Record budget This is how much money is being pumped into the "No 10 million Switzerland" initiative
Supporters and opponents are digging deep into their wallets for the "No 10 million Switzerland" initiative: CHF 15.52 million has been budgeted so far. This is the highest sum since the introduction of mandatory reporting.
15.05.2026, 10:16
15.05.2026, 10:27
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- The budget for the "No 10 Million Switzerland" initiative has reached a record level of over 15 million francs.
- This is significantly more than the CHF 9.7 million raised for the vote on the expansion of the motorways in 2024.
- The CHF 6.44 million for the "Yes" campaign was mainly contributed by the SVP.
Funds totaling over CHF 15 million have been reported to date for the campaigns for the "10 Million Switzerland" initiative. This is a record since the introduction of the reporting obligation. Far less money is flowing into the campaign to amend the Civilian Service Act.
In the run-up to the votes on the "No 10 Million Switzerland" initiative and the Civilian Service Act on June 14, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has disclosed the campaign budgets. Donations of more than CHF 50,000 must be reported, whereby contributions to committees of more than CHF 15,000 are listed individually.
The previous frontrunner was the vote on the freeway expansion in November 2024, whose campaign budget of around ten million francs has already been far exceeded by supporters and opponents of the "No 10 Million Switzerland" initiative: as of Friday, over 15 million francs had been budgeted for the referendum campaign.
Supporters come from SVP circles
The CHF 6.44 million "Yes" campaign is largely being supported by the SVP. The largest named supporters include party politicians such as former Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher with CHF 130,000 and National Councillor Thomas Matter with CHF 250,000.
The SVP-affiliated Foundation for Civic Politics has budgeted over one million francs for the upcoming vote. In addition to unknown donors, the entrepreneur and former owner of Denner, Philippe Gaydoul, declared CHF 250,000 for the Yes campaign.
Economiesuisse contributes almost half
The No camp has so far collected a total of just over nine million francs in declared donations. Almost half of this comes from the business umbrella organization Economiesuisse, which supported the "Chaos Initiative No" alliance with 4.22 million francs.
As of Friday, the SP's donations amounted to over 1.6 million francs. The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions stated that it was supporting the counter-campaign with 825,400 francs. Unia's budget currently stands at almost half a million francs.
Parties have less left for civilian service
The campaigns for and against the second vote on June 14 on the amendment to the Civilian Service Act are far less expensive and much more balanced. At CHF 320,174, the opponents' budget is CHF 20,174 higher than that of the supporters. The Yes campaign is being financed by the Swiss Security Alliance.
The No camp, for its part, is supported by the SP. The SP declared a budget of around a quarter of a million francs, most of which came from donations. The Alliance Civilian Service Act-No disclosed funds of 73,174 francs.
