Membership
Donation
in the service of associations

Membership obligations

Upon entry into the association, members accept the articles of association and commit themselves to protect the interests of the association (loyalty) and to pay membership fees (liability to pay contributions). The articles of association may provide for further obligations, such as the obligation to accept an office or to attend the general meetings. In case of a breach of membership obligations, sanctions, i.e. penalties may be imposed if provided for in the articles of association.
Question

Our members live all over Switzerland and in neighbouring foreign countries, for many of them it is not possible to attend the general meeting. Is it admissible to have a general meeting online?

Answer

Members have the right to attend the general meeting and to participate in voting and elections as well as the corresponding discussions. If a Swiss association has members with residence in a foreign country, it must ensure that these members can make use of their rights. As a supplement or substitute for a physical meeting, an online meeting can be held via an online conference room (e.g. Skype, Facetime, etc.) or via a live stream from the meeting with a chat option for discussion and voting. This is admissible provided all members are invited in time, have access to the Internet and receive the necessary documents and access data. A further prerequisite is that the articles of association provide for online meetings.

Supported by

Binding Stiftung
Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Mercator Schweiz
Migros Kulturprozent
Schweizerische Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft SGG
Stadt Zürich