Wikimedia CH/Proposal form 2025

Overview

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Wikimedia Switzerland is happy to herewith present its plans for 2025 which are aligned with both the Movement strategy as well as with its 2022-2026 strategy.

As usual, adjustments might have to be taken into consideration in 2025 on one hand given the geopolitical environment the world is currently in. On the other hand, due to fundraising income and other revenues which of course will have a direct impact on our plans.  

Wikimedia CH is well under way implementing its ambitious plans set out in its 2022-2026 strategy. In 2024, the association has been continuing to work on its internal structure, rendering processes more efficient by focussing on impact under the guidance of “Value for Good” - a specialised NGO - and financed by the Swiss Mercator Foundation. What is more, the whole salary system, including compensation and benefits as well as several other internal policies and regulations have been re-visited end completely overhauled. Our new Operational Team Lead - who has started in her function in January 2024 - has been very much engaged in these different aspects and we are proud to say that with our new regulations we are aligned with Swiss standards in the NGO sector.

2024 has also seen the hiring of an Innovation Manger, a position which was newly created and the additional support of an external accounting officer.

2025 will see further engagement of Wikimedia CH on the efficiency path, continuing to implement its membership strategy and working in the realm of impact measurement and ROI. Furthermore, during our Wikiday on May 10, 2025, the strategic reflections of the associations regarding its upcoming next five-year strategic plan (2027-2032) will be kicked off. Overall, 2025 will also see a prioritisation of reflections around automatisations of systems (expenses, finance etc.) and digital marketing. Building a strong organisation also means having a strong basis, therefore ensuring that the back-office has sufficient resources to ensure smooth processes and related procedures.

When looking at external relations and policy work, WMCH will be continuing to build up on the excellent results the association has achieved within the last years, highlighting especially the excellent collaboration with Parldigi and other actors in Switzerland. A particular focus for 2025 will lie on “hate speech” that needs to be tackled from different angles. Not only from a policy standpoint but first and foremost from a community health and caring perspective. In terms of Wikifranca, WMCH has decided to support the strategic alignment of the Association and therefore invited for a strategic workshop for the Wikifranca Board and identified stakeholders in Switzerland. Finally, WMCH will further its support to Wikimedia Europe, as it truly believes in the importance of this structure in terms of networking, public affairs and fundraising in the European Union.

For 2025, the GLAM Programme will focus on the GLAM transformation processes in relation to the new museum strategy of ICOM (International Consortium of Museums) based on civil society, sustainability, disruption and digitalisation. Through a series of events and video releases, GLAM will address the challenges for museums in the future, as well as new forms of archiving and creative knowledge bases. Indeed, the long-term vision of the GLAM Programme, is to build and strengthen a GLAM network for human right values, to use digital transformation for saving cultural heritage and to actualise the latter through artistic cocreation.

The Education Programme will continue implementing its Strategy 2022-2026 by creating a functioning basis for WMCH offers in areas such as the provision of training as well as the development of educational material and an open educational resource platform. The presence of the WMCH Education Programme at important events in the Swiss education sector will become a ‘must’ moving forward.

Regarding Innovation, it can be said that 2025 will see the programme moving from planning to active implementation. Indeed, after two years of foundational setup, the Innovation Lab will now prioritise impactful, resource-efficient projects, advancing accessibility and developing tools to benefit both the Wikimedia community and public knowledge-sharing. To be mentioned in this context is the Project AI which explores the AI integration at WMCH to enhance content quality, accessibility and user engagement. It includes an expert roundtable which will be conducted in fall 2025 emphasising AI's ethical, political and social impacts, which will hopefully result in a white paper on responsible AI aligned with Wikimedia’s values.

Another overarching theme for the organisation and the Community Programme will be the topic of diversity and sustainability. In 2025, WMCH will continue supporting projects and collaborations that have proven to be successful and providing for impact. In addition, WMCH’s activities and partnerships will be revisited on an ongoing basis according to feedback that will be received through the Community Survey.

As every year, it has to be reiterated, that HR costs in Switzerland remain a major factor within Wikimedia CH’s budget. Even people working “on demand” on particular projects have to be factored into WMCH’s operational costs, hence the association pays particular attention to finding the best solutions, working through outsourcing whenever possible.

You will, as usual, find herewith our plans for 2025.

Please also have a look at our latest progress report to better understand where we are heading to.

Finally, as in 2024, our major thread in terms of outreach and programme planning will be:

  • Ensuring and supporting free access to unbiased knowledge as a cornerstone of a democratic society

Our consolidated budget can be found here. You will note that it will increase roughly about 1 Mio CHF compared to 2024. This reflects our hard work over the past years in that we are now finally able to augment our programme expenses since in the background the right processes and people are in place. What is more, our new salary system benchmarked with the Swiss NGO sector as well as the increase of work percentage of some of our existing staff as planned in 2024, plus the foreseen work around “hate speech”, the new 5-year Strategy as well as the preparation of 2026 - 25th birthday of Wikipedia and the 20th birthday of Wikimedia Switzerland - justifies this increase. We are confident that by doing so, we are delivering on expectations, furthering free knowledge in Switzerland and abroad.

Our consolidated budget can be found here. You will note that it will increase roughly about 1 Mio CHF compared to 2024. This reflects our hard work over the past years in that we are now finally able to augment our programme expenses since in the background the right processes and people are in place. What is more, our new salary system benchmarked with the Swiss NGO sector as well as the increase of work percentage of some of our existing staff as planned in 2024, plus the foreseen work around “hate speech”, the new 5-year Strategy as well as the preparation of 2026 - 25th birthday of Wikipedia and the 20th birthday of Wikimedia Switzerland - justifies this increase. We are confident that by doing so, we are delivering on expectations, furthering free knowledge in Switzerland and abroad.

Finally, please let us stress again that:

  • WMCH still doesn’t have a physical office and staff works virtually – and this will continue to be the case in future.
  • WMCH has negotiated very low rates in terms of storage and operational costs, which make our operations very cost effective.
  • WMCH is a registered association in Switzerland and is audited every year.
  • WMCH will remain a structure bearing a hierarchy as flat as possible working on a “self-organised” model based on holocracy. WMCH also embraces mindful leadership principles and guidelines.
  • Whenever possible, pro-bono agreements are sought as well as in-kind donations such as room rentals, catering etc.

Thanks for reading us and we are of course happy to answer your questions!

Thanks for reading us and we are of course happy to answer your questions!


Annual plan summary

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Program 1: GLAM

 
Wikimedia CH GLAM annual plan 2025
 
Wikimedia CH GLAM infographic 2025



Program 2: Education

 
Wikimedia CH Education annual plan 2025
 
Wikimedia CH Education infographic 2025



Program 3: Community

 
Wikimedia CH Community annual plan 2025
 
Wikimedia CH Community infographic 2025



Program 4: Innovation

 
Wikimedia CH Innovation annual plan 2025
 
Wikimedia CH Innovation infographic 2025



Program 5: International and National (Public Relations)

 
Wikimedia CH International and National (Public Relations) annual plan 2025
 
Wikimedia CH International and National (Public Relations) infographic 2025




Financials: upcoming year

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Detailed budget: upcoming year

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Please link to your organization's detailed budget showing planned revenues and expenses for the upcoming funding period (e.g. 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017). This may be a document included on this Wiki (Meta) or a publicly available spreadsheet.

Verification and signature

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Please enter "yes" or "no" for the verification below.

The term “political or legislative activities” includes any activities relating to political campaigns or candidates (including the contribution of funds and the publication of position statements relating to political campaigns or candidates); voter registration activities; meetings with or submissions and petitions to government executives, ministers, officers or agencies on political or policy issues; and any other activities seeking government intervention or policy implementation (like “lobbying”), whether directed toward the government or the community or public at large. General operating support through the FDC may not be used to cover political and legislative activities, although you may make a separate grant agreement with the WMF for these purposes.
I verify that no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation will be used
for political or legislative activities except as permitted by a grant agreement
Yes


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