(Updated 12.09) Ukraine support: What has been achieved so far

It has now been more than 201 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. Since the early hours, the team of The Fix, which has deep roots in Ukraine, has mobilised all possible resources to support our colleagues in the Ukrainian media industry. 

We are working with a coalition of organisations, including Are We Europe, Jnomics and the Media Development Foundation, a number of volunteers, and with the support of a wide range of publishers (full list below). For everyone involved it has been a lot of 18 hour days and sleepless nights.

To date, we have received approx. 4+ million euros in support for the Ukrainian media sector overall, both via GoFundMe and directly (note: this does not include the over 1.8 million euros donated to Kyiv Independent, with whom we are also closely collaborating).

To provide maximum transparency (security concerns permitting), below is an outline of the support delivered so far. We are acting with care, but urgency: In war conditions critical decisions need to be made in a matter of hours, sometimes minutes.

This is a lot of money and we are treating the contributions with the utmost respect. But it is now going out as fast as it is coming in. Our main goal is to help save lives, first and foremost, and then safeguard Ukraine’s independent and ethical media – an important part of Ukraine’s social fabric at this terrible time.

What has been done

Please find the main forms of support outlined below. Note: these numbers are as of 12.09 and rising:

Note: For security purposes, we are limiting the level of detail on some forms of support as of now. A more detailed account will follow

• Fundraising of approx. 3,217,260 EUR to sustain 6 months of operation of 13 leading national media, covering approximately 75% of their needs for this period. To make the process of funding media transparent and equal to all the participants — The Fix has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with all media we support. All funds, gathered via Crowdfunding are aimed to cover the monthly budget gaps of these 13 national media. National media organizations we are currently supporting: Ukrayinska Pravda, NV, Liga.net, Ukraïner, Hromadske, Detector Media, Bihus, Slidstvo Info, Zaborona, Zerkalo Nedeli, The Village Ukraine, Forbes Ukraine, Babel.
• Approx. 440,000 EUR in emergency equipment and supplies purchased. Since the beginning of the campaign, The Fix Media managed to distribute among Ukrainian journalists the following equipment: 200+ bulletproof vests and 260 helmets, 260 combat application tourniquets, 440 emergency bandages, and various amounts of ballistic glasses, tactical first aid kits, chemical protection suits and gas masks.

• Approx. 1 381,010 EUR in direct financial support (mostly small sums for operational expenses, e.g., gas, equipment, IT costs) transferred to colleagues over 60 regional and local media, 11 national media and 2 investigative outlets.
• Securing/ coordinating tech support to 15 media, generously provided pro bono by global tech firms and specialists. Main areas include migration to non-Ukraine servers, increased capacity, debugging etc.
• Support in setting up crypto wallets for Ukrainian media. This is both a fundraising vehicle and back-up in case of payments infrastructure breakdown
• Helped two Ukrainian media launch Patreon-based membership models. Provided additional advisory support on crowdfunding
• Launch of an NFT/crypto based membership for three large Ukrainian media – Ukrayinska Pravda, NV and Hromadske – on the Vault platform 
• Launch of the UA Media Support Center, chatbot for journalists, editors and media managers working in Ukraine, to support them with relocation, equipment and other opportunities (launched with support from Twilio.org, the social impact arm of Twilio, the customer engagement platform. Together with their partners, Kaptea, they were able to launch a chatbot and hotline infrastructure from scratch in very short terms). The bot was used 1036 times, more than 4300+ messages were sent to the bot as of September 12th.

Who has been supporting?

We have received an absolutely incredible outpouring of support from individuals, publishers and donors. It is truly inspiring. Below is a list of the organisations who have provided various forms of support (apologies if anyone has been left off), primarily funds, but also people, office space and other resources.

Publishers: Axel Springer, Financial Times, Gazeta Wyborzcza (both the foundation and the media), The Local, The Guardian, Dagens Nyheter, Bonnier News, Sifted, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Der Spiegel, SME.sk, Dennik N, Netgazeti, Chartbeat.

Donors and media associations: Limelight Foundation, European Endowment for Democracy, International Press Institute, Scandinavian and UK journalist associations, Prague Civil Society, Civil Rights Defenders, Open Society Foundation, Veronica Stichting, NFNZ, International Media Support and International Renaissance Foundation (there are several other names but we are waiting for approval to share).

We would also like to send a special thanks to the communities of INSEAD and London Business School alumni. Both have reached out with multiple volunteers providing their time. We are also thankful for the support of the Institute of Mass Information and Internews for their support in helping with the delivery of supplies to and within Ukraine.

Additional details on publisher contributions and thanks can be found here.

Do you have questions or ideas?

If you have any questions, suggestions or partnership ideas, please reach out to us at partnerships@thefix.media. 

Photo by Ahmed Zalabany on Unsplash

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