The real story of the creation of a charitable foundation. The main sign of an honest charitable foundation is maximum openness and transparency of its activities.

– 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 had existed for more than 7 years, and as part of the company’s social responsibility policy, it was decided to create the Give Hope Charitable Foundation. And this is great, because even now not every company makes 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 purchasing oxygen concentrators and pulse oximeters for patients with cystic fibrosis. The human body is designed 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, this is easy to do in Euroset stores through the cash register or by placing a donation in a special box installed in the checkout area. You can also transfer money to the fund’s account through the payment account of the Kukuruza card, as well as via SMS, through terminals, online banks and on the fund’s website www.fond.euroset.ru.

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

Every year our foundation takes part in Russia’s largest Charity Festival “Soulful Bazar” and in the Festival of Charitable Foundations “Good Moscow”, aimed at promoting charity among city residents and developing the non-profit sector as a whole.

Assistance to funds should, first of all, be targeted. If someone wants to help, they need to find out what exactly is needed. Sometimes you need to deliver documents, transport equipment, or help with setting up stands. For the Soulful 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.

– Please tell us how many children you managed to help?
– It’s difficult to name the exact number of children we helped, since we sometimes help one child several times. For example, after 2-3 years, a fund ward needs a repeat operation to replace the structure or an oxygen concentrator with a high flow. In 2017 alone, 18 people who had very serious and expensive treatment received help.

– 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 people today are skeptical about volunteers in parks 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 metro, near large shopping centers or in parks. In most cases this is not true. You cannot be sure of the accuracy of the information or how these 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 Philanthropic Integrity,” calling on foundations not to raise funds outside of the venues of organized charitable events.

We have had cases where our foundation's name and logo were used illegally to raise funds through social networks. We contacted the administration of the corresponding network to have the scammers’ page blocked. To avoid this in the future, we conduct constant monitoring.

If you see volunteers on the street who are questionable, take pictures of them and post them on social networks; this is so far the most effective way to combat illegal fundraising. Most often, criminals hire schoolchildren who are not even 18 and who do not understand that they are caught up in a fraudulent scheme.

– How do you know that a charitable foundation can be trusted?
– The fund must publish an annual report on its activities; it can be either in paper or electronic form. Also, the portal of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation contains 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 to the personal card of the director or employees, or to the online wallet of an individual. Money should only go to the organization’s current account.

Many people have the illusion that if donations are collected into the personal account of a sick person, then this money will 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 whether it is true information that prompted you to act. Whereas the fund can provide all reporting documents upon request. The main feature of an honest fund is maximum openness and transparency of its activities.

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

– You work at a foundation, does it seem that life is unfair to many people?
– This is the view of a pessimist, and we are optimists. Our goal is to ensure that the younger generation grows up healthy and improves the quality of life of people.

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

Over the past 20 years, the charity sector in Russia has changed radically. Systematicism has brought charity to a professional level. We want it to be possible to receive qualified assistance, including medical care, in different cities of Russia.
Understanding that you are improving the world, that you can change something, is an indescribable feeling. Join us! Giving kindness is so easy!

Kristina Tatarnikova

One of the first Russian sociologists Lev Ilyich Mechnikov was sure that human society develops according to different laws than the animal world with its natural selection. In the process of historical development, Mechnikov believed, the struggle for existence is gradually replaced by the process of cooperation. This is where social progress manifests itself: a sense of solidarity, belonging, a sense of oneself as part of society gives rise to the habit of helping each other and moving forward together.

As a scientist, Mechnikov was distinguished by his unshakable faith in the natural goodness of humanity. Perhaps he was not so far from the truth: after all, one of the key trends in the modern world is the widespread development of charity. Russian Textbook Corporation happily follows this one of the most positive trends of our time.

Why do people do good deeds?

Any act of voluntary provision of assistance to those in need is considered charitable. Considering that every day in all parts of the world tens of thousands of people voluntarily perform good deeds, we can safely say that Lev Mechnikov, with all the idealism of his scientific doctrine, was right about something.

Modern scientists, psychologists and sociologists, believe that, firstly, a significant part of humanity has a tendency towards altruism. Secondly, by helping others, almost all people feel better, realize their own importance, their self-esteem increases, and general anxiety decreases. An important role is played by a sense of collective responsibility for the planet on which we live, and awareness of ourselves as part of society. By helping others, we help ourselves:

• we make the world around us kinder and more merciful;
• observing the results of our good deeds, we realize that we are able to influence the situation and change the world for the better;
• sharing the results of our own success with people around us;
• We are aware of our involvement, connection with the world community, and help it move forward.

What kind of charity is there?

Most often, when talking about charitable activities, we remember the names of large entrepreneurs and tycoons, such as Henry Ford And Bill Gates. Having built their giant corporations and achieved enormous success, they considered it their duty to share the fruits of their success with all of humanity: helping young scientists, sending large sums to funds to fight incurable diseases, opening free schools. Thus, Bill and Melinda Gates have spent over $28 billion on charitable purposes over the years, Warren Buffett– more than 25 billion. Founder of the social network Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, although he built his capital relatively recently, has already spent half a billion dollars to support educational projects in the United States.

Indeed, the most “high-profile” acts of charity are associated with material support. This could be the transfer of food, water, clothing, medicine to people in need, or the transfer of a sum of money to the bank account of a person struggling with a serious illness, or the provision of any material benefits for the needs of other people (refugees, residents of countries in difficult economic situations, starving in Africa and Southeast Asia, etc.).

However, in the modern world, other forms of charity are becoming increasingly important. For example, disinterested and free performance of work and provision of services. This form of charity includes an ordinary cleanup day, a free consultation with a doctor, and the activities of volunteers who organize holidays in orphanages. These acts of kindness are usually small in scale, but provide great support to individuals and increase the overall level of trust and goodwill in society.

Another form of charity is the free transfer of one's own knowledge and skills to followers. This could be free lectures and master classes, support from research institutes for young scientists and promising projects, and educational initiatives.

In order to engage in charity, it is not necessary to be a major entrepreneur or have serious time and personal resources. Each of us can choose a convenient form of charitable activity for ourselves: establish patronage over a large family, regularly send small amounts to a charitable foundation, become a blood donor, or donate good books to the local library. All these are acts of charity, no less important than the activities of Potanin and Zuckerberg.

Charity in Russia

Many international research centers are currently studying the phenomenon of charity. If you believe the results of their research, the charity movement in Russia has its own characteristics. Thus, according to RBC, in 2013, in terms of the desire of capital for charity, Russia ranked 127th out of 145 in the world. Allegedly, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “gives twice as much to charity in a year as the 15 largest Russian oligarchs combined in three years.”

However, in matters of charity, the amount of capital allocated to a good cause is not the main criterion. Charity is exactly the same work as running a business: it requires a well-developed plan, professional management, and high-quality feedback. What is important is not how much money was allocated for certain needs, but how effectively these funds were used.

Where does a good deed begin?

The publishing houses, which have now united into the Russian Textbook Corporation, have always provided support to various organizations: schools, medical institutions, libraries. At one time, the publishing house "Drofa" took care of the enclosure with bustards at the Moscow Zoo. However, this is perhaps the only charitable act that became widely known: we mainly worked on direct requests and appeals. They write to us, ask for help, we respond.

- Why is not so much known about the charitable activities of publishing houses?

We have no task to talk about what we did and for whom. It’s quite natural for us to stock school libraries or conduct free classes for children. This is part of our social responsibility.

- Tell me, what form of support seems most relevant to you now?

My colleagues and I like the idea that the best way to help is not to give a fish, but a fishing rod. That is, we can pour more and more material resources into “problem” areas, but if we do not educate the younger generation and instill in children the habit of doing small good deeds (not necessarily related to money or material wealth), then our activities will not be entirely effective. Now that we have become a large and strong corporation, we can take on a really big task: helping to form the right worldview.

If you now had the opportunity to talk to elementary school students about charity, what would you tell them first?

First of all, I would say that in the modern world it is impossible to develop if you do not notice others and do not help them. That help can be very different, it is not necessarily money. A simple kind word, attention, simple regular work for the benefit of other people is a natural and normal practice for a modern person. And one more thing - you can engage in charitable activities not only within a large organization. It’s convenient, of course, to collaborate with foundations or buy mittens at McDonald’s, but you can also do good yourself, the main thing is to see who needs your help and realize your strengths. Charity is an area where one in the field is very much a warrior.

I often read in the news about charitable initiatives of schoolchildren and teachers. How nice it is that schoolchildren, under the guidance of their class teachers, help sick children, elderly lonely people, and buy stationery and toys for orphanages.

In April of this year, students from school No. 25 in the city of Vladimir collected gifts for orphans. This is incredibly inspiring! Teachers, please note: it’s great when educational projects on biology or the surrounding world are not only entertaining, but also socially significant and contain a good grain.

You can help too!

Not only large companies can cooperate with a large charitable foundation. A family, a teacher, a school class, or an initiative group of parents and children can act as a benefactor.

We would like to give two pieces of advice to novice philanthropists. Firstly, choose proven large funds, and secondly, don’t be shy! Dial the phone numbers listed on official websites, ask questions, clarify how and what your donations will be spent on, ask for a report - many foundations are happy to provide such data, regardless of how much you spent.

Also, don't forget that doing a good deed isn't always about money. Participating in charity events and marathons as volunteers is a great opportunity for schoolchildren and their class teachers to feel that they can help others and make the world a little kinder.

Charitable foundations, which you can contact now to do a good deed:

gift a life

Fund for helping children with oncohematological and other serious diseases. Founded by actresses Dina Korzun And Chulpan Khamatova. The main objectives are to raise funds for the treatment and rehabilitation of children with oncological and hematological diseases, to attract public attention to the problems of sick children, to provide social and psychological assistance to sick children.

Year founded: 2006.

How to help: the main form of assistance is money transfers to the fund's current account.

Givers of hope

International Fund for Animals. The main area of ​​activity is involving the population in solving the problem of homeless animals in humane ways, in particular finding new owners for animals from shelters, sterilization.

Year founded: 2010.

How to help: you can act as a philanthropist or volunteer: help homeless animals in the nursery find a new home. Just a few phone calls and announcements on social networks - and you have provided tangible help.

Mercy

Created more than 10 years ago to help orphans and disabled children with serious illnesses who are brought up in orphanages and boarding schools. A distinctive feature of the fund is its targeting and efficiency: the description of each project states in detail what can be done right now and for which organizations.

Year founded: 2006.

How and how to help: on the official website of the foundation there is a constantly updated list of things, products, and children's goods that can be purchased and given to children. Simply publishing the fund’s banner on your own page on social networks will also help.

Sunflower

The foundation was founded by producer and director Timur Bekmambetov and producer Varey Avdyushko. The goal of the project is to help children with immune disorders. In total, the foundation cares for more than 600 children aged 0 to 18 years from all regions of Russia. The foundation is developing several areas, including affordable treatment, legal support for families where children with immunodeficiency are growing up, support and development of the foundation’s wards, and measures to create all the conditions for their self-realization. Another goal of the foundation is to raise awareness about primary immunodeficiency in public circles and promote early diagnosis of diseases.

Year founded: 2006.

How and how to help: diseases of the immune system sometimes require very expensive medications, so minimal monetary donations will be very helpful. You can contribute to the fund with information support. For schoolchildren, such a form as a special issue of the school newspaper or a webinar of our own production, covering the problem of immunodeficiency, is suitable.

BIM

The activities of this foundation began with the creation of the first shelter for domestic animals in Russia. Currently, five shelters are open in Moscow and the Moscow region, housing more than three thousand animals. In addition to dogs and cats, geese, squirrels, crows, pigeons, owls, foxes, hedgehogs, even bears affected by deforestation, or refuseniks from circuses and menageries live here.

Year founded: 1986.

How and how to help: at any time you can donate any amount for food and care of animals. It is possible to agree on volunteer activities.

Charitable Foundation of Konstantin Khabensky

The foundation organizes assistance to children with cancer and other serious diseases of the brain. The main areas of the Foundation’s work: assistance in organizing the examination and treatment of children, purchasing medications, organizing rehabilitation programs, assistance to specialized departments of Russian medical institutions, advanced training of doctors and information work with parents aimed at improving the early diagnosis of severe brain diseases.

Year founded: 2008

How to help: on the Foundation’s portal you can provide targeted charitable assistance to children with cancer and other brain diseases, as well as young adults aged 18 to 25 years who were Beneficiaries of the Foundation before they reached the age of 18. In 2017, more than 130 million rubles were transferred to the fund’s accounts.

Alexandra CHKANIKOVA

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

At the same time, the fund cannot be regarded as a tool for optimizing tax costs. Modern legislation does not allow people to engage in commercial activities under the guise of charity and without paying taxes in full. Therefore, all modern foundations are non-profit, non-governmental organizations.

What a charitable foundation allows you to do - the answer to the question about the need for such organizations:

• Make charity systematized and comprehensive. Businessmen who are trying to engage in private philanthropy are faced with ambiguity and some randomness of requests from various individuals. The fund is already a structure that defines clear rules for receiving assistance and distributes amounts based on budget capabilities.
• Strengthen the reputation of the fund founder. 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 value system and a number of missions, will allow achieving effective results in philanthropy.
• The activities of the fund are usually planned in the long term.
• All monetary transactions of the charitable foundation are transparent: reporting can be made available to interested parties at any time.
• Successful charities can participate in national and international projects, funding solutions to global problems.

How does the charity work?

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

In general, foundations conduct so-called socially oriented activities or distribute grants for training and scientific research in a certain socially significant industry. Funds can seek 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 store 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 immediate needs of the foundation. Usually we are talking about 20% of each financial receipt, which is spent on renting premises, producing advertising materials, salaries of key employees, transportation costs, etc.

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

• transfer of money directly to a person in need (pensioner, sick person, etc.);
• payment for certain services (studies 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 provide for the receipt of income for the personal enrichment of any of its employees or founders.

Charitable foundation structure

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 the construction of a leadership vertical.

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

The management body is vested with the right to approve the Charter (or regulations) of a charitable foundation, amend it, elect executive and control bodies, approve directions and programs of charitable activities, and make other key decisions.

The executive body of the fund is the board. His powers are determined by the Charter or regulations 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 organization's Charter.

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

Who can be among the directors of the fund? Again, it all depends on the volume and direction of the organization’s activities. In small funds, there is one director, he controls several key employees (accountant, lawyer, etc.), and the rest of the work is performed by volunteers.

In large funds with multimillion-dollar assets, a full-fledged staff is required for the normal organization of activities: a financial director, a human resources director, the head of the structure responsible for the external relations of the fund, etc. Such organizations have a staff of employees who provide the optimal solution to the key tasks of the organization. Volunteers are recruited for voluntary work related to collecting donations, contacting persons receiving charitable assistance, etc.

Funds that have branches within the same city or country will have a completely different principle of management and staff 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.

It is known that in any more or less developed society, people are distributed according to the principle of priority. However, it often happens that some socially important processes do not receive adequate funding. Fortunately, today anyone can contribute to the development of medicine, sports or culture. This became possible thanks to the existence of special charitable foundations. What is it?

Charitable foundations are special non-profit organizations that accumulate funds for the purpose of their further targeted distribution among those in need. From a social point of view, such movements are simply necessary. After all, the state cannot always, on its own, ensure the normal functioning of individual mechanisms important for public life.

Anyone can become a patron of the charity fund. In practice, this means that absolutely anyone can voluntarily donate money by sponsoring a particular area of ​​social life (for example, medicine, science or art) or even a specific group of low-income citizens. And not only the society itself, but also special government agencies will closely monitor that all of the above finances reach their recipients.

Relief fund as a way of charity

For most large countries, the problem of insufficient budget flexibility remains very relevant to this day. Due to the inability of those in power to promptly respond to current events, many important aspects of social life in such states remain without proper funding. Unfortunately, the Russian Federation is no exception in this sense. This is why the activities of charitable foundations in our country are so in demand.

By independently creating appropriate organizations, caring people take on responsibilities to support state culture, science and sports. They also promptly provide social protection for certain categories of needy citizens. Hundreds of millions of dollars pass through the hands of Russian philanthropists every year, which they then distribute for the most pressing needs of society.

Today, the following Russian foundations have gained the greatest fame due to their activities:

1. Vladimir Potanin Foundation (financial support for students);
2. the “Volnoye Delo” foundation (the “Temples of Russia” program and other well-known projects relating to various spheres of social life);
3. Dynasty Foundation (financing educational programs and science in general);
4. Victoria Foundation (support for orphans);
5. “Link of Times” Foundation (preservation of Russian cultural heritage).

From a legal point of view

Relief Fund - non-profit organization

From the point of view of legislators, a charitable foundation can be considered any non-profit (that is, founded without the purpose of making a profit) structure specializing in the provision of a specific type of social services.

According to Article 118 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, any legal entity or individual can open such an organization. By the way, in the latter case, the benefactor does not even have to be a citizen of the country.

It is curious that, according to the same Russian legislation, the described funds can also engage in entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, do this both on your own behalf and through a joint stock company specially founded for this purpose, or -. There are only a few restrictions on this:

1. at least 80% of all profits received by such entrepreneurs must be redistributed to finance charity;
2. the scope of the foundation’s business activities (as well as the specifics of the charitable services it provides) must be clearly indicated in all the organization’s documentation using OKVED codes;
3. the entrepreneurial activities of a charitable foundation should not go beyond the scope of the organization’s charter (Article 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

How to open a charitable foundation?

Anyone can create a relief fund

As is clear from everything said above, purely theoretically, anyone can establish their own charitable foundation. However, in practice, for this to happen, certain conditions must be met. More specifically, we are talking about securing funding for the fund.

In other words, before opening such an organization, the philanthropist must make sure that the social services he is going to provide will arouse the interest of the intended patrons. That is why the founders of foundations are usually people who already have some experience in philanthropic activities.

As soon as the benefactor decides on the scope of the upcoming work, he can begin to draw up a business plan for his organization. What is important here is not only a clear idea regarding the targeting of the fund’s services. The list of proposed patrons of the arts is also important. This moment can become critical, since without generous donations a young organization simply will not be able to support even its own economic activities, because 80% of its income will be accumulated for charitable needs.

One way or another, as soon as the business plan is ready, the founder of the fund will be able to register his brainchild with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. According to the laws on charitable activities and non-profit organizations, this step is strictly mandatory. To carry out the procedure itself, the founder will need the following documents:

1. for registration of the fund (form RN0001);
2. a documented decision on the creation of an organization and approval of the relevant constituent papers;
3. charter of the future fund (in triplicate);
4. a receipt in the amount of 4 thousand rubles;
5. proof that the fund has an actual address (certificate of ownership of the office premises or a letter of guarantee from its landlord).

As a rule, the decision to establish a charitable foundation is made by the Ministry of Justice within two weeks. The same amount of time is required for the mentioned government body to certify all the necessary registration documents. As for the actual official activities, its organization will be able to begin as soon as its founders have the following papers in their hands:

After this, the benefactor will only have to register with the statistics service, as well as pension and social insurance funds. Then he will be able to choose a bank to service the organization’s accounts and finally begin the planned activities.

As for the taxation of charitable foundations directly, it has some specifics. All payments are made within the so-called narrowed base. Thanks to this, any voluntary donations made to the fund will not be taxed. For this to work not only in theory, but also in practice, all charitable contributions received into the organization’s account must be properly formalized. Usually only a very experienced accountant with serious accounting experience can cope with such a task.

In this video you will learn how a fund is created and how you can create a fund from scratch:

1. This is 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), draw up plans and schedules, write reports, argue with your bosses, go on vacation, weave behind-the-scenes intrigues, bickering with colleagues, being stupid on Facebook, drinking coffee, in short, doing everything that normal people do in normal jobs.

2. Fund employees receive salaries

Naturally, the level of salaries, on average, is lower than the market average for similar positions (head of department, financial director, etc.), but quite competitive. Still, it is primarily ideological people who go to work for foundations, but, surprisingly, they also need to eat, drink, rent housing and go on vacation.

3. Charity Fund employees are people too

They are also tired, angry, sometimes they are enraged by work, and there are days when they don’t want anything at all. These are not heavenly creatures who eat rainbows and poop butterflies, but rather ordinary people who make cynical jokes, swear, have sex and drink on a Friday night. Ordinary people who do extraordinary things on a daily basis because that's what they do.

4. This is not an amateur activity.

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 attachments with families and treatment centers, pay for the rent of 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 balloon in favor of children with cancer, then with a 99% probability it is a scam.

5. Funds have their own areas of work

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

6. Any employee of the Charitable Foundation works within the framework of the foundation

This is not Mother Teresa, gathering all the unfortunate orphans and wretches under her wing. This is an employee of the organization who works within the framework of the fund’s activities, in accordance with the Charter and the current legislation of the Russian Federation. Believe me, charitable organizations are checked with such passion that commercial structures have never even dreamed of.

The council (or commission) includes doctors, founders of the fund, and coordinators of work in a particular area. That is, just come and say “Guys, I want to get treatment 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, you will definitely need a package of documents. This is done not only to make life more difficult for people with serious illnesses or disabilities, but also to protect funds from scammers who also work in this direction.

8. Working in the nonprofit sector requires education and special skills.

Unfortunately, now the charity sector in Russia is just experiencing its formation, so there are no educational institutions that would train specialists in this particular field. Everyone who comes to work for the foundation gains knowledge and skills locally, applying skills acquired in other areas. Naturally, this is a difficult and slow process, but it is worth it.

9. It’s easy to help

In the twenty-first century, when spaceships roam the expanses of the Universe, helping with rubles is as easy as shelling pears: all decent funds have short numbers to which you can send an 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 specify 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 payments and much more. If you don’t trust financial schemes, 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 to people

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 foundations post monthly reports on their websites on the receipt and expenditure of funds, which anyone can view. And payment for treatment is made directly to the clinics with which the contract is concluded. If you wish, you can also familiarize yourself with these documents.

11. There is no need to cause good and bring joy.

If the foundation has refused your invaluable help - for example, you passionately want to give away your old children's piano to the suffering, and these bad people refuse and fight back as best they can - then this does not mean that they are greedy. Sometimes the funds simply do not have the resources to take out your piano, and sometimes this piano is absolutely not needed at the moment by either the wards or the sponsored orphanage. Trust the staff - they will definitely tell you what kind of help the fund needs right now.

12. Helping doesn’t have to be crazy millions of money.

Any amount is necessary and important: if 1000 people transfer 100 rubles each, it will be 100,000 rubles - impressive? This will allow you to pay for a rehabilitation course for a child with developmental disabilities, 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 support of the Charitable Foundation’s work

Therefore, you need to take volunteering seriously and as responsibly as possible. The “I want to do it, I want to, I don’t do it” approach is not an option. They are counting on you and if you promised, be sure to do it. Funds do not have the opportunity to stimulate interest in the business using rubles, so everything remains only on your conscience and under your responsibility.

14. All requests are checked

Not only by a commission or 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 feasibility of this particular treatment 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, there are such people too.

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

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

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

Moreover, this 20% is 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. If you spent 100 rubles, that means you can spend 20 rubles on yourself. But it is believed that it is better to spend less. For example, “Gift of Life” spends about 4-6%, and the “Galchonok” fund – about 12%. The best is for children!

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

Surprisingly, orphanages and nursing homes often lack the simplest things: sheets, diapers, catheters, diapers. If you want to help some government institution, it is better to first contact the administration or the fund that patronizes it in order to know exactly what useful items 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, it doesn’t 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, in general, directly kissed by the luminaries. NO! Recipients of help are very often absolutely disgusting, disgusting and difficult to help. But you help, because in charity they help not only the good and the nice, but they try to help everyone.

the site thanks Ksenia Onopko (Galchonok Foundation), Ekaterina Milova (Orbi Foundation) and Alexandra Babkina ([email protected] project) for their assistance in preparing the material.

Text: Katya Kuzmina

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