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RISU Announces Fundraising Campaign to Support English Version

06.06.2013, 09:52
RISU Announces Fundraising Campaign to Support English Version - фото 1
We see that crowdfunding campaigns are successful for many media agencies abroad, and have even given results in Ukraine. So we turn to you, dear readers. $10, 10 euros, or 10 hryvnias – this is a small amount, but together we can achieve significant results.

During its existence, RISU has received its main grants from religious and secular foundations, for which we are extremely grateful because they have allowed us to develop and implement new projects. Over the past seven years, the main donor has been the American organization the National Endowment for Democracy, which provides funds for our basic activities in monitoring religious freedom in Ukraine. Last year the organization reduced funding for RISU and thus the English and Russian versions were no longer covered by these funds. However, thanks to the Maria Hulai-Lion Foundation, we received minimum annual funding for these web pages.

But this spring, the activities of the English version of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine ​​faced another threat. The Bradley Foundation, which for many years supported RISU and other projects of the Ukrainian Catholic University, halted funding for these projects. The English version of RISU will suffer the most from this reduction.

To maintain the basic level of the English version, RISU needs 15,000 U.S. dollars:

  • Editor’s salary – $9,000 per year (full-time position, taking into account taxes and social benefits);
  • Translator’s salary – $6,000 (part-time position, taking into account taxes and social benefits).

We do not take into account honorariums that we would like to pay our contributors who now write materials for RISU English on a volunteer basis and to whom we are extremely grateful.

In June we received limited funding from the National Endowment for Democracy – $3,120, and if we calculate the taxes, we receive $156 for the coordinator (part-time). This is not enough to develop RISU’s English page, nor for it to operate properly.

Therefore, for the first time in the 11 years of the existence of the portal we turn to our friends and readers for help.

Three months of a “silent” campaign brought the following results:

$1,300 – Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Germany 
$130 – private donor Marko Tomaszek 
$50 – private donor Andrew Sorokowski
$1,000 – Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky

Along with the grant from the National Endowment for Democracy this adds up to $5,600, that is, one-third of our desired budget. We see that crowdfunding campaigns are successful for many media agencies abroad, and have even given results in Ukraine. So we turn to you, dear readers. $10, 10 euros, or 10 hryvnias – this is a small amount, but together we can achieve significant results.

Of course, we will not put the whole burden of funding RISU on the shoulders of our readers. We will do everything possible to support the livelihood of the resource, which means we will continue to seek funding from foundations and donors. Nonetheless, support from our readers, including financial support, is very important to us as we do not work for abstract organizations or foundations but for the readers.

We also ask the Ukrainian diaspora to support RISU, which for 12 years has been another window through which foreigners look at our country, and learn about our culture, religion, and customs.

Your donation does not have to be only monetary but can be time, perhaps volunteering, writing professional articles about the religious situation in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Church in the diaspora. We very much value your help!

For Donations 

In the United States and Canada the simplest way to donate is through the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation with a note stating that the donation is for RISU – more information is available at ucef.org

FOR USD  
UCU USD bank account details:  
Account number: 26006000003280   
SWIFT: UKRSUAUX  
Account holder: UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY  
Bank name: UKRSOTSBANK   
City: Kyiv  
Country: Ukraine  
Bank address: KOVPAKA STR., 29  
Bank ZIP-code: 03150  
For donations in USD please use following correspondent accounts:  
Account number: 8900260947  
SWIFT: IRVTUS3N  
Bank name: BANK OF NEW YORK  
City: New York  
ABA: 0210-0001-8  
IMPORTANT:   
In the NOTE field of your bank wire/money order please state:  
Charitable donation for RISU  
Please do not leave any other comments

FOR EUR  
UCU EURO bank account details:  
Account number: 26005000003281  
SWIFT: UKRSUAUX  
Account holder: UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY  
Bank name: UKRSOTSBANK   
City: Kyiv  
Country: Ukraine  
Bank address: KOVPAKA STR., 29  
Bank ZIP-code: 03150  
For donations in EURO please use following correspondent accounts:  
Account number: 10094986271000  
SWIFT: DEUTDEFF  
Bank name: DEUTSCHE BANK  
City: Frankfurt  
IMPORTANT:   
In the NOTE field of your bank wire/money order please state:  
Charitable donation for RISU  
Please do not leave any other comments