How to create a charitable foundation on your own? I thank you: what you do not know about the work of charitable foundations

– Irina, tell us how the Give Hope Charitable Foundation was founded? And what does he do, who does he help?
– The fund was founded in 2004 by Euroset. At that time, the company existed for more than 7 years, and as part of the company's policy of social responsibility, it was decided to create the Give Hope Charitable Foundation. And that's great, because even now, not every company has a conscious decision to help people.

We provide targeted assistance to children and young people from different cities of Russia in paying for implants for high-tech operations on the spine, chest and head, as well as in buying oxygen concentrators and pulse oximeters for patients with cystic fibrosis. The human body is arranged in such a way that the sooner the necessary treatment is carried out, the greater the chances for a full restoration of the health and strength of a person, especially a child.

– I know that charity is a difficult segment, charitable foundations are aimed at helping, but who helps charitable foundations and how?
– We strive to do everything possible so that any person can provide assistance in the most convenient way for him. For example, it is easy to do this in Euroset stores through the cash desk or by dropping a donation into a special box installed in the checkout area. Also, money can be transferred to the fund's account through the payment account of the "Corn" card, as well as via SMS, through terminals, online banks and on the fund's website www.fond.euroset.ru.

Of course, thanks to the Euroset, which employs more than 26 thousand people, a large circle of people are involved in the activities of the fund, these are both the employees themselves and the buyers who participate in charity events. As part of the ongoing action "Yellow Friend to the Rescue", 190 rubles from the sale of a soft toy - a yellow terrier - is transferred to the fund's account. The toy can be purchased at any store and on the Euroset website. I want to note that during this campaign alone, we helped 33 seriously ill children to regain their health.

Every year, our foundation takes part in the largest in Russia Charity Festival "Soulful Bazar" and in the Festival of Charitable Foundations "Good Moscow", aimed at popularizing charity among citizens and developing the non-profit sector as a whole.

Assistance to foundations should be, first of all, targeted. If someone wants to help, you need to find out what exactly is needed. Sometimes you need to take documents, transport equipment, help with the installation of stands. For the Soul Bazar event, we accept handmade toys. Once, many huge teddy bears were donated to us, we distributed them literally throughout the country: we held a charity lottery, gave them to children in hospitals, etc.

– Tell us, please, how many children did you manage to help?
– It is difficult to name the exact number of children we have helped, as we sometimes help the same child several times. For example, after 2-3 years, the fund's ward needs a second operation to replace the structure or an oxygen concentrator with a large flow. Only in 2017, 18 people received help, who had very serious and expensive treatment.

– What is the largest donation to the Give Hope Charitable Foundation?
- The largest donation from a legal entity was about several million, and if we talk about a one-time donation from an individual - 340 thousand rubles. But many help systematically and regularly, we really appreciate such care.

“Many today are skeptical about park volunteers who raise money for children by selling balloons or toys. It is legal?
– You can often meet people who sell souvenirs under the guise of raising funds to help those in need. For example, near the subway, near large shopping centers or in parks. In most cases, this is not true. You cannot be sure of the accuracy of the information, nor of how the funds will be spent.

Having united, the funds began an active fight against fraudsters. In May of this year, our foundation signed a "Declaration of Integrity in Charity" calling on foundations not to raise funds outside the venues of organized charitable events.

We have had cases where our foundation's name and logo have been used illegally to raise funds through social media. We contacted the administration of the relevant network to block the scammers' page. In order to avoid this in the future, we are constantly monitoring.

If you see suspicious volunteers on the street, take pictures of them, post them on social networks, this is by far the most effective way to combat illegal fundraising. Most often, attackers hire schoolchildren who are not even 18 and who do not understand that they have fallen into a fraudulent scheme.

– How to understand that a charitable foundation can be trusted?
- The Fund must publish an annual report on its activities, it can be both in paper form and in electronic form. Also on the portal of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation there is a mandatory reporting of non-profit organizations in the form of the Ministry of Justice. In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, funds must conduct an annual audit. If an auditor's report is published on the fund's website, this is also a sign of trust. It is important to note that the fund will never collect funds either on the personal card of the director or employees, or on the online wallet of an individual. The money should only go to the bank account of the organization.

Many people have the illusion that if donations are collected to the personal account of a sick person, then this money will definitely be used for its intended purpose. In fact, when you send money to a personal card, you have no way to reliably know how these funds will be used in the future, and moreover, you do not know if this information is true and prompted you to act. Whereas the fund can provide all reporting documents upon request. The main sign of an honest fund is maximum openness and transparency of activities.

The funds are united and their actions are clearly regulated by law. In the minds of Russians, this community of foundations is changing attitudes towards charity. Meetings, round tables, consultations of foundations are held at various venues, where all issues related to charity are discussed.

- You work in a foundation, does it seem that life is unfair to many?
– This is the view of a pessimist, and we are optimists. Our goal is for the younger generation to grow up healthy and improve the quality of people's lives.

After a lung transplant operation, a person can do without an oxygen concentrator. Previously, cystic fibrosis was considered a childhood disease, now, thanks to intensive treatment, such people live 25-40 years. We have had cases when, after lung transplantation, the patient began to lead a normal life. Of course, treatment continues all the time, because the disease is genetic.

Over the past 20 years, the philanthropy sector in Russia has changed dramatically. Consistency brought charity to a professional level. We want to make it possible to receive qualified assistance, including medical, in different cities of Russia.
Understanding that you are improving the world, you can change something is an indescribable feeling. Join now! Donating is so easy!

Christina Tatarnikova

The charitable foundation for helping seriously ill children "DOBRO" was created in 2016 by Alla Bronnikova and Maria Orlova. The founders of the foundation have been independently active in charitable activities for several years now. The desire to help more people was the reason for the creation of an official charitable organization.

Who are we helping?

There are a lot of people who need urgent support. However, there are those among them who need it most urgently - these are small children suffering from severe, completely non-childish ailments. We are sure that the childhood of every kid should be joyful, bright, carefree, and most importantly, healthy. Unfortunately this is not possible. Some children are already born with terrible congenital diseases, and someone's diseases develop rapidly in the first years of life, they are acquired suddenly.

The main tasks and goals of our foundation:

1. Material, psychological, informational assistance to children with serious illnesses.
2. Carrying out charity events, cultural and social development of children with disabilities, children with disabilities.
3. Assistance in the implementation of the State Program "Accessible Environment", creating conditions conducive to the integration of children with disabilities into society and improving their standard of living.
4. Implementation of socially significant charitable programs aimed at effective social adaptation of children with disabilities in society.
5. Attracting public attention to the problems and needs of sick children in Izhevsk and the Udmurt Republic.
6. Involvement of the maximum number of organizations and citizens in the activities of the fund, in order to constantly raise funds for needy children.

The principles of the charitable foundation:

1. The Foundation is a non-profit and non-profit organization. We do not use our status for personal gain or profit for fund members.
2. All employees of the foundation deeply believe that good should be done voluntarily and disinterestedly. Our relations with the Benefactors are based on these principles.
3. Our Fund is guided by the principles of openness, transparency of activities and full financial reporting.
4. To draw public attention to the problems of seriously ill children, we invite journalists and media workers to our events.
5. Our Benefactors can send their help directly to a child or children's organization in need, since the foundation provides all the necessary information for this.

Our foundation will be glad to everyone who wants to change the world for the better and give our children at least a little joy and happiness.

We invite everyone to join our friendly team. Your age, material wealth and education do not matter, because the main thing is your enthusiasm and desire to help.

We sincerely believe that more and more people will take up our initiative, because by doing charity, a person receives a huge return in the form of a child's smile, a kind word, and sincere gratitude from parents.

What is a charitable foundation in Ukraine and in the world? This is an organization registered as a legal entity and using donations to implement charitable programs. Most of the civilized countries at the level of legislation support charity, providing foundations, as well as persons making voluntary donations, with tax benefits.

At the same time, the fund cannot be regarded as a tool for optimizing tax costs. Modern legislation does not allow to engage in commercial activities, hiding behind charity and not paying taxes in full. Therefore, all modern foundations are non-profit non-governmental organizations.

What can a charitable foundation do - the answer to the question of the need for such organizations:

Make charity systematized and comprehensive. Businessmen who try to engage in private philanthropy are faced with ambiguity and a certain randomness of requests from various individuals. The Fund is already a structure that defines clear rules for receiving assistance and distributes amounts based on the possibilities of the budget.
Strengthen the reputation of the founder of the fund. Today, charity is not a PR tool, but an important component of a businessman's activities for the entire period of his career. The Foundation, which has its own system of values and a number of missions, will achieve effective results in philanthropy.
The activities of the fund, as a rule, are planned in the long term.
All financial transactions of the charitable foundation are transparent: reporting can be made available to interested parties at any time.
Successful charitable organizations can participate in state and international projects, financing the solution of global problems.

How the charitable foundation works

How a charitable foundation works is usually stated in its charter: in particular, the principles of work, methods for raising funds and distributing donations.

In general, the foundations lead the so-called socially oriented areas or distribute grants for education and research in a certain socially significant industry. Foundations can raise funds for their activities in the following ways:

receive voluntary donations from individuals and companies;
receive subsidies and subsidies from local or state budgets;
receive targeted funding or grants from other charitable foundations;
conduct commercial activities not prohibited by law;
invest in securities or keep them in deposit accounts.

In its charter, a charitable organization determines what percentage of cash receipts it has the right to use to cover the direct needs of the foundation. Usually we are talking about 20% of each financial income, which is spent on renting premises, manufacturing promotional products, salaries of key employees, transportation costs, etc.

Key employees are people who hold key positions in the work of the fund and are responsible for organizing activities: a manager, an accountant, a lawyer, etc. It is allowed to involve volunteers who work on a voluntary basis for social and campaign work.

The charitable foundation operates in accordance with the approved program, developing precisely these areas. The transfer of funds to the needy party occurs according to different schemes, depending on the purpose and amount of funding for the funds:

transferring money directly to a person in need (a pensioner, a sick person, etc.);
payment for certain services (study for students, treatment for a patient or group of patients, etc.);
purchase and;
financing the activities of narrowly focused funds, etc.

A charitable foundation is a non-profit organization that does not intend to receive income for the personal enrichment of any of its employees or founders.

The structure of the charitable foundation

The scheme or structure of a charitable foundation largely depends on the specifics of its activities. However, all charitable organizations have common features - this, in particular, concerns building a leadership vertical.

The highest governing body of a number is considered to be a collegiate body (most often a general meeting), acting in accordance with the adopted Charter of the organization.

The governing body has the right to approve the Charter (or regulation) of the charitable foundation, amend it, elect the executive and supervisory bodies, approve areas and programs of charitable activities, and make other key decisions.

The executive body of the fund is the board. Its powers are determined by the Charter or the regulation of the organization. The current activities of the charitable foundation are ensured by the administrative and executive body: director (or president), a group of directors in areas. Their powers are determined by the Charter of the organization.

The functions of control over the work of the organization are performed by the supervisory board of the fund, the composition of which is determined by the founder (founders).

Who can be a director of a fund? Again, it all depends on the scope and direction of the organization. In small funds, one director works, he controls several key employees (accountant, lawyer, etc.), the rest of the work is done by volunteers.

In large funds with multimillion-dollar assets, a full-fledged staff is needed for the normal organization of activities: a financial director, a human resources director, a head of the structure responsible for the external relations of the fund, etc. Such organizations employ a staff that ensures the optimal solution of the organization's key tasks. Volunteers are involved in voluntary work related to collecting donations, contacting persons who receive charitable assistance, etc.

Funds with branches within the same city or country will have a completely different principle of managing and building the state structure. However, in any case, this structure will meet the requirements of the law and the provisions approved by the Charter of the charitable foundation.

I would like to tell you about one of my projects. The case I want to talk about is our charitable foundation http://foundationlife.org/ru/.

The idea came to mind by accident. In general, for a long time there were thoughts of doing charity work, but somehow it was always postponed for an indefinite future.

And then one day, in December 2011, my partner and I discussed the salaries of employees, annual bonuses, etc. About one particular person who, after another salary increase, decided that he was very important and cannot be replaced, as I remember, I said something like - what will the bonus go to him “hang out”, could this money do something good, help children sick.

Then I realized that the time had come, the partners were also not opposed to allocating a small% of their income to charity. To be sure that the money will go to a good cause, we decided to gradually create our own fund.

At first, we planned to help hospitals in Novosibirsk, where I was born and raised and where my mother worked in medicine for 30 years. I myself changed my place of residence to warm Latin America quite a long time ago, then my parents moved to us, but my mother remained acquaintances in hospitals and I was sure that we would find where to spend money for the benefit of people.

In Ecuador, they were going to start charitable activities a little later - here, unlike in Russia, there were practically no acquaintances in state clinics, and private ones did not particularly need help.

However, as is usually the case with new projects, everything turned out to be much more complicated than it seemed at first, and the work scheme has changed a lot and become more complicated. In fact, everything turned out the other way around than it seemed at the beginning.

Hospitals usually need large sums for equipment, and we planned to allocate in the region of $3000-5000 per month, and ideally this money should have been enough for both Russia and Ecuador. While we were looking for hospitals where, for example, it was necessary to make repairs in some departments (and so that the head physician and deputies were ideological, they did not steal money), we told the employees about our plans, and they told their relatives and friends.

Requests began to come in to help raise funds for the treatment of specific children, and if we could not help with amounts of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, then soon our first ward was found - Sasha from St. Petersburg, who had serious heart problems. Sasha studies in the same class with the daughter of one of our employees in St. Petersburg, the amount was quite affordable - from $ 200 per month for medicines, and payment for a flight to Germany and examinations 1-2 times a year.

We contributed the first money to the fund from the January profits, in February we started helping Sasha. We came to the conclusion that we need a website - gradually the list of wards will grow, the information needs to be saved somewhere, plus over time, some donations from site visitors will begin to arrive.

The site was planned to be very simple - a blog with updates once a month about how much money was spent on what, information about the fund, an online donation form. Just in February, they were looking for an additional programmer for one of their businesses, and they decided to make a simple website for the fund as a test task.

It was decided to postpone the registration of a legal entity and accounts in banks and payment systems until we have some kind of work history - it is obvious that charity is a convenient way of money laundering, fraud, so a fund without a "portfolio" is unlikely to be taken seriously .

While we were looking for a programmer, I myself sketched the layout of the site, came up with the name “Foundation Life” (“life fund”), of all the options, this one got the most votes among our team.

The search for a programmer was delayed, the project for which he was looking for is much more complicated than a blog, and 90% of the applicants did not suit us at all. By May, the fund's reserve amounted to a decent amount, since only Sasha was assisted, and deductions were made every month. It was decided to continue the search for children in need of help.

To expand the geography, we decided that it was time to look in Ecuador. If someone had told me before, I would never have believed that the easiest thing is to donate money, and finding how to use it for a good cause is much more difficult ...

Again, nothing happened with hospitals and healthcare organizations, apparently such proposals do not often arise, or doctors are simply not ready. There were of course options, but in style<<переведите нам деньги, а мы сами всё сделаем>> which did not suit us at all.

I immediately planned to involve my mother in the work of finding patients, in order to quickly improve Spanish, she regularly bought local newspapers, and we noticed that there were requests for help there. Someone does not have money for an emergency operation or even medicine, somewhere a large family loses a breadwinner - there are plenty of situations where even a little money can save lives.

And so our program was born.<<Скорая помощь>> — looked through newspapers, selected requests where we are able to help, then our managers contacted the needy side and discussed what and how we would buy.

We were the first to help Vilela, who had an accident with her parents, and Gabriel, a disabled boy in serious condition. We decided to buy medicines on our own, pay for operations and examinations, otherwise there would be no reporting for official work, and the confidence that every penny went to a good deed.

At first, I myself was engaged in the purchase and transfer of material assistance, met with doctors, sent parcels. Managers of our companies in Russia and Ecuador helped me in negotiations and transfer. Gradually, there were more and more people in need, the material accumulated and the lack of a website became a real problem.

In June-July, we ordered a logo and website design, began working on content - finally, a suitable programmer was found.

In July, children were also found in Novosibirsk - they helped pay for the instructor Vasya, who is struggling with cerebral palsy (infantile central paralysis), the families of other children learned about this from the instructor, and we were literally flooded with letters and requests.

Since we already had several children from Ecuador who constantly needed help, we asked that no more information be disseminated for the time being. The Fund definitely needs a reserve in case of an urgent operation, and organizing everything is not so easy. While the site was being developed, it turned from a simple blog into a "mix of 1C with WordPress" as the programmer put it.

It turned out to be clearly not enough to update the site once a month, on some days we had several promotions (we bought and delivered medicines to one child, paid for examinations to another).

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It turned out that allocating average amounts a couple of times a month is not an option for a beginner fund, small amounts were needed for each aid action, it’s hard to figure it out in order to get into the budget. Help was needed constantly and the fund began to spend rather than accumulate funds. The site engine has finally been more or less finalized, and it's time to add information about all the work done.

This was perhaps the most difficult, the time was enormous. Since at that time I was best aware of the situation, I had to add most of the material myself. The engine was buggy at times, I had to constantly make corrections.

A story was needed about each patient, a report with photographs and scans of documents about each action of the fund, all materials had to be entered in three languages - Russian, English, Spanish. Without the help of managers, and sometimes even professional translators (translating extracts from medical records even “from Russian into Russian” is not an easy task), it would have taken many months, but with some pressure, we finished with the site in September.

I swore at myself more than once that I didn’t initially entrust filling the site with content to someone else, I had to combine writing text, photo processing, etc. with business, especially since now money had to be earned not only for the family, but also for the foundation.

Time was sorely lacking. The time has come to recruit staff directly for the foundation, if in Russia we helped several children in two cities, and there were enough two managers who were mostly engaged in our commercial projects, then in Ecuador we had many one-time<<заказов>> and the work was going on all over the country.

A project coordinator appeared, to whom we began to pay a symbolic salary, since she was already spending most of the day on work and the costs of communications, transport, periodicals and other trifles increased, and two managers in different regions, mainly engaged in business projects.

We could no longer cope with the timely updating of the site, we found a secretary to blog in three languages and help with other trifles, as well as a courier to deliver material assistance and medicines. In our business, we never save on staff salaries, but the salaries of all employees employed only by the fund have been made purely symbolic. The rest of the team members, who are also involved in other projects, do not receive any bonuses for this work.

I myself moved away from the current affairs of the fund, since finally everything worked without my participation, I deal only with organizational issues.

Of course, sometimes difficulties arise - for example, for personal reasons, the secretary could not blog for a little more than a week at the beginning of December, so since then the blog has been “behind” by a week, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to “catch up with time” before the New Year holidays.

Even for commercial projects, it is not easy to assemble a good team, and for a charitable foundation it is even more difficult. I consider it wrong to take a person on a full-time basis without a salary at all, at least some minimum must be paid. The fund's resources are limited - each employee, even if he receives $100 per month, is an additional expense.

Fund promotion is also far from being as simple as it seems. You opened, for example, a new store. How to attract buyers? We put a maximum of advertising, we hold promotions - the more money we invest, the more we earn over time. If the place is not completely “deaf”, the return will appear over time, the money spent on advertising will return repeatedly.

It is more difficult with the fund: those who want to receive help are much more actively involved in the search than potential philanthropists.

Even our foundation, which we are not promoting in any way yet, since we are still in the process of its official registration, receives many letters asking for help. There are a lot of obvious “divorce” among them, with the rest of the applications you need to carefully work. It is not difficult to distribute money, it is difficult to choose those who really need our help.

Unfortunately, we cannot help most of those who apply to us - often people need amounts of $ 100,000-1,000,000, and our fund does not have such funds. When at the moment we have only about $15,000 in reserve, they ask us to transfer “at least a little”, and here we also have to refuse.

If we give the entire reserve to one person, for the needs of those children with whom we are already working, we will have to borrow funds, and what is the guarantee that those who ask will be able to collect the entire amount? It is better that we help 5 children with guarantee than try to save one… In addition, we are for full transparency of activities, and we try to transfer / give out money to the families of patients only when it is not possible to pay for the treatment ourselves.

Although we do not yet have sponsors "from the outside" and all the money spent is still earned by us, it is important to immediately develop the principles of work and adhere to them. In January, we expect the completion of the registration of our fund in Ecuador - a couple of months ago I tried to register a main fund in Panama, where it is easier to conduct international activities, but in the end we were refused.

The reason is that we do not currently have activities in Panama. After registering the main fund, we will start connecting payment systems to the website, and then we will start promoting the project. We've been going to this for a year now!

Without registering a fund, you can connect only a few electronic currencies, and even then with a bunch of restrictions. For example, webmoney will not be added to your catalog until we provide documents. There is nothing to say about credit cards and other really popular payment methods ..

The promotion of the fund will take a lot of time, unlike commerce, where the more they know about you, the more you earn, it’s quite the opposite here =) More popularity - more requests for help - more staff will be required.

Of course, there will be additional donations, but the main difficulty here is in the staff. If in business we can easily connect employees of one direction to the work of another when sales are growing sharply there, then<<в благотворительность>> you can't translate them that easily.

An intelligent manager earns decently - the fund will not be able to pay the same salary as our businesses, and not everyone will work for the minimum wage. I don’t want to make a business out of the fund - I’m not ready to work for the minimum salary, I will bring more benefits as a founder / sponsor, and appropriate someone’s donations is the last thing.

So, we will promote the project gradually, especially since the main goal - organizing our own donations to charity has already been achieved!

A charitable foundation is not a very simple matter, but how nice it is to receive letters, poems and drawings from children with sincere words of gratitude! It happens that you get tired of “chasing money” and the goals already achieved do not always turn out to be what you dreamed about them, charity in this regard is an excellent “vent”.

The thought that you care not only about the well-being of yourself and loved ones, but also try to make this world a better place, pleases the soul. Not everyone is able to understand these reasons, a lot of people just hearing about charity immediately think about “divorce of suckers” and so on, but fortunately there are also caring people for whom there is nothing stupid in wanting to help a stranger. If you have never been involved in charity work - Christmas and New Year's is the best time to start!

1. It's work

Yes, yes, which you also need to go to every day, be in the office from 10 to 19 with a lunch break (in fact, more often without it), make plans and schedules, write reports, argue with superiors, go on vacation, weave undercover intrigues, bickering with colleagues, being dumb on Facebook, drinking coffee, in short, doing all the things that normal people do in normal jobs.

2. Fund employees get paid

Naturally, the level of salaries, on average, is lower than the average market for similar positions (direction manager, financial director, etc.), but quite competitive. Nevertheless, first of all, ideological people go to work in the foundations, but, surprisingly, they also need to eat, drink, rent housing and go on vacation.

3. BF employees are people too

They are just as tired, angry, sometimes work infuriates them, and there are days when they don’t want anything at all. These are not heavenly creatures eating rainbows and pooping butterflies, but quite ordinary people who joke cynically, swear, have sex and drink on Friday night. Ordinary people who do extraordinary things on a daily basis because it's their job.

4. This is not amateur performance

A charitable foundation is not “my friends and I got together and decided to help homeless dogs!”. Funds are legal entities that pay taxes for their employees, enter into agreements with supplements with ward families and treatment centers, pay rent for office space and are subject to very strict legislation in this area. So, for example, with every benefactor who wants to transfer at least 10 rubles to the fund, it is necessary to conclude an agreement, so if on the street you are offered to buy a ball in favor of children with cancer, then with a probability of 99% this is a fraud.

5. Funds have their own areas of work

There are not fewer people and everyone else who needs help, and probably never will. It is important to understand that if you want to help save whales in New Zealand, then it makes no sense to apply to the Gift of Life Foundation. Each fund helps to solve specific problems and works in a specific direction: helping people (children, adults, the elderly), helping animals, preserving nature, and so on. You just have to choose where to focus your efforts!

6. Any BF employee works within the framework of the fund

This is not Mother Teresa, who gathers all the unfortunate orphans and the poor in a row under her wing. This is an employee of the organization who works within the framework of the activities of the fund, in accordance with the Charter and the current legislation of the Russian Federation. Believe me, charitable organizations check with such an addiction that commercial structures never dreamed of.

The council (or commission) includes doctors, founders of the fund, coordinators of the work of one or another direction. That is, just come and say, “Guys, I want to get treated in Switzerland!” it is forbidden. It is necessary to provide documents confirming the diagnoses, on the basis of which the commission will decide on assistance in each specific situation. In any case, a package of documents will be required. This is done not only to make life difficult for people with serious diseases or disabilities, but also to protect funds from scammers who work in this direction.

8. Work in the non-profit sector requires education and special skills

Unfortunately, the philanthropy sector in Russia is only just going through its development, so there are no educational institutions that would train specialists in this particular area. Everyone who comes to work in the fund gains knowledge and skills in the field, applying the skills acquired in other areas. Naturally, this is a difficult and slow process, but it is worth it.

9. Help is easy

In the twenty-first century, when spaceships surf the expanses of the universe, it's easy to help with a ruble: all decent funds have short numbers to which you can send SMS, indicating the amount of the donation. In addition, many funds allow you to set up so-called recurring payments - in this case, the amount you specified will be debited from your bank card every month. In addition, there are aggregators that also help funds raise money - one of the largest is [email protected]: there you can select the fund, project you are interested in, set up automatic payment and much more. If you do not trust financial schemes, then you can always volunteer and see the work of the fund from the inside with your own eyes. As they say, welcome!

10. Charitable foundations never give money in hand.

That is, the fund does not transfer 200,000 euros for an operation in Germany in a white envelope to those in need simply because it does not have the right to do so. Every penny and every ruble is accountable. Self-respecting funds monthly post reports on the income and expenditure of funds on their websites, which everyone can see. And payment for treatment occurs directly to the clinics with which the contract is concluded. If you wish, these documents can also be consulted.

11. Do not do good and bring joy

If the foundation refused your invaluable help - for example, you passionately desire to give your old children's piano to the suffering, and these bad people refuse and fight back with everything they can - this does not mean that they are snickering. Sometimes the foundations simply do not have the resources to take this piano of yours out, and sometimes this piano is absolutely not needed at the moment either by the ward or the sponsored orphanage. Trust the employees - they will definitely tell you what kind of help the fund needs right now.

12. Help is not necessarily crazy millions of money

Any amount is necessary and important: if 1,000 people transfer 100 rubles each, then you get 100,000 rubles - is that impressive? This will make it possible to pay for a rehabilitation course for a child with developmental disabilities, to purchase consumables for the hospital or food for a dog shelter. It is better to help little by little, but regularly, then the fund has the opportunity to plan its work, income and expenses.

13. Volunteers are the main pillar of the work of the Charity Fund

Therefore, volunteering should be taken seriously and as responsibly as possible. The “I want to do it, I want to do it, I don’t do it” approach is not an option. They count on you, and if you promised, be sure to do it. Funds do not have the opportunity to stimulate interest in the case with the ruble, so everything remains only on your conscience and under your responsibility.

14. All requests are checked

Not only by a commission or an expert council, but also by a responsible employee of the fund. If we are talking about expensive treatment, then it is necessary to check the correctness of the diagnosis, the appropriateness of this particular therapy option, and much, much more. Is there really no way to help in the Russian Federation? Is this drug really necessary? In addition, all funds interact with each other and share information about scammers who apply to funds for the purpose of personal gain and enrichment - surprisingly, these also happen.

15. You can turn to the fund not only for money, but also for advice.

If at the moment the fund cannot accept the application or, for example, does not deal with the problem that interests you, then the fund’s employees will advise where you can apply, and in some cases they will be able to send you for an additional consultation with a specialist. Don't be shy, these people know the problem they're dealing with from the inside.

16. Only 20% of the money the fund has the right to spend on administrative expenses

Moreover, these 20% are taken from the amount spent on the activities of the fund in accordance with the Charter. These expenses include office rent, payment of operating expenses (Internet, telephone, etc.), employee salaries, and so on. Spent 100 rubles - so 20 rubles can be spent on yourself. But it is believed that it is better to spend less. For example, "Give Life" spends about 4-6%, and the fund "Galchonok" - about 12%. The best is for children!

17. Children in orphanages need consumables much more than toys and iPhones.

Surprisingly, often the simplest things are not enough in orphanages and nursing homes: sheets, diapers, catheters, diapers. If you want to help some state-owned institution, it is better to first contact the administration or the fund that patronizes it, in order to know exactly what is useful to bring. And to be completely honest, people in such institutions always lack only one thing - simple human attention.

18. If a person has special needs, this does not mean that he is a beautiful sweet white bunny.

It seems to everyone that people in charity are saints, and that those whom they help are the same, generally directly kissed by luminaries. NO! The beneficiaries are very often absolutely disgusting, disgusting and difficult to help. But you help, because in charity they help not only the good and pleasant, but they try to help everyone.

The site would like to thank Ksenia Onopko (Galchonok Foundation), Ekaterina Milova (Orbi Foundation) and Alexandra Babkina ([email protected] project) for their help in preparing the material.

Text: Katya Kuzmina

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