Details of the funding of the 2024 South East Europe project will be added here in Q1 2024.

#CrossBorderRail 2022 is now 100% funded! Thank you everyone who contributed!

If you still want to help out with the project there are ways you can help in kind!

Make a donation

What is the funding target, and what does this include?

The project budget is €4096 – there is more detail of the budget in the “Costs” Google Sheet for the project. This will cover the Interrail ticket for me to allow the trip to happen, and the costs of all reservations for the trains I will take, and berths in sleeping cars. It will also cover food for each day of the trip, and 15 nights in hotels – other nights I will stay with friends. You can contribute in kind by offering me a place to stay – please complete this form. This basic charge also includes the 2.5% charge levied by Betterplace, the crowd funding platform, and 7.5% to cover the administrative overheads at MitOst e.V., the organisation that supports me and the Trains for Europe campaign.

The standard fundraising target does not contain any payment for a minute of my time, and I am self employed and do not have permanent employment – and I am not going to be able to do anything but this project for 40 days, and that excludes the preparation time – like building this website.

But the funding page says €7150 is the target?

If and when the €4096 target is reached, additional options totalling €3054 are then triggered – to purchase pannier bags for the cycle legs of the trip, and a small drone for photography. Extra 4G/5G mobile phone data is also included here. And notably to fund a small stipend of €50 per day (€2000 total) as payment for my time. And last of all, there is an option to upgrade from 2nd to 1st Class Interrail.

What happens if you do not reach your funding target?

If the full €4098 is not reached, it is possible to scale the trip back to just 1 or 2 circuits. €1250 will allow 1 circuit (North), and €2850 will allow 2 circuits (North and South West). Any money raised that cannot be used to finance a circuit will be donated to MitOst e.V.’s work with civil society organisations and Ukraine.

Do you have any other sources of funding, beyond this crowdfunding effort?

I have so far been offered one paid contract to write an article about the project, and one free ticket for literally 1 of the 146 trains I will take during the trip. For the moment that is it. If other offers are forthcoming I will list them here. I am also open to sponsorships for the trip – please use this form to contact me about that.

Can specific parts of the trip be funded?

Yes! 75 different component parts of the trip – both kilometres of the route, and costs of food and accommodation – are separately listed in the Betterplace crowd funder. You can leave a comment in the donation form to state more precisely what you want to fund! I will do my best to accommodate all requests. But keep in mind that I can only assure the allocation to the selected purpose if the full funding target was met. Otherwise – if the entirety of the trip is not covered – I have to reserve the right to redirect the funds to the parts of the journey that I can make happen.

Are certificates for tax authorities issued when you donate?

Yes, these are issued by Betterplace – the platform used for the crowd funding. These however are Germany-specific, as both Betterplace and MitOst e.V. that I am partnering with for this project are based in Germany. You can read more about this here.

Will it be public that you have contributed?

For legal reasons you have to give your name when donating at Betterplace, but there is an option in the donation form as to whether to show your name or not. If you do show indicate that your name will be shown that means I will also cite you (and thank you!) on this website and on social media.

Are there other ways to contribute?

Yes! There are a whole bunch of ways to help out. Contributions in kind are very welcome – please fill out this form. You can also commission me to write something about the topics of the project, or invite me to give a presentation to your organisation – for that please use this form. Throughout the trip there are a lot of events I will organise with activists – and you can also lend a hand organising those!