Make yourself comfortable and flick through – just like on traditional TV – the various ‘channels’, aka the technological fundraising building blocks and content highlights that make up the RTL Charity Marathon. For anyone particularly interested in the fundraising tech behind the scenes, click here to go straight to the 8.15 pm blockbuster: RaiseNow technology. But let’s start at the beginning:

30 years of tradition – The RTL Charity Marathon

The RTL Charity Marathon celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025 with an XXL edition. After 30 hours, Wolfram Kons was able to announce at the finale that €23,077,166 had been raised for children’s aid projects. Anyone who thinks that 30 hours of TV no longer really moves people these days has missed this marathon: tears in the studio, famous faces on the phone, tired but determined teams seeing it through to the end – and millions of people who showed that solidarity is not a snapshot in time, but a way of life.

To mark its anniversary, the campaign by the “RTL Foundation – Wir helfen Kindern e.V.” deliberately focused on a strong digital component. What made this special was that, in one major live event, the technologies from RaiseNow, Koalect and gettup were used together – bundled into an infrastructure that seamlessly connects TV, streaming, gaming and community campaigns.

Together with RaiseNow, Koalect and gettup, a traditional charity telethon was transformed into a 30-hour experience that reached people across a wide variety of channels: from RTL and RTL+ to Twitch and YouTube. Whilst presenter Wolfram Kons guided the studio audience through emotional stories, interviews and live performances, digital formats ran in parallel, significantly increasing both reach and the willingness to donate.

A multi-channel fundraising campaign powered by RaiseNow!

This means: innovative donation forms combined with secure payment processing, creative Community Fundraising campaigns using Koalect – and a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integration with gettup, which turns one-off donations into long-term relationships.

Knossi Stream: 24 hours live from the world of RTL

Entertainer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla streamed live for 24 hours on RTL+ and via his Twitch channel – from the canteen to the TV studio. His community could make digital donations at any time (using RaiseNow’s donation forms) and see how entertainment and social engagement fit together seamlessly.

Three technologies, one infrastructure

Behind the scenes, the RTL Charity Marathon also demonstrates what is made possible by the merger of RaiseNow, Koalect and gettup: a shared technological platform on which multi-channel fundraising campaigns come together seamlessly.

What RaiseNow technology makes possible

RaiseNow provided the scalable donation infrastructure for the digital fundraising segment of the RTL Charity Marathon. Even when Knossi called on his community live to ‘make the donation systems explode’ at 8.00 pm, everything remained stable at RaiseNow. The effect was different – and significantly better: at precisely that moment, donations rose noticeably – just as Knossi had planned, but the systems naturally held up. Events such as the RTL Foundation’s campaign demonstrate that RaiseNow enables flexible donation forms tailored to the campaign’s requirements – from donation amounts to design.

A clear spike in donations at 8.00 pm in the RaiseNow systems.

What Koalect technology makes possible

Koalect, RaiseNow’s Community Fundraising brand, brought interaction and community power to the event.

• Supporters were able to launch their own fundraising campaigns for the RTL Charity Marathon – ranging from gaming streams and corporate initiatives to team fundraising.
• By combining Koalect with streaming donations, valuable donor data can also be collected. This means the power of the community can be specifically harnessed again after the event – for example, through targeted email fundraising campaigns for the organisation’s next fundraising event.

This transformed the RTL charity telethon into a campaign that people could not only ‘watch’ but also actively take part in.

What gettup technology makes possible

gettup, RaiseNow’s in-house CRM solution, ensured that one-off donations could develop into long-term relationships.

• Donations and contact details were recorded in a structured manner within the CRM – these can be segmented by payment method and date of donation.
• Following an event, organisations such as Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern e. V. have a reliable data foundation – for targeted follow-up communication, meaningful reporting and transparent information for supporters and partners. In this way, the marathon did not end with the final TV broadcast, but laid the foundations for sustainable communication and future campaigns.

The 30th RTL Charity Marathon was not only a record-breaker in terms of duration and reach, but above all an example of how fundraising formats can continue to evolve. For RaiseNow, Koalect and gettup, the project sent a clear message: When fundraising events, community and digital infrastructure work together, new avenues open up, spontaneous support is made easier – and reach translates into tangible impact. An anniversary that shows what the future might look like – and how technology brings people together to do good.