The largest part of the financial resources available to Wikimedia CH in 2018 resulted from individual donations: concretely 71.9%. 21.1 % were attributed to us by the Wikimedia Foundation based on our annual plan and audited financial reports. The remainders stem from foundations, trainings and courses as well as pro bono (in kind) contributions. The association only had 1.2 % income from membership fees. Wikimedia CH doesn’t receive any government funding or other related funds.
Of course, in order to be able to operate, we have operational costs which amount to approx. 20% of our total annual budget. We don’t have any physical offices as we work virtually; there are thus no rental fees. On the other hand, the major part of our operational expenses are related to administrative costs (general assembly, Board) and staff, IT infrastructure and fundraising as well as third party consultancies (audits, legal etc.).
The support of projects and programs in Switzerland represents the major part of our expenses. WMCH has four strategic pillars under which it operates: GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums), Education, Community and Public Relations. Parts of our revenues are also used to support the global Wikimedia movement, i.e. projects across the world for the dissemination of free knowledge.
