The short answer is Ukraine, which has been my geopolitical obsession for a little over a year, though I have only just started acting on it.
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My main thought during the first week of Russia’s invasion in February 2022 is that I would have fled. I expected Ukrainians to do the same. Their resistance to the Russians and their not being rolled over by the successor to the feared Red Army astonishes me.
The conflict may last many awful years. One of my main questions over the past year has been: How can I and equally obsessed Texans support Ukraine?
Official channels
There are two official websites created to muster international private support for Ukraine’s resistance. People could and should consider these.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy created Ukraine24, which solicits donations for three purposes:
- Defense and demining,
- Medical aid
- Rebuilding Ukraine
Mark Hamill — who portrayed rebel Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars epic about scrappy resistors fighting an evil empire against all odds — has joined this official effort to support Ukraine. The site accepts credit and debit cards online. As of April, Ukraine24 said it has raised $321 million.
In addition, the National Bank of Ukraine created a site for direct private donations to support Ukraine’s armed forces. The bank said that as of April, it has raised the equivalent of $677 million — 25 billion Ukrainian Hryvnia — through direct donations.
Unofficial channels
A unique aspect of Ukraine’s resistance is how technology — through social media and on-the-front-lines communications, for example — enables individuals to offer material support in a less official capacity. Likely thousands of small-scale efforts have sprung up since February 2022 to support Ukraine.
Austin-based television director Dax Martinez-Vargas met fellow advertising director Mykola while shooting TV commercials in Ukraine. Following the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, Mykola’s television work dried up. As Martinez-Vargas tells it, Mykola over time built a discussion group on the social media platform Discord to call attention to Ukraine’s situation. When Russia invaded in February 2022, U.S.-based members of that Discord group asked Mykola how they could help get supplies to where they were needed most. The discussion widened to others interested in Ukraine’s plight on the social media platform Reddit, where Mykola continues to build his international audience using the alias JesterBoyd.
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Dallas-based entrepreneur Steve Watford joined Martinez-Vargas and Nevada-based entrepreneur Anders Boyd to found Ukraine Front Line Inc.
Their original common bonds were Mykola’s Discord group and a desire to help as directly as possible. Boyd built the group’s website. Watford became president and got the organization recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, eligible for tax-advantaged giving from U.S. citizens.
Since then, Watford reported, about $50,000 from 200 people and two trusts have been sent to help deliver needed supplies to soldiers and medical personnel at the front. As their man on the ground in Ukraine, Mykola arranges purchase and pickup of materials, often in Poland, and sees to their delivery by himself or via couriers. They’ve bought and delivered items such as combat medical supplies, cold weather uniforms and reconnaissance drones.
It’s very scrappy, lean, unofficial and grassroots. Watford, Martinez-Vargasa and a third board member — Robin Rohrback, with whom I spoke — prefer the efficiency of direct support to Ukrainians over more official nonprofits or big established international ones.
Compared to larger organizations, the material delivered by Ukraine Front Line is tiny. But as the volunteers see it, with no overhead and volunteers who cover their own administrative costs, 100 percent of donations go to where they’re needed most in Ukraine.
The risks
The New York Times reported last month on Ukrainian nonprofits that have popped up and raised eyebrows since the invasion began.
Accusations include lying about the biographies of key members, falsely claiming registration or pending registration as an official nonprofit, or exaggerating accomplishments or deliveries of supplies. A year ago, I sent a small amount of money via PayPal to a Ukraine-based American with an active Twitter presence who represented just such a grassroots organization. He was mentioned as a controversial figure in that recent New York Times article, and he has since gone dark on Twitter. For small organizations, one should always maintain some skepticism.
For what it’s worth, Ukraine Front Line is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Mykola and his in-country couriers do an admirable job of photographing and documenting their deliveries, posting on the organization’s blog and Reddit.
One upside of supporting small organizations is efficiency. Another is that supporting small groups increases the chances of engaging in philanthropy that is emotionally satisfying, through a narrative and personal connection.
My donations
I believe the U.S. government and our NATO allies should support Ukraine generously with government funds. As of this writing, U.S. government support eclipsed $75 billion, a combination of military, financial and humanitarian aid. I also hope and think Americans — who give close to $500 billion dollars in philanthropy per year — can make a difference.
Last week, I was able to donate a small amount of money via credit card to Zelenskyy’s Ukraine24 for defense and demining.
Then I tried to donate a small amount using my credit card to the National Bank of Ukraine, but the payments didn’t go through. After three failed attempts, I tried to communicate via online chat, but the site’s chat function was in Ukrainian, so I was not able to complete that donation.
Finally, I gave a small amount to Ukraine Front Line after speaking directly with three of its members and viewing Mykola’s specific communications online.
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As we grind into the second year of a brutal invasion and defense, I hope and think the philanthropic power of Americans can and should be a force multiplier.
Watford brings a very Texan attitude to his support through Ukraine Front Line.
“We (Texans) bleed freedom. That’s our nature, and God help anyone that threatens it,” Watford said. “This same trait has been heroically demonstrated by the people of Ukraine. They were backed into a corner staring straight down the barrel of a loaded gun and said, ‘Do it.’ They have and will continue to fight to preserve their freedom, and they’ll die before they give it up. That’s about as Texan as it gets.”
Michael Taylor is author of “The Financial Rules for New College Graduates” and host of the podcast “No Hill for a Climber.”
michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com | twitter.com/michael_taylor
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