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Rustam Gilfanov, the co-founder of an international IT company and a philanthropist, speaks about ways to do charity work so that it could be really helpful.
How to choose a charity recipient
Doing charity is not just doing good. Nowadays, it means allocating private resources to solve social problems and enhance the life of society. It is important not just to donate money, but to understand whether it will change the current situation in the future.
When working with large-scale charitable projects, I determined three core principles for selecting charity recipients. They are suitable both for businesses and for people who want to give targeted aid.
1. Effective budget allocation
The charity budget is always limited to some extent. It is of crucial importance to manage the funds correctly and choose priority areas for giving charity. Do not try to help everyone. It is simply impossible.
2. Focus on long-term results
It is important not to help just a certain person, but to invest in social well-being. Future visible results of your contribution are essential.
3. True benefit
In the context of the limited resources, it is important to help a person who will become a productive member of society and do good for him. According to my experience, helping a child from a prosperous family is more effective than vice versa. You should also keep in mind that your charitable activities in no way should replace the state functions.
In fact, charity is a complex system of priorities that requires making informed decisions and ignoring emotions.
How to avoid fraud
Charity is breeding grounds for fraudsters who are good at pulling on people’s heartstrings. For example, in our practice, we have had an unpleasant incident with paying for children’s operations. Introducing themselves as volunteers, people turned to us for financial aid and took money from the parents of sick children at the same time. They promised to pay the hospital a sum of money several times exceeding what they took. After revealing the case, we had to re-transfer the money for the operation, but this time to the hospital directly. And this is not the only such case. There should be no intermediaries in charity.
In most cases, fraudsters build on unsuspecting and compassionate people; therefore, they sometimes fail to invent decent legends for themselves. When it comes to raising funds for medical treatment, his clinical record usually includes the information about the hospital the fund beneficiary is being treated in. If such data is available, you can find the hospital department’s phone number and find out whether there is such a patient.
Having been deceived is not a reason to give up a charity. Be sure to take the negative experience into account and continue financing, instead of refusing to help people who rely on you.
Why it is important not to parade your charity activities
Charity shouldn’t be demonstrated. Any suspicion in self-interest (popularity, PR, status) devalues any act of kindness. Therefore, we don’t always reveal information about the aid given. Moreover, in the CIS countries, you attract unwanted attention from government agencies if you have an opportunity to help. Donations are treated as a sign that the company has money to burn.
I’ll say it once again that it is important to help so that the society could change for the better. Indeed, we all eventually live happier when surrounded by more successful and self-realized people. Therefore, developing a charity education is extremely important. Purchasing enhanced medical equipment instead of simply investing in treating children. Planning a budget for priority programs instead of spending the last penny on charity. Attracting people to charity by showing possible global changes instead of pleading for sympathy.
There is some good in everyone. But a truly kind person is the one who acts based on self-responsibility, his time and resources. You can become support for others if you don’t sacrifice anything.
Brief biographical background
Rustam Gilfanov is a co-founder of the IT company, an IT businessman, an international investor.
Rustam Gilfanov was born on January 6, 1983, in Basim village in Perm Region, in the family of a military man and a teacher.
In 2006, Gilfanov Rustam and his partners open international outsourcing IT company in Kiev. Nowadays, this company is the largest developer of gaming, marketing and financial software.
A few years ago, Gilfanov gave up operational activities in the IT company to engage in international investment in promising IT projects in the field of financial technologies, games and video streaming. Rustam Gilfanov also finds it important to develop charitable projects in Ukraine, with the largest ones including LuckyBooks (ЛакіБукс) and Maybutniy Libraries (Бібліотеки Майбутнього).
Gilfanov Rustam is married, has a daughter.
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This content is sponsored by Rustam Gilfanov.
Photos provided by Rustam Gilfanov.