Include Wikimedia CH by name in your testament
Support free knowledge for generations to come
“Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.”
Jimmy Wales, former chair of the Wikimedia Foundation and a principal creator of Wikipedia
Thank you for your interest in supporting Wikimedia CH.
By naming Wikimedia CH in your will, you are making an important contribution to Wikipedia, the world’s largest online repository for human knowledge. In this way, your support for the values of free knowledge will live on after you. Your generosity will help guarantee that the association Wikimedia CH remains effective and independent.
Remembering Wikimedia CH in your will is easy to do and one of the most powerful ways you can help us ensure that Wikipedia remains a source of trustworthy information for future generations.
By further developing and protecting Wikipedia, we encourage a more informed and open society.
We can’t do it alone. Please consider leaving a gift to Wikimedia CH in your will.
Jenny Ebermann, CEO of Wikimedia CH
Our work
The association focuses its activities on three main areas to reach as many people as possible:
1. Our community
In Switzerland, a growing community of contributors volunteer their skills and time to add content to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and other projects.
The primary activity of Wikimedia CH is to support this community of people editing and taking care of Wikipedia and other projects in Switzerland. With grants, we provide budgets for projects initiated by volunteers. We lend photographic equipment free of charge and pay for travel expenses and participation in events related to Wikimedia projects. Regularly, Wikimedia CH organises writing workshops to enhance Wikimedia projects.
Wikimedia CH stands for diversity and equality among contributors and content. That’s why we invest significant resources to make Wikimedia projects more inclusive and representative.
2. GLAM
The acronym GLAM stands for galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
By helping cultural institutions in Switzerland digitalise and share their collections, Wikimedia CH makes countless treasures available, often for the first time. Thanks to the GLAM programme, Swiss cultural heritage and its diversity have become more accessible to the world.
Wikimedia CH provides people and resources to enable Swiss cultural organisations of all sizes and in all language regions to create their own pages on Wikipedia and digitally share their collections. High-quality training and digital tools help Swiss memory institutions manage their resources, collections and content.
3. Education
Wikimedia CH delivers and collaborates on education programmes that advance learning at every level, both for children and adults. We focus on three domains: (1) providing new tools for teachers to improve the learning, (2) supporting simplified online encyclopaedias for children (3) organising workshops for teachers and trainers.
Wikimedia CH believes that everyone should have free access to quality education. For this reason, we developed the online learning platform open.edu that enables teachers to share and spread educational content. This tool helps them to find new solutions in education.
Additionally, we support online encyclopaedias for children developped by teachers. With these attractive teaching tools, teachers and students can develop vital media and information literacy skills.
Wikimedia CH also organises workshops for volunteers, teachers and researchers where we explain how they can use Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects for teaching and learning. We help Wikipedia contributors, volunteers and teachers acquire pedagogical and technical skills.
Writing your will
To make a bequest, you must make a will stipulating your final wishes. You can revoke or change it at any time.
Your will enables you to leave part of your estate to a cause you believe in. It is important that you make a valid will, so please seek professional advice.
Holographic will: Written entirely in your own hand, this is the simplest kind of will. If you opt for a holographic will, you should consult a professional, such as a notary, lawyer, bank official or financial consultant, to ensure that your will clearly reflects your wishes and complies with the law, especially regarding the entitlements of family members.
Notarial will: Drawn up in the presence of two witnesses and before a notary or any other person empowered to do so, this document guarantees that your will complies with the law.
For further information or if you would like your legacy to be used for a specific project, please contact us via the contact information at the end of this booklet (in the "learn more" section).
If you write your will by hand (holographic will):
- Write your full name, date of birth and address, as well as the names and addresses of people and organisations to whom you are leaving bequests.
- For Wikimedia CH, please write: Wikimedia CH c/o BDO SA, Via Vedeggio 3, 6814 Lamone
- Specify the kind of bequest and the item(s) bequeathed.
- Indicate the location and date, then sign the will.
Possibilities and restrictions
In Switzerland, the law is clear about who your heirs will be. However, in a will or contract of succession, you can influence how at least part of your estate will be distributed.
In the absence of a will
If you have not made a will (known as being “intestate”), your estate will be divided among your legal heirs, i.e. the persons that the law says have the right to inherit your assets. Your legal heirs are your spouse or partner (husband, wife or registered partner) and your closest relatives (your children, or if you have no children, your parents or siblings). They inherit in a predetermined order, according to their statutory succession rights.
If you are not married or in a registered partnership and you have no relatives, your estate goes to the canton or commune of your last place of residence.
Possibilities and restrictions regarding heritage
By law, the surviving spouse or husband, the descendants and the parents are entitled to receive a minimal part of the succession. It is called the compulsory portion.
It’s up to you
We understand that including a gift in your will is a personal matter that requires time and careful consideration. It is your will. It is your decision.
We appreciate this very special gesture and promise you that:
- We understand that your own family, friends and loved ones come first in your will.
- We will not ask you how big or what type of gift you have chosen to give.
- We will respect your privacy – you do not have to tell us your intentions.
- We will use your gift wisely.
Wikimedia CH develops projects and activities in Switzerland and abroad. We will use your gift to enhance free knowledge and to ensure the reliability of Wikipedia as a platform.
Wikimedia CH is exempt from paying inheritance tax on bequests in Switzerland.
Learn more
Do you have any questions concerning the activities and projects of Wikimedia CH?
We will be happy to provide further information.
Contact us if you would like to make a bequest. We speak German, French, Italian and English and look forward to hearing from you.
- Wikimedia CH
- +41 21 311 17 82
- donations@wikimedia.ch
Thank you.
Credits:
Photo credits from top to bottom: (1) "Majestic old oak tree giving shade in the springtime," by makasana photo, Adobe Stock. (2) A man reading on a park bench, by Ben White, Unsplash. (3) "Sunrise over Schäfler in Alpstein, with the Berggasthaus Schäfler in the foreground," by Patryk Hejduk, Wikimedia Commons. (4) "Château de Morges," by Ekaterina Polischuk, Wikimedia Commons. (5) "Interior of ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich)," by Sforzza, Adobe Stock. (6) Books, apple, and ABC blocks, by Element5 Digital, Unsplash. (7) "Testament," by westfotos.de, Adobe Stock. (8) A garden party, by Marissa Price, Unsplash. (9) A loving couple, smiling and hugging, by Joe Hepburn, Unsplash. (10) "Swiss Summer Mountain and Flowers Landscape," by alinamaieru, Adobe Stock. (11) A woman outside on a journey, by Ravi Patel, Unsplash. (12) "Lavaux," by Timmy Frames, Adobe Stock.