Stronger footing, together
Financial stability and sustainability for L’Arche communities and the Federation.
01 · The honest picture
A broader base, built together.
L’Arche International met its income target and, for the first time, drew on institutional and corporate funders alongside families and foundations. The harder task, a shared approach to donors across the Federation, is well under way but not finished.
What has changed since
L’Arche International’s income reached €5.6 million in 2024, above the €5.5 million-a-year target set in 2023. In 2025, €913,000 came from financial partners new to L’Arche during the grant, including the European Union, the Agence Française de Développement, a corporate partner and new family foundations.
What were our successes
EU grants for TwidSA (€325,000) and Nothing About Me Without Me (€331,000), plus two smaller EU projects. An AFD grant for family outreach in four African communities. A Global Case for Support built with For Impact and representatives from across the Federation. More than €350,000 raised together for emergencies in Bethlehem, Haiti, Ukraine and Poland in 2023–24.
What were the challenges
The first-ever global campaign planned for 2023 did not happen as designed; without International Leaders in place, it became a joint multi-level donor strategy instead. Key fundraising staff changed. The economic climate hardened: foundations reduced their giving and national structures could not increase their contributions. In 2024 L’Arche rated its own progress on this outcome as slow; by 2025 it was steady.
What did we learn
Diversifying income is essential. Private donors increasingly expect the same action plans, indicators and reporting as institutional funders. Fundraising works best with communities, not for them, and the aim is to raise all boats.
How is L’Arche better positioned
A Director of Partnerships and Communications since January 2025, an institutional grant writer, a Global Case for Support, and seven countries committed to building partnerships together: the USA, UK, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Between September 2024 and August 2025 the team made 34 donor visits and 8 asks, and secured 4 new commitments.
| Year | Income (€ million) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 4.58 |
| 2019 | 4.53 |
| 2020 | 4.32 |
| 2021 | [to add] |
| 2022 | [to add] |
| 2023 | [to add] |
| 2024 | 5.6 |
| 2025 | 5.5 (projection) |
Target from 2024: €5.5 million a year.
Where this page comes from
- L’Arche application to Porticus (2021), organisation finances
- Year 3 report (Sept 2024) and Year 4 report draft (2025)
02 · What we did
What the grant made possible
New skills, new funders and new ways of working together across borders.
Fundraising coaching
For Impact coached L’Arche in engaging major multi-level donors and guided the Global Case for Support: common language for L’Arche’s vision and impact, shaped by people with and without disabilities from across the Federation and adaptable to each country.
[Paragraph: the coaching from Suddes, Kate Lang and the consultant who supported the AFD application. Who was coached, and what changed.]
The AFD grant
Four communities, L’Arche Ivory Coast, L’Arche Kenya, L’Arche Zimbabwe and L’Arche Al Fulk in Egypt, were awarded €500,000 by the Agence Française de Développement for family outreach, after an extensive planning and budgeting process. L’Arche International provides project management, helping local leaders track progress, collect data and report. After 18 months the four communities completed the detailed impact reporting the grant requires, and L’Arche secured matching grants for the work.
Institutional grant-writing capacity
Since September 2024 a part-time grant writer has focused on European Union funding. Middle countries have worked together on several successful proposals:
- Together With and Without Disability in Self-Advocacy (TwidSA): €325,000, February 2024 to January 2027, with L’Arche Croatia, Egypt, Bethlehem and La Merci in France. 24 youth workers with and without disabilities are trained to reach 1,600 young people.
- Nothing About Me Without Me: €331,000 for 2026–27, with communities in Croatia, Poland, France, Italy and Lithuania. Young people with intellectual disabilities become storytellers and advocates through a documentary series.
- Horse therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities: €30,000, with L’Arche Slovenia, L’Arche Croatia and Ranch Istra Star.
- Developing autonomy and wider inclusion: €60,000, 2024–2025, supporting adults and families through the move to more independent living.
Communities are also learning to win smaller grants themselves, like L’Arche Choluteca’s $10,000 from UNHCR in 2025.
Communications capacity
A storyteller and graphic designer now produce the films, photos and tools that fundraisers across the Federation need: films on Edita in Lithuania, Michael in Egypt and communities living through war, four editions of Echoes of L’Arche a year, annual reports and one-page engagement tools. L’Arche also made a thank-you film for Porticus, with an emphasis on L’Arche in the global south.
A stronger European fundraising team
L’Arche International created a new full-time role to help communities in European middle countries such as Belgium, Germany and Switzerland engage major multi-level donors, and worked with L’Arche UK on UK-based fundraising research. Confirmed-country and middle-country fundraisers now meet regularly and trained together in Manchester in November 2024.
[Paragraph: where the European fundraising team stands today, who is in post, and early results.]
New partners during the grant
| Partner | Amount (2025) | What it supports |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch Province of the Augustinians | €500,000 | Building our foundations as a springboard for growth |
| Agence Française de Développement | €183,000 | Family outreach in Africa |
| European Union (TwidSA) | €108,000 | Self-advocacy with young people |
| Family foundation, Switzerland | €100,000 | Social entrepreneurship in L’Arche |
| Lord Michelham of Hellingly Foundation | €40,000 | Family outreach in Kenya |
| Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion | CAD 20,000 | Communities in India, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Japan |
| Pulte Family Charitable Foundation | $25,000 | Latin American formation and disability leadership |
| SOMFY | €10,000 | Agriculture, crafts and sales, L’Arche Asansol, India |
To confirm: Amounts are those received in the 2024–25 grant year, from the Year 4 report draft. Nothing About Me Without Me (€331,000) starts in 2026. To confirm with Finance.
Where this page comes from
- Year 3 report (Sept 2024) and Year 4 report draft (2025)
- larche.org: TwidSA and Nothing About Me Without Me
03 · In their own words
In their own words
Families reached by the family outreach work in Africa that the AFD grant supports.
Bouaké, Ivory Coast (CI)
Mokan, Marwin and Tricha
Mokan supports her seven-year-old twins with autism, Marwin and Tricha, with help from their grandparents. She survived a violent attack that left deep scars. “My children gave me a reason to keep going,” she says.
Through L’Arche Bouaké’s youth and family programme, educators and social workers build activities around each child. Tricha gains confidence through art and games. Marwin began using images on a tablet to say what he wants.
When I saw Marwin use the tablet to show me what he wanted to say, I cried. For the first time, I felt like I could truly understand my son.
Mokan
Watch: L’Arche in Ivory Coast ›
Abwan, Minya, Egypt (EG)
Moaz takes his first steps
Moaz is a five-year-old boy with Down syndrome. He could not stand or walk on his own and did not speak, and his mother did not know how to communicate with him. Then L’Arche invited them to a programme for children with disabilities and their families, in their own village.
With physical training, language sessions and support for his mother, Moaz began to stand with confidence, took his first independent steps and started using simple words with his family.
Today I feel my son has a future, and that we are not alone in this journey.
Moaz’s mother
Watch: Michael’s story, L’Arche Alexandria ›
Nyahururu, Kenya (KE)
Rennie and her mother
When Rennie was about six months old, her mother noticed she wasn’t reaching for toys like other babies. A friend suggested L’Arche. The team assessed Rennie and built a rehabilitation plan just for her, and they cared for her mother too, connecting her with other mothers.
By the time Rennie turned three she had reached most of her therapeutic goals, and her mother had become a confident advocate for her daughter’s rights and full participation in the community.
We hope to have a society which, instead of excluding, welcomes diversity and people with disabilities.
Kinyua Wachira, Community Leader, L’Arche Kenya
Where this page comes from
- L’Arche one-pagers 2026: Ivory Coast, Egypt, Kenya