & Relief Ministries (BPAGAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Emergency Shelter, NFIs & Winterization for Displaced Populations (BPADAHAG), Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGACAG), Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE)

Keywords

• Humanitarian social services
• Emergency homeless shelters
• Residential care homes
• Refugee housing support
• Community welfare programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual and corporate donations, including one-time gifts, recurring monthly contributions (#StandByMe donor program), testamentary bequests (legacies), and in-kind goods donations. Governed by ZEWO standards.
2. Government Contracts and Public Funding: Performance-based contracts with cantons and municipalities for social services including refugee housing, welfare housing placements, and youth care. Public subsidies for residential care beds. In 2025, received CHF 60 million in public funding.
3. Retail — brocki.ch Secondhand Shops: Operates a network of secondhand stores (brocki.ch) selling donated goods. Revenue supports social programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

The Salvation Army Switzerland (Stiftung Heilsarmee Schweiz) is a Christian charitable foundation operating a comprehensive continuum of social services across 150+ locations in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. Its core offerings include emergency shelters for the homeless, supported and transitional housing, residential care homes for adults, seniors, children, and refugees, addiction and prison-family counseling, home-based nursing, and the brocki.ch secondhand retail chain. Services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries and funded through donations, government contracts, and retail revenue.

Product overview

The Salvation Army Switzerland (Heilsarmee Schweiz) is a Christian social welfare organization and church operating at over 150 locations across Switzerland. Its core offering is not a unified software product but rather a portfolio of interconnected social service programs organized around housing and residential care as the central pillar. The service portfolio includes emergency overnight shelters (Notunterkünfte/Notschlafstellen) such as Le Passage in Geneva and La Marmotte in Lausanne; supported living and housing coaching (Wohnbegleitung) in German and Western Switzerland; Spitex home nursing in Neuchâtel; and residential homes for adults, seniors, children, youth, refugees, and women fleeing domestic violence. The organization also operates the Wohnen und Begleiten Zürich network (three facilities with 116 total placements), Housing First Basel for long-term homeless individuals, and the Wohnberatung Bern advisory service. Beyond direct care, it offers prison family support (Angehört), prison chaplaincy, international development projects, estate planning services, and the brocki.ch second-hand retail chain. The #StandByMe recurring donation program and the Finding Home housing-search guidance platform round out the non-residential offerings. This is a people-facing social services organization; there is no software product, API, or AI capability described.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• StandByMe: Recurring donation program to support people in need against loneliness
• Finding Home
• brocki.ch

Products and services

• Emergency Shelters (Notunterk\u00fcnfte & Notschlafstellen)
• Wohnen und Begleiten Z\u00fcrich (Supported Living Zurich)
• Supported Living & Housing Coaching (Betreutes Wohnen & Wohnbegleitung)
• Residential Homes for Adults (Wohnheime f\u00fcr Erwachsene)
• Senior & Care Homes (Alters- und Pflegewohnheime)
• Spitex «Soins \u00e0 domicile» (Home Nursing)
• Children's & Youth Homes (Kinder- und Jugendheime)
• Women's Shelter (Frauenhaus)
• Collective Accommodations for Refugees (Kollektivunterk\u00fcnfte)
• Housing First Basel
• Housing Advice Bern (Wohnberatung Bern)
• Social Help & Counseling (Soziale Hilfe & Beratung)
• #StandByMe Recurring Donation Program
• Angeh\u00f6rt \u2014 Prisoner Family Support
• Prison Service (Gef\u00e4ngnisdienst)
• International Development (Internationale Entwicklung)
• brocki.ch \u2014 Secondhand Shops
• Estate Consulting & Planning (Nachlassberatung & Vorsorge)
• Finding Home \u2014 Housing Search Guidance Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 77,655 meals distributed through church communities in 2025 (~190 meals/day)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Red LightningminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Red Lightning partnered with the Salvation Army to establish communication centers in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa in October 2025. Together they provided internet access, solar panels, generators, and batteries to six severely affected communities, enabling affected families to contact relatives.
• ZEWO (Zewo-Gütesiegel / Swiss Non-Profit Certification)coreOthersZEWO is the Swiss certification body for charitable organizations. ZEWO certification is a prerequisite for tax-deductible donations in Switzerland. The Salvation Army Switzerland holds ZEWO certification and adheres to its 21 standards covering fundraising practices, financial management, governance, and impact reporting.
• SDC / DEZA (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)minorOthersThe Salvation Army Switzerland's international development programs are supported in part by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) funding, in accordance with DEZA/SDC standards for humanitarian and development aid.
• Stiftung REPR (Réseau des Proches de Personnes Ryuites)minorOthersStiftung REPR provides equivalent support services for relatives of incarcerated individuals in French-speaking Switzerland (Western Switzerland), complementing the 'Angehört' service offered by the Salvation Army in German-speaking Switzerland.

Scale indicators20 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Caritas Schweiz: Caritas Schweiz is the largest Swiss humanitarian aid organization and the closest direct peer to the Salvation Army Switzerland. It operates a similarly broad portfolio of social services including housing assistance, refugee integration, family support, and poverty-relief programs across Switzerland, financed through donations, public contracts, and retail (secondhand shops).
• Pro Senectute Schweiz: Pro Senectute is the leading Swiss foundation for elderly services and a direct peer in the senior care and home care segment where the Salvation Army operates Spitex services and Alterswohnheime. Both organizations serve the aging Swiss population through a mix of residential and ambulatory services, funded by donations and public subsidies.
• Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz (Swiss Red Cross): The Swiss Red Cross is the Swiss national society of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent movement and a direct peer in emergency social services, refugee support, and humanitarian aid. Like the Salvation Army, it operates an extensive national facility network, runs community programs, and is heavily funded by public contracts and donations.
• SOS Kinderdorf Schweiz: SOS Kinderdorf Schweiz is a direct peer in children's residential care and youth-at-risk support. Like the Salvation Army's Kinder- und Jugendheime, it operates residential homes for children and adolescents from difficult family circumstances, with funding from public contracts and donations.
• Pro Infirmis Schweiz: Pro Infirmis is the leading Swiss disability support organization and a direct peer in residential homes and workshops for people with disabilities (the Salvation Army operates 11 such homes and 6 workshops). Both rely on public contracts and donations to fund services for vulnerable populations.
• Schweizerische Winterhilfe: Schweizerische Winterhilfe is a nationwide Swiss charity providing direct financial assistance to people in poverty, comparable to the Salvation Army's social counseling and poverty-relief services. Both organizations focus on material aid and basic-needs support for financially vulnerable populations in Switzerland.
• Emmaüs Suisse: Emmaüs Suisse is a Swiss peer operating a network of second-hand shops and reintegration workshops for socially excluded individuals. It is comparable to the Salvation Army's brocki.ch retail network and disability workshops, sharing the social-enterprise model that funds inclusion programs.
• Diakonie Schweiz: Diakonie Schweiz is the umbrella organization of Protestant social services in Switzerland and a direct peer as a faith-based social services network. It consolidates denominational social work comparable to the Salvation Army's Christian humanitarian service portfolio, including housing, addiction, and refugee programs.

Broad incumbents

• Caritas Deutschland: Caritas Deutschland is the much larger German sibling of Caritas Schweiz and a broad incumbent in the same humanitarian and social-services space. While it operates in a different geography, it provides a comparative benchmark for the scale, structure, and public-funding model of an integrated Catholic social welfare organization.

Regional players

• Fondation Mère Sofia: Fondation Mère Sofia is a Geneva-based charity providing emergency food distribution and shelter to vulnerable populations, comparable to the Salvation Army's La Marmotte and Le Passage facilities in Western Switzerland. It operates in a more regional scope but mirrors the food-distribution and emergency-housing model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Heilsarmee
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCfP8TyOqeRuWnc_AQ9HuzMA
• Facebookfacebook.com/Heilsarmee.ArmeeDuSalut
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heilsarmee-schweiz
• Instagraminstagram.com/heilsarmee.armeedusalut

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Salvation Army Switzerland