Supply-Side Philanthropy: Building on the Impulse to Give

Strumochok Director Ilona Gudkova models a full-body apron and coffee mug both of which are produced and made-toorder at Social Company. Photo Credit: Halyna Kruk. When Volodymyr Slobodonyak, an owner of a small print house in Cervonohrad (a small coal mining town in Western Ukraine), returned home from a seminar in Ukraine's capital on social entrepreneurship, he immediately sought out Ilona Gudvoka, director of a local nonprofit, with a business proposition.  What if they launched a new business whose profits could support Strumochuk?  Strumochuk is a local nonprofit serving 170 people with intellectual disabilities and their family members.  Gudvoka readily accepted, and with help from USAID’s Strengthening Civil Society Organizations Project (USAID/UCAN) the Social Company was born.   USAID/UCAN works extensively with nonprofits to help them deliver exceptional services to their constituents – and to help them shore up sources of funding to sustain them over the long term.  The project also works with government, businesses, and individuals to encourage philanthropy in Ukraine where resources are often scarce and a strong tradition of giving has not yet been established.   Gradually, Slobodnyak began giving the Social Company small and simple orders that came into his print house – silk-screening and placing logos and pictures on products such as souvenir cups, t-shirts, or key chains – which freed Slobodnyak's print house to focus on complicated orders that need more expertise.   With coaching, mentoring and a start-up grant from ISC, the Social Company netted $3,250 in its first year (the average annual salary in Ukraine is $4,800), which supported Strumochok’s activities and expenses.  The money also helped the NGO launch awareness campaigns and a walkathon.   More than half of the Social Company's staff are mothers of children with special needs who are often single heads of households and struggling to make ends meet.  Children at Strumochok's day care center for children with special needs pitch in on easier tasks and hand out advertising flyers on the streets.  "Our kids develop mentally in a different way, so we have to engage them in a non-traditional manner, which requires special attention, patience, and care," explained Gudkova. Across Ukraine, USAID/UCAN is working on a number of fronts to stimulate the supply side of philanthropy.  In 2006, the American Chamber of Commerce joined the project in providing grants to social entrepreneurs like the Social Company.  To date, jointly they have funded 27 social enterprises in Ukraine.   The partnership between Gudkova and Slobodanyak didn’t go unnoticed by another USAID project – Corporate Philanthropy: Supporting Good Practice and Transparency.  Both were invited to speak at one of the project’s Business Breakfasts promoting corporate philanthropy to show how a business can add value to the work of a nonprofit.  Aside from holding a series of business breakfasts, the project promotes corporate social responsibility by publishing a directory of businesses in Ukraine that practice corporate social responsibility to help stimulate social projects, workplace giving, charity donations, and volunteering.  In February 2008, it organized a conference, which brought together philanthropists to encourage them to look for ways to deepen the impact and sustainability of their gifts by moving beyond immediate donations of food and clothing to long-term involvement.   Launched in 2007, the Foundation for Ukraine, a UCAN legacy organization founded to take over philanthropy activities, will draw on and develop resources to support initiatives that improve the quality of life in Ukraine.  As for the Social Company: "Our goal is to never stop.  We want to keep our children occupied, to have society accept them so that they're not reduced to being simply 'customers' of state provided services but who contribute in their small way to society," Gordova says.

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