Charity is an activity in which resources are voluntarily and gratuitously distributed by their owners to solve social problems, help people in need, and improve living conditions.
Aid through charitable foundations: how effective is it?
Non-profit organizations today are a powerful tool for creating systemic change. Their primary role is to see the blind spots which the society and the state might not see. Any systemic change begins with the individual. If you stop seeing a specific person behind the systemic, it is not clear why the nonprofit sector works. In order to help in a systemic way, you have to understand your target audience, the subject area, and the request of the final beneficiaries. Otherwise, there is a risk of moving into the realm of “doing good.”
The most common type of non-profit organization is a charitable foundation for children, a full-fledged organization with its own processes, projects and employees implementing these projects.
The foundation always has a basic document – the charter, which spells out the purpose of existence of the foundation and the types of activities that the foundation can carry out: for example, helping sick children, people with disabilities, the elderly, animals, ecology, culture, education. Types of activities, which are not included in the charter, the foundation cannot carry out.
Specialists from different spheres are involved in the work of the foundation: resource managers, administrators, accountants, lawyers, volunteers, etc. The Foundation takes care of the organizational issues, reports on the spent money and makes the process more convenient for the benefactors and more effective for those in need. Helping one person, you can change one life, and helping the foundation, working according to the principles of professionalism, transparency and consistency, you can change thousands of lives.
The staff of foundations know well all the needs and can advise how to help effectively, to fight not with consequences of social problem, but with the reasons of its occurrence. They are experts in their field. Foundations are responsible for the appropriate, quality and, most importantly, effective use of charitable funds.
How do I choose and check a foundation?
You can choose a foundation on the independent public monitoring platform Charity Tuner, which carefully checks the accountability and transparency of charities in Ukraine. It is also possible to find a verified charitable foundation on the fundraising platform of online charity – the Ukrainian charity exchange (now dobro.ua).
In order to assess whether a foundation helps its beneficiaries, you need to study its report:
it is good if the report has quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess the effectiveness of assistance;
Study the data for the previous years of work of the fund, with which you can compare the current indicators;
Compare the programs, which are stated on the website, with what is stated in the report;
Check the mentions of the foundation’s projects in social networks and in the media.
Reliable foundations do not hide information and always answer questions.
Our rehabilitation center “John Center” is a charitable institution, and all the financial income it receives is spent exclusively on salaries of its paid employees, their training, purchase and repair of equipment and, importantly, on providing free vouchers to children who are in dire need of it.
Thanks to charitable foundations, benefactors, the state budget and the founders of St. John’s Center, children from all over Ukraine have the opportunity to receive quality rehabilitation here. You can help even more children to become independent and happy. You can support the children at https://old.ioanivcenter.com/zbori.
Let’s multiply the good and raise the level of culture of charity in our country.