Annual Fund
Creating a Sustainable Future
Sustainability is core to our strategic plan. With the support of our community, we plan to max out our solar potential by installing solar panels across both campuses.
We are switching to 100% renewable energy by 2030, and we have ambitious targets to drastically reduce our energy consumption.
Each panel will produce approximately 435 watts of energy at peak capacity for a combined annual yield of nearly 300,000 kWh once all panels are fully online. That's enough to power more than 67 homes a year!
Support the installation of solar panels by making a donation to the Annual Fund.
As a non-profit organization, Zurich International School reinvests all of its income into improving the ZIS experience. Philanthropy allows us to go beyond what tuition and fees allow. The Annual Fund is a collective effort made by the ZIS community to raise donations in support of strategic school priorities every year.
Your tax-deductible donation, no matter the size, will have an impact.
Donations that fully fund individual solar panels (i.e., donations in the amounts of 100, 500, 1000, 5000, and 15000 CHF/USD) come with the opportunity to name the panel. Donations in any other amounts are welcome and can be made here.
Select Your Solar Panel
To fund your solar panel, use the interactive image below to select and fund your panel:
- Choose which campus you would like to fund a solar panel on.
- Click on the color that corresponds to the size of the panel you would like to fund.
- Select a white square panel on the roof and complete the donation form.
5000 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
1000 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
100 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
500 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
100 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
1000 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
5000 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
500 CHF
Please Select Your Panel
15000 CHF
Select the Solar Sunflower to proceed
15000 CHF
Select the Solar Sunflower to proceed
15000 CHF
Select the Solar Sunflower to proceed
100 CHF
* Power the 3D printer bank for a month
500 CHF
* Power 35 theatre
performances
1000 CHF
* Power all ICT equipment for 2 months
5000 CHF
* Power a campus for 2 weeks
15,000 CHF
* Power the ZIS kitchens for 6 weeks.
* These estimates reflect what panels of each size could power.
Giving
Make a donation to the Annual Fund in CHF/USD
Sustainable Perspectives
Energy is key to our vision for becoming a sustainable school. The City of Zurich has set a target of net zero emissions by 2035 and the EU plans to reduce emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. To reach these targets, we all need to play our part. At ZIS, we want to become more energy efficient and, at the same time, produce as much of our own energy as possible.
I want to change the world – and school is a great place to start! That’s why I’m very happy that ZIS is not just installing solar panels but also promoting what it’s doing to the whole school community. Exposure to renewable energy technologies encourages us students to think differently – and talk about our thoughts with our families and friends. That means solar gets more exposure, which in turn attracts more attention. It’s a perfect domino effect.
I’m so excited that we’re switching to 100 per cent green energy. We’re practicing what we preach – and the students can see that. Take our Beyond the Classroom service learning opportunity, where 30 students and I carried out a full study of the energy the school could produce.
I think it’s great that ZIS is not just installing solar panels but getting us students involved, too. Our Beyond the Classroom initiative, for example, had us building and installing our own solar panels, then tracking the data they produced. It’s so important to engage students: after all, we’re the ones who are thinking about the future and the bigger picture.
In today’s digital age – where children often spend a significant amount of time on their phones and tablets– I think it’s crucial to foster their critical thinking and teamwork skills. That’s why, as a parent of a six-year-old and a 12-year-old who tries to foster these skills in my children daily, I’m supporting the campaign to raise money for solar panels at ZIS, because it actively promotes both these qualities.
I’m proud to support ZIS’s solar panels – it means the school is taking steps in the right direction. I think about this a lot, because my job is guiding companies to do exactly what ZIS is doing – integrating renewable energy systems into their existing systems and decarbonising their operations. How can they do this? What might be the impacts, and how should they deal with those?