Let’s start with the foundation.
The Ukrainian Relief Fund and the Ukrainian Charitable Exchange (UBB) have a long history. Ufond shared its experience when it was the first in Ukraine to introduce an electronic payment system - acquiring. And today UBB provides its own platform where we can talk about our seriously ill children. Thanks to this cooperation, we managed to raise about 63,000 hryvnias in six months and help eight families. We decided to talk to the director of UBB Irina Gutsal about the peculiarities of the domestic philanthropy market and the main directions of development. So to speak, to test our feelings and develop a common strategy to improve the climate for all charities.
- How do you think the environment for the development of charity in Ukraine has changed recently?
- Charity is now actively developing. We set ourselves the task of developing a culture of mass charity. In light of what is happening in our country now, there is a war in the east, people have become more conscious in charity and volunteering. It has become important for philanthropists to understand that there is a final recipient of help. For donors, the certainty that their donation will reach a certain person has become decisive. But there is another side to the coin.
There are many volunteers who have earned some fame, become public, and donors entrust their funds to them without hesitation, without bothering to check the accountability and transparency of the assistance provided.
- You said that a culture of charity has begun to form in Ukraine. What can be considered as a starting point, what period?
- Perhaps, 2012-2013. Many people are involved in volunteer movements. According to some data, every third Ukrainian is involved in volunteering in one way or another.
- In this regard, I have a question: do not you think that this surge in charity is spontaneous, a response to external circumstances and does not have a solid foundation for further evolutionary development?
- I agree with you, there are indeed risks that as the acute problems are solved, civic activity in the field of philanthropy may decline sharply. Therefore, the task of the charity sector, which is engaged in this professionally to direct this wave in a constructive direction. That those initiatives and movements which have arisen in response to challenges, in due course have switched to the decision of other social problems which are huge in Ukraine.
I’m afraid there may be great disappointment. We have already been through this. In 2012, the activity of philanthropists increased, and trust in the funds grew. At that time, two large-scale all-Ukrainian fundraising campaigns were held for the Hospital of the Future and flood victims in Western Ukraine. Both projects failed, it is still unknown how the money was spent and collected. Then many Ukrainians received a "vaccination from charity." The situation is very similar now. They began to demonize charitable foundations, opposing them to volunteer organizations. Sometimes they are deliberately pushed with their foreheads. At the same time, the effectiveness of volunteer centers is based on the fact that they operate quickly, but not always transparently. And even the volunteers themselves admit that they are not able to control the emergence of fraudulent structures.
- Do you treat the volunteer movement as a competitor?
- I will answer this way: it has become more difficult for charitable foundations to raise money to finance socially important projects.
- You know what trend I noted. The emerging volunteer movement in Ukraine in response to the challenges of time after a year and a half did not begin to be transformed into charitable foundations (which would be logical), but began to flow into government agencies. This contradicts the very philosophy of non-profit civil society organizations, whose activities should be separated from the executive branch of government. That’s why they and public organizations…
- I want to remind you that any public initiatives are a social elevator for people who want and can get to where they can influence the cause of problems. It is not surprising that activists who decided issues on a voluntary basis began to come to power. But, unfortunately, today activists do not always manage to solve the tasks they set for themselves and to oppose the state apparatus.
- That is why there are public organizations around the world that are able to balance the situation. And in our country, public organizations are striving for power… In this regard, the question is: did the influx of activists from the third sector into power contribute to the development of the charity market?
- Not much. Most legislative initiatives have been taken incorrectly. There are a large number of balanced bills developed that proposed systemic changes for the charity, and fragments were extracted from them to solve local problems. As was the case with the exemption from the tax burden of charitable assistance for IDPs and victims of the anti-terrorist operation, while with the help of sick children or the elderly taxes are not removed. This was done to solve urgent problems for which the state does not have enough resources. I don’t think that’s right. It is impossible to build a solid foundation for the development of systemic charity in this way. So we will continue to work on this.