At the time of the 2007 CI General Assembly, the General Secretariat was operating with an annual structural deficit of approximately half a million euros. In order to address this issue, the budget for 2007–11 had a shortfall of approximately two million euros that the General Secretariat was mandated to meet through external fundraising. This target has been exceeded by three million euros.

The specialist fundraising and management consultants, Brakeley, were appointed to carry out a feasibility study. Brakeley conducted a series of interviews with 20 representatives from the CI General Secretariat management team, the Executive Committee, senior executives from Member Organisations and regional coordinators. They presented their findings to the Executive Committee at its meeting in May 2009.

The number of large unsolicited donations received has increased over the past four years, possibly as a result of successful profileraising communications and representational activities. Large donations from individuals and the website with its online donation facility have brought in around €7 million during the four years, of which € 5.5 million were Unrestricted Contributions.

A full-time fundraising manager was appointed in 2010 and has been working to establish new protocols and procedures for the receipt of donations, as well as establishing a strategy for future fundraising activities.