Trends spoke with Mitya Aleshkovsky, founder of the Need Help Foundation, about learned helplessness, the impact of NGOs, and regular donations
How has the coronavirus crisis affected philanthropy in our country?
– At the beginning of the crisis, it seemed that the situation was very bad and everything was going to hell. It felt like our section was over. But then it turned out that things were not as bad as they seemed. Society quickly reacted and rebuilt. People got involved in support, as they realized that the NGO sector is a real help. It is important to support those who help themselves.
We see that donations in May, July, and August grew year on year. At some points, they decreased – as in June, for example, but in general we are seeing an increase.
– It turns out that empathy worked for people, they saw that there are those who are more difficult, and decided to help?
– Right. If there were no charitable foundations, the crisis would have become a humanitarian catastrophe on a national scale. He was close to it, but managed to taxi out.
How has the NPO sector changed by 2020? Has she become more professional, more conscious?
“Over the past five years, we have made a huge step forward in terms of professionalism, quality of work and sustainability of the sector. Many funds have appeared in our country that are in no way inferior to the best examples in the world. We have organizations that operate on a global level.
– For example?
– Foundations “Faith”, “Give Life”, the Khabensky Foundation. Unfortunately, there are still few of them in the general scale of the country and human problems. Not only are there few professional funds, but in general.
People in our country are faced with absolute hopelessness in a lot of situations where there is nowhere to go, nowhere to get help. I want to lay down and die. There are many such situations. In most cases, to be honest, no one will come to the rescue. This is actually a task for the development of the sector in the near future – to make sure that someone comes to the rescue in difficult situations.
– In some specific directions or in general?
– In all! I repeatedly give the same example in an interview, but for some reason it does not scare people very much. So, I don’t know of a single fund in Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk that a person with cancer can apply to. And what about small towns, villages and villages? This is a catastrophe. We have almost 4 million people in the country with cancer and most of them have nowhere to turn.
– Isn’t the state system obliged to help them?
– We know that the state system does not work in the best way – somewhere better, somewhere – worse. But not fully. In this sense, NGOs help the system get better.
And I’m talking only about cancer, the second leading cause of death in our country. And what about domestic violence, the rehabilitation of people with complex congenital or acquired multiple disabilities, the socialization of orphans? Unfortunately, we are no better than Africa in many ways. But at least there are foreign NGOs that solve problems and help people.
– My next question is about Africa. The comments on the rating of the CAF Foundation say that our country is no better than Burundi in terms of charity.
— I don’t know specifically about Burundi, I can only guess, but I know about Russia. The non-profit sector, given the size of the country and social problems, is not well developed.
In our country, only 3% of the population donate to trusted organizations every month. Very little. This suggests that society has not formed the need and necessity to participate in one’s own life. One of the most important problems is that we were raised on paternalism. We are told from childhood that the so-called state owes us something. For some strange reason, we do not realize that we are the state.
Our taxes are not enough for life to be beautiful and the country to be developed. We must take responsibility, understand that these are our problems when children die and old people lie in the shabby walls of nursing homes.
The task of society is to influence the authorities through NGOs. We sit and say that it is the authorities who are to blame, they are doing everything badly. The fact that the government does not work well is a consequence, not a cause. You asked why the government does everything badly? Have you ever done anything as a citizen to make yourself feel better? Did you team up with someone to change the country?
– In your opinion, what is the reason for such an attitude to social problems? Is it the Soviet legacy, the current political situation, or something else?
– This is connected with both the Soviet and the royal heritage. We are a country in which, until the end of the XNUMXth century, most of the population were slaves. We have sewn up in our subcortex that the master decides, and the peasants carry out. The culture of independence, capitalism and personal responsibility in Western countries has developed over the centuries. We have a little bit at the end of the XNUMXth and the beginning of the XNUMXst centuries.
Today I see no serious obstacles to the development of [civil] society in our country. Despite all the political and economic conjuncture, the society in our country has never developed better. It takes on more and more responsibility. Society produces solutions to social problems, creates horizontal connections, launches organizations for funding and achieves its goals. Including political ones.
– We had an interview with Dmitry Yampolsky, co-founder of the Friends Foundation, who also assured that NGOs are forcing the government to change. Is it really so, do the authorities notice the activities of NGOs?
– Of course, how! Now NGOs are the fastest and most accessible social and political elevator in our country. Look at the rise of Nyuta Federmesser – from the head of the hospice fund, she became a big federal official whom the president meets.
Of course, we are heard and seen. When conditional Nyuta, Chulpan Khamatova or Konstantin Khabensky come to a state institution, the authorities understand that they are backed by millions of people who support their activities with the ruble. Any government is populist in nature and needs the support of society. If the government wants to receive some of this support, it helps the undertakings of people and organizations behind which thousands and millions of our countries stand.
Yes, the government does not always do it effectively. Sometimes clumsy. But it does – it’s already wonderful. Five years ago, there were “Night Wolves” and some kind of lured strange foundations among NGOs. They sat on the neck of state funding, without giving any results. But a whole sector has emerged that is conducting a constructive dialogue with the authorities.
Even in the current political configuration, it turns out to do something – they passed laws on palliative care or on tax deductions. And NGOs can influence not only at the legislative level. For example, nursing homes get better when funds like Old Age is Joy come in. The state system under the influence of NGOs is becoming more human-oriented.
– Still, speaking of charity, there is a question about the well-being of citizens.
– He’s not worth it. It is a false premise that charity is only for the rich. You can participate by donating only 1 rub. per day – we have such a promotion. 30 rub. per month will not make poorer even a person who receives unemployment benefits. At the same time, 30 rubles. per month, if they are donated by hundreds of thousands or millions of people – a lot of money.
People do not believe in themselves and the possibility of change. This is the real stop – we are back to paternalism, slavish consciousness and learned helplessness again.
– How did you solve the problem of the large commission that the Need Help Foundation had to pay because of the Ruble a Day campaign?
Yes, it was really devastating for us. We solved the problem in two ways. First, we agreed with the payment provider to reduce the commission. Secondly, they introduced a voluntary commission for donors. Now a person himself can add any percentage of the donation amount and thereby take the commission on himself. It works well – we have significantly reduced costs. I won’t say that we cover everything, but this is no longer such a ruinous story as it was originally.
– Then I’ll ask how the publication “Takie Dela” feels now, about the closure of which they talked about a year ago?
We had financial problems that we solved. Of course, we cannot afford everything we want, but we do not plan to close, we hire new people and grow. This year, “Takie Dela” has grown in all indicators – first of all, in terms of the amount of money raised. At least twice as much as last year.
– Have you tried to measure the effectiveness, the impact of “Such Cases” and “Need Help” on the industry?
– We’re up to it. Social impact assessment is a key moment for the development of the entire non-profit sector. But it is incredibly expensive, complicated and labor intensive. We have a project about data “To be precise”. We made it together with the Potanin Foundation. For the first time, social problems have acquired a digital form.
The next project is a social impact assessment system for some issues. We want to create such a tool for NGOs. So far, broad strokes, a basic estimate. After that, we will be able to approach creating a full-fledged self-assessment system.
The grading system is needed to scientifically prove our influence. For the time being, I can only talk about the results of activities that I know for sure, or that seem to me. For example, after we started writing about social issues and charity, everyone began to write about it. Five years ago we were told that no one would read it – then three and a half publications spoke about social problems, including Novaya Gazeta, Kommersant and MK. It was a barracks for lepers. Now there are entire departments about charity and volunteering at, Meduza, Ekho Moskvy, RT and other media. Now it’s mainstream. Is there a contribution to this? Absolutely there is. I won’t say that this is only our merit, but we pushed this cart in the right direction.
We made and popularized the same regular donations that were practically non-existent five years ago. Now it’s a must-have for funds. “Sisters” were practically closed due to debts before we began to cooperate with them. Now they exist and work very effectively. We have already done and continue to do a lot of useful things.
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