WeCollect
WeCollect is the digital infrastructure layer of Swiss direct democracy. The platform supports the full lifecycle of a popular initiative or referendum: developing the idea, building a supporting coalition, launching the campaign, and collecting the required signatures — moving signature-gathering from clipboard-and-market-stall to digital. Since 2015 it has gathered over 915,000 signatures across 123 campaigns.
The platform is operated by the Stiftung für direkte Demokratie, a non-profit foundation based in Basel. Current live campaigns (August 2026) include referendums on palm oil imports and nuclear energy, and popular initiatives on internet rights (the "Internet-Initiative"), Palestinian relations, mobility credits, and family leave — a snapshot of direct democracy in motion. WeCollect is infrastructure, not advocacy: it does not take positions on the initiatives it hosts, providing only the tooling and guidance for citizen-led campaigns to reach the ballot.
Links
- Website: wecollect.ch
See also
History
- 2015-01-01 Launched by the Stiftung für direkte Demokratie as Switzerland's civic-techPlatform/product launch
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2024-12-18
Ran a successful "Save WeCollect" fundraising campaign, closing a funding gap threatening operationsCommunity-funded rescue of the platform's operations
Sourcing: High
In zwei Monaten sind die nötigen 250’000 Franken zusammengekommen, um das Defizit des laufenden Jahres zu decken und den Betrieb bis Ende März 2025 zu sichern.
Translation: "In two months, the needed 250,000 francs came together, covering the current year's deficit and securing operations through the end of March 2025." Over 4,000 people donated to the rescue campaign, 1,755 of them first-time donors to WeCollect. Run by the operating foundation, Stiftung für direkte Demokratie.
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