Charities working around the borders of Ukraine

[sounds Turner]

The Red Cross and other charities are on the borders of Ukraine right now, in Poland and neighboring countries,
Helping people escape this nightmare on Earth, it's winter time and thousands of people need shelter, food warm clothes, meds etc.

My original topic was related to a fundraiser I started,
But it's probably best to donate to these charities directly.
We love you Ukraine!

Unicef Ukraine
Red Cross Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund
Save The Children
Irish Red Cross
World Central Kitchen
International Rescue Committee

Edited March 7, 2022 by sounds Turner

[PermaRuthed]

25 minutes ago, sounds Turner said:

Hi,

I started a fundraiser for the people of Ukraine, just want to help them any way I can.
All funds go to the Irish Red Cross, who are on the borders helping thousands of refugees.
There will be over 1 million people, elderly folks and children without homes in the coming days.

I feel so angry and disgusted, but I don't want to relate my feeling to this fundraiser.

I couldn't start a campaign unless I did it through a registered charity, so I choose Irish Red Cross.

Please help us raise funds for the Irish Red Cross, helping people on the borders of Ukraine.
It's winter time there and freezing cold, these people need any support we can get to them.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ukraine-people-irish-redcross-050322

Thanks a lot

That's nice.

But I think the Irish Red Cross would get donations faster if you donate directly: https://www.redcross.ie/

https://donate.redcross.ie/

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

Not to mention that donating directly to the Red Cross will allow them to keep all of the donation amount rather than lose the amount that Gofundme charges in fees.  

These are the US fees and though different for each country they give you an idea -- that is quite a lot of donation money to lose for fees, if you ask me.

Edited March 6, 2022 by LittleMe Jewell

[Odaks]

I suspect that people may well to prefer to donate via their own country's systems. I, too, have chosen the Red Cross as a good organisation to send a donation to. In my case, I have sent my donation to the British Red Cross.

Not only will this avoid losing a part of the donation to fees charged by outfits such as Go Fund Me, it will also avoid further losses due to echange rate charges and it will enable me to maximise my donation by taking advantage of UK taxation rules for charitable donations.

Individual circumstances will vary but, in general, I suspect that most donations will be best made made via the donor's home country organisations.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsionalniy-bank-vidkriv-spetsrahunok-dlya-zboru-koshtiv-na-potrebi-armiyi

directly to them.

[Sid Nagy]

In the Netherlands the lines of Giro555 are open.
That is a foundation were several organizations work together in cases of huge disasters, like the Red Cross NL, Save The Children, Oxfam, UNICEF NL, Terre des Hommes and others.
Tomorrow they have a national fundraiser prime time campaign on radio and TV, made possible by 3 TV networks working together on this project (public and commercial) and several radio stations.
That's where my donation went a few days ago.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[Pamela Galli]

To support Chef Andres’ World Central Kitchen feeding Ukrainian refugees https://wck.org

 

[Adamburp Adamczyk]

I made a donation to Unicef, but as Odaks correctly pointed out, here inthe UK the Taxman has something called "Gift Aid".

 

This allows the receiving charity to claim back the tax on the donation, so can actually get more than your donation. 

[Arielle Popstar]

After the scam GoFundMe tried to pull on the Canadian trucker's "Freedom Convoy", I wouldn't trust anything going through there.

[Odaks]

2 hours ago, Adamburp Adamczyk said:

inthe UK the Taxman has something called "Gift Aid".

 

I dug a bit deeper into this. It appears that any charity registered in the European Economic Area (EEA, which is the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) also qualifies for UK Gift Aid. (Certain sports clubs can qualify too.)

Provided you are a UK taxpayer, the charity can reclaim the basic rate of tax that had been charged on the funds that the donation was made from. The current basic rate is 20% but, because the calculation is made on the gross amount before tax was deducted, the effect is that the charity can recover an extra 25%. So, for example, donate £100 and the charity can claim an extra £25 making the donation worth £125. Definitely worth a bit of extra paperwork!

Qualifying charities can also benefit from higher-rate (40%) taxpayers.

Just be careful with this, though. If charities reclaim more than the actual amount of tax you have paid, you'll end up with a bill from the tax office!

[Sid Nagy]

In the Netherlands certified charity organizations like The Red Cross or UNICEF don't have to pay taxes over received donations.
People who donate can get the income tax back over the donated money to certified organizations, when the donation total in a year is higher than 1% of their income. Over the first 1% you get nothing returned.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Sid Nagy

[CaithLynnSayes]

So i clicked OP's gofundme link and it looks like its on hold. It was created 15 hours ago and i think (hope) that gofundme will suspend it because of the same reasoning that was made here a couple of times; you can donate to them directly without a middleman lining his pockets.

OP, your heart is in the right place though.

[sounds Turner]

There are many people raising funds through GofundMe and other online fundraising services, for charities all over the world.
The Irish Red Cross depends on people's kindness and support to collect donations for desperate situations like this.

A friend I know raised 50k two days ago, for another charity on the ground in Ukraine, and 100's of thousands raised through people globally.
Even ten million won't be enough to help them in the long term, it's just to help them right now, as they come over the borders of Ukraine.

The charity can claim charges back, even if it was a grand in fees, some very needy people will get the rest, that's all we want.

The staff at GoFuneMe advised us on which approach to take and this is how we're doing it.
Because I could't do such under my own name, understandably, so I choose to do a campaign for Irish Red Cross.

Edited March 6, 2022 by sounds Turner

[CaithLynnSayes]

1 hour ago, sounds Turner said:

There are many people raising funds through GofundMe and other online fundraising services, for charities all over the world.
The Irish Red Cross depends on people's kindness and support to collect tangible goods and raise money for desperate situations like this.

A friend of mine raised 50k two days ago, for another charity on the ground in Ukraine, and 100's of thousands raised through people in the UK and Ireland.

Even ten million won't be enough to help them in the long term, it's just to help them right now, as they come over the borders of Ukraine.

I'm not the first, this is not my first charity fundraiser, nobody gave me excuses on those fundraisers, they just helped, that's all I'm doing.

You are correct, they can claim any charges back, even if it was a grand in fees, some very needy people will get the rest, that's all we want.

I'm in touch with my associates in the Red Cross, they were very happy we started this and we hope it helps a little.

You either do or you don't.

The staff at GoFuneMe advised us on which approach to take and this is how we're doing it.

Well this kinda leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth... Correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm getting a slight hostile vibe from you after reading this. It's not that people don't want to help. It's more about how to donate directly (to the Red Cross, in this case) rather than through a third party that will take a cut.

If i'm wrong, i'm wrong.

[sounds Turner]

Sorry, not meant to be hostile, just upset over the current situation, apologies if you were offended.
I'm not collecting any money, if it helps the charity that's all I want, it would help a lot of people right now.
You search for the charity you want to help raise donations for on their website, and then start a campaign.

Edited March 6, 2022 by sounds Turner

[LittleMe Jewell]

25 minutes ago, sounds Turner said:

I'm not collecting any money

It's the third party of Go Fund Me that is taking a cut, that's what people are commenting on.  If you donate $100.00 directly to the Red Cross, they get $100.00.  Whereas by donating to the Red Cross via Go Fund Me, the Red Cross will get $97.50 of that $100.00 and the Go Fund Me company will get the other $2.50 (that adds up after lots of transactions).  That is just an example, based on a $100.00 donation in US currency, but the rough concept applies to all donations of any currency via a third party app like Go Fund Me.

We aren't jumping all over you, but trying to educate people about better ways to get their money to those that need it.

Edited March 7, 2022 by LittleMe Jewell

[sounds Turner]

I totally understand,

I'll try edit the title of this topic and my first comment,
Just a reminder that people need our help, and Red Cross are out there too.

We all love Ukraine.

Unicef Ukraine
Red Cross Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund
Save The Children
Irish Red Cross
World Central Kitchen
International Rescue Committee

Edited March 7, 2022 by sounds Turner

[LittleMe Jewell]

10 minutes ago, sounds Turner said:

I totally understand,

I'll try get support to let me edit the title of this topic and my first comment,
Just a reminder that people need our help and the Red Cross are out there.

We all love Ukraine.

You are still within the 24-hour mark of creating the thread.  You should be able to edit it yourself without Support.  Click the 3 dots in the upper right corner of the post.

[Tommy Linden]

Hello Everyone,

As a reminder, we would like to encourage everyone to be mindful of links that they are clicking. If you decide to donate, always double check the organization, and the link in which you are doing it through. If this thread goes off the rails though, I will come back and close it, just as a heads up.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:10 PM, sounds Turner said:

I totally understand,

I'll try edit the title of this topic and my first comment,
Just a reminder that people need our help, and Red Cross are out there too.

We all love Ukraine.

Unicef Ukraine
Red Cross Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund
Save The Children
Irish Red Cross
World Central Kitchen
International Rescue Committee

I have worked for years on this region of the world, sometimes in the region and follow it closely.

Some of the groups in this list really do work on the ground in Ukraine AND also have a low overhead. But not all of them. Check them on Guidestar. I would pick IRC and not Save the Children for lots of reasons. 

UNICEF is NOT an organization I would donate to -- it is run by the UN, an amalgam of states and therefore a compromise. it is not as transparent as it could be, and has a lot going to overhead. Charities need not just to do relief work; sometimes they have to criticize states that fire on civilians and schoolyards and kill children. Not every organization in this list will do that, but MUST do that in Ukraine now. 

Of all those you mentioned, Red Cross *Ukraine* is the only one *in Ukraine permanently*. And I would give to them. NOT the Red Cross in the US, which has been beset with scandals and leadership problems since 9/11 and not only about 9/11. Give close to the scene to those who are established.

The National Bank of Ukraine -- giving directly to the army and government -- seems like a good idea. But in a country beset by corruption, perhaps it is not.

 

[sounds Turner]

I saw a lady interviewed on Sky news this morning who is doing a similar fundraiser for a charity on the ground, near the polish border.
Their campaign is raising funds around the UK and other countries in Europe, it's possible, but difficult to raise awareness by yourself.

I do agree about giving directly to charities, that's why I changed the topic.
There has been millions donated to Ukraine so far, but well, if this war continues, there won't be many citizens left when and if it ends.
Around 2 million have fled Ukraine since last week, but there's over 44 million citizens? it's a horrible situation, they're hitting Kiev next.

We're basically watching the extermination of one of the largest countries in Europe, our neighbors and friends.
Without assistance from the rest of the world, Ukraine could be gone soon, they will fight to the end, as their president said this morning.

I do hope the end means when they take back their nation but..

Sanctions are not stopping this onslaught, other more powerful nations including NATO won't get involved, for obvious reasons.

Just this morning, the US rejected requests for Poland to give all their jets to the Ukraine military, but who's going to deliver them.

There's only one way to end this war and nobody wants to go there.

The Ukraine people need our support, please don't forget them.

We love Ukraine.

[Sid Nagy]

The TV and Radio fund raise Giro 555 that I talked about earlier in this thread brought together 137.5 million Euro and still counting.
A good cause gives a good reaction I guess. 137.5 million is not too bad for a small country like NL.

But an awful lot more is needed now and later on in the process.
So more worldwide responds is needed. Give to your favorite charity organization please.

And about Save The Children and UNICEF, I beg to differ in opinion with Prokofy.
Two excellent organizations IMHO with a long standing trustworthy history.
Both on my yearly donation list and one of them even in my last will.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Sid Nagy
Actualisation of the numbers to todays ticker score.

[Innula Zenovka]

At least if you live in Europe, it's worth asking members of the local Ukrainian or Polish communities for advice.    A Polish friend of mine told me, when I asked her how I could help, that Poles in my area have already organised continuing collections (to which I contributed) for volunteers to take food and medicines to the Ukrainian border every week for the arriving refugees.

[sounds Turner]

UNICEF is a very good charity, they did get a bad name because of some of their staff,
But in general, they are doing a great job and are out their helping these lives.