It was interesting to hear from Switzerland, here in the UK things are very different. One difference between the UK model and the US/Swiss model is that the tax largely accrues to the charity not to the donor. Another feature of UK charity giving is that it is heavily skewed towards legacies, but with an important area of payroll giving. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Payroll_giving&action=historys... ,
And while we might be cautious about taking money from some companies directly, it is a very different matter if that same company is matching the charity donations that their employees give via Payroll giving.
There is also a tradition of charity endorsed calenders and Christmas cards that for some charities can represent an important revenues stream. I would suggest that a charity which can produce "Dad's presents" such as a Battleship themed calender has a ready niche in this market.
Some of that may be similar to whatever country you live in, but the odds are that unless you come from the UK parts of it will be very different. For example Ireland has a system whereby charities endorse prize draws... That's why big successful multinational charities tend to decentralise so they can take advantage of such national differences.
WSC