06/10/2026
Unfortunately, friends, our lives are not made up solely of positive stories. Sad as it is, we still have to write about this. After dobro.ua stopped accepting new posts, we hoped it was only temporary and that things would work out. But no—Ukraine’s largest charitable platform is ceasing operations. Once again, the issue came down to the familiar question: Who is willing to pay for this work? Indeed, such large, established projects cannot survive without systemic financial support. Society needs to understand that any systematic charitable work entails administrative costs. Relying purely on volunteers might get a good initiative off the ground, launch a one-off campaign, or allow for the occasional good deed. But maintaining a functioning mechanism, establishing productive, systematic operations that keep pace with the times, and continuing to grow—that requires money.
For 15 years, dobro.ua carried out a difficult and vital mission: raising funds from donors for a wide range of charitable initiatives. This team handled the most important and challenging task of all—fundraising. It allowed us to immerse ourselves in direct operational work with aid recipients and work "in the field." We assure you, we prefer that kind of work to fundraising.
To illustrate what has been lost, let’s look at a simple example. An acquaintance asks you to help deliver medicine to his grandmother because he is physically unable to do so himself. Naturally, you would gladly agree to help. But to do that, you first have to go around to all your mutual acquaintances and raise money for the medication. How does that sound? That raises a few more doubts, doesn't it?
Well, dobro.ua performed that crucial function—fundraising. It remains unclear whether another team in the charity sector will step up and be able to handle the same functions as dobro.ua. We hope so. Time will tell. There will certainly be attempts.
So, what are we doing in this situation? We have only one option left: to rebuild our own fundraising operations, just as we did in the past. Naturally, this will take some time. We do, however, have a clear idea of what to do next, so we aren't stopping our work. That said, the volume of aid we provide will decrease. It is hard to say right now by how much.
We have our own website, ucccf-help.org.ua, which was originally created specifically for fundraising. Although it is outdated, it is still capable of doing the job. For the time being, we are directing all our donors there. We will publish specific appeals for help for individual children on the site. While the number of appeals will be lower, there will be enough for potential donors to make a choice.
We also plan to be more active with the "Svoim vid Hromady" (From the Community to Our Own) project; it has turned out to be a truly great initiative, and we want to expand its reach. By the way, fundraising for this project is becoming more effective; schools are getting involved, and we have a clear vision for developing and implementing additional, engaging initiatives.
Right now, our work requires informational support. While we have the fundraising tools in place, we are facing some challenges in spreading the word. We would therefore welcome any initiative, advice, or assistance you can offer. Please get in touch, and we will explore every opportunity together. Social media, information channels, professional networks, or interest-based communities—all of these can help our projects grow.
So, we are moving forward, confident that we have the strength to do so. Over our 20-year history, our foundation has weathered even greater setbacks. We managed back then, and we will manage now. Let’s stand together.
