Outside Ukraine, but want to help? Here are 6 ways how.
Since the start of the war, many of us have longed to help out Ukranians being bombed and shelled in their own cities, but lacked a way to engage and make a difference. But now — just nine days later — an entire list of ingenious solutions has been created, thanks to Tiktok, Anonymous, companies like Airbnb, Etsy and Ebay, and nonprofit organizations. We’ve broken them into six categories below, and please do what you can. (And pass it on!)
If we have missed anything, please write us at the address at the bottom and let us know. We will live update this article every few days to include new tips and tactics.
CRYPTO SUPPORT
Ukraine has received more than 50mm since they opened their doors and made a plea, via their twitter channel, to receive crypto sto support the war effort. TIME wrote a feature on how to do this, linked here. The Ukraine specified Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, Tether and Polkadot as the most ideal forms of crypto to receive but will take anything if you have it to offer. The Ukranian government has been remarkably clear about how to donate, giving the information below:
BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH and USDT (ERC-20) — 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
*this was later amended by the Vice Prime Minister Federov via his twitter channel to include a specific USDT public key as well.
BTC — 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P
ETH — 0x165CD37b4C644C2921454429E7F9358d18A45e14
USDT (trc20) — TEFccmfQ38cZS1DTZVhsxKVDckA8Y6VfCy
However, the TIME article and others mention that it is possible to donate to several Ukraine nonprofits and charities also involved in the effort, including Come Back Alive, Ukraine DAO, Kyiv Independent, Nova Ukraine and Endaoment, among others.
Nfts are also being leveraged to raise funds. A cryptopunk worth $200,000 was already sent directly to the government, but you can also buy direct from Nft Ukranian artists, which allows for direct funds transfer to a Ukranian citizen, similar to using Airbnb, Etsy and Ebay, below. The latest tweet from Ukraine showed an intent to release the country’s own collection of Nfts to raise funds, and we will amend this article when that it available. This twitter thread shows Ukranian nft artists to buy from, and a Google spreadsheet was shared here. If you would prefer the names of some famous artists, search on “Waone Interesni Kazki,” Ukraine’s most internationally known artist, or on “Holy Water,” a collective of artists supporting the cause.
FUNDS TRANSFER SUPPORT
There has been a nascent and fervid effort to get funds to Ukraine by any means necessary. It’s true that you can always do a wire transfer, a Western Union or similar, but these efforts take time and often a trip to an office. But on tiktok and similar, ideas have been popping up fast about how to get funds transferred more quickly. Here’s a roundup below:
1. Airbnb: Airbnb has become the premiere way to get funds fast to families in Ukraine, mainly because the (amazing) team there realized immediately what was happening and removed all transaction fees from funds transferred to Ukraine specifically. The transfer of funds takes only 24 hours, from when funds are paid to when they are collected in a Ukranian account. This is a great way to transfer dollars in the thousands fast, if you can afford this type of support. This process has been so successful and bloomed so fast that Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky just posted that in 48 hours, 61,406 nights have been booked in Ukraine. That is 1.9mm going directly to families on the ground. Initially Americans were focusing on Kyiv, but social media urging has been moving their attention to other towns and cities. A team from Chicago recently released a rundown of how to register as a host on the Airbnb site with a Ukranian translation. A Ukranian we consulted making this article stated that the top ten towns to focus on include Kyiz, Kharkiv, Odessa, Lviv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Vinnytsia, Sevastopol, Zaporizhia, Mariupol and Luhansk, among others. See here for a full list. It’s important to note that for obvious reasons, you will not be able to complete your stay in Ukraine, but we’re guessing you would rather sleep bomb-free if you have the ability. Airbnb has doubled down on being awesome by pledging to house 100,000 refugees with Airbnb properties, which you can read about in more detail on their site.
2. Ebay: Ebay has also responded fast to users using it to send funds by suspending all sellers fees for receiving funds in Ukraine. Funds transfer can take from 24–48 hours on the site, and it allows someone who has a lower budget to give. ($5–100)They have released an easy micro-site that filters by Ukranian sellers here. It’s important to know that you will not receive an item, for obvious reasons, if ordering on Ebay — the idea is quick funds transfer to a citizen in need. Ebay has also doubled down on this initiative by raising funds for the Ukraine Red Cross Appeal, more here.
3. Similar to Ebay, Etsy is allowing for funds transfer via payments to Ukranian sellers on their site, which you can find here. Etsy has the longest transaction period of the three sites, 3–5 days, but it’s another good option to get funds there directly if you want to donate on the lower end of the scale across multiple sellers. Amanda Tarlton wrote a piece on how to do this directly that can be foujnd here, and please note that an initial search to register as a seller in Ukraine is not immediately obvious via the American site (it will list, in the dropdown, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and others, but not Ukraine,) but it IS possible, as per the article.
ANTI-PROPOGANDA EFFORTS
A growing number of Ukranians and members of Anonymous have begun to try and send news and graphic images of the war to people in Russia, trying to lever them out of the propaganda-based mindsets that Russia has instilled in them. The biggest site that this is working on is Google. The process is simple, as this article shows. Go to Google maps. Go to Russia. Zoom in. Find a restaurant or business. Review it, and in the review explain what is happening in Ukraine in graphic detail. Use of Google translator can easily take your words and translate them into Russian for easier understanding. Attach images or snapshots from tiktok channels if you can. The same process works on TripAdvisor, but includes a few more steps than the Google process. There has been a rumor that Google and TripAdvisor might shut down reviews in Russia, so stay tuned to news to see if this tactic is still viable.
To pair to this, Anonymous just released a Russian random-dialer tool that allows you to call people living in Russia and tell them the truth about the war. They have provided an easy script and set of call tactics here, and this is modeled after the random dialers that political campaigns sometimes use to get politicians in office.
UPDATE: As of 3/6/2022, Google and Tripadvisor have reported disabling reviews of Russian businesses, which is disappointing.
TRADITIONAL GIVING
There is always the most traditional route to help, which includes giving to NGOs, charities and non-profits providing direct aid. CNN launched an impressive aid campaign with Public Good at the start of the war, already raising over 2mm, and that was just the beginning. The following organizations have ways you can directly help with humanitarian and war efforts:
International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
There are more organizations if you do a Google search online, broken out into various areas of aid.
USE YOUR VOICE
Look up the names of your congresspeople and representatives online. Call them. Email them. Badger them. Take whatever message you have and make it so simple and persistent that they HAVE to pay attention. If you want to really make a splash, head to Change.org to make a petition and rack up the signatures. A good elected official will listen.
Along the same lines, look up marches in your area. Make sure to bring highly visual signs and banners and help fill out the crowd with color and clear messaging. If you can, document the march on multiple social media channels, and try to capture moments of real emotion, power and pathos. Marches can be arranged by politicians, city reps, churches and even schools, so be sure to check both social media and the news to see if you can attend one.
Finally, boycott anything and anyone you can to get your point across. We’ve already levied tons of sanctions on Russia, but consider scrolling through social media and leaving a message for anyone in Russia telling them that you can’t follow them anymore and why. Consider asking your local liquor store not to carry Russian drinks. Consider heading to a local Russian restaurant to tell them that you can’t be a patron anymore until you know that they are working for Ukraine.
BE LOUD ONLINE
Anyone that has a browser and a social media account can begin to rally support around the war effort. Just make sure that your information is correct. The Toronto Star released an article on how to tell Ukraine real news from fake news. Simple steps like seeing if there is an About Us or news link attached, using Google’s image search reverse tool and checking the comments, quotes and who is being interviewed can identify a fake story from a real one. The most popular channels for war coverage have been Tiktok, Telegram, Twitter and Facebook. There are a myraid of groups on Facebook if you search under terms like “Ukraine,” “save Ukraine” and “Ukraine war.” On Twitter and Tiktok, hashtags are your friend. Hashtags like “notowar” and “saveUkraine” are trending hard.
I have watched a ton of live coverage online and I am finding that the most successful citizen journalists outside of Ukraine post about 4 times a day, take time to verify sources and keep their information in bite-size pieces, dispensing 2–3 updates per video or post. The most impactful posts, however, are from inside Ukraine, so if you are someone or know someone on the inside, projecting their experience, emotions, and any imagery you can collect is a good way to get attention on the issue. Make sure to tag things appropriately, and be aware that sometimes internal procedures within social media sites might result in a delay or lag from when you post your video to when it goes live. As with all social media, choose a gimmick and stick with it. If you are reporting the news, great. If you are giving clear paths to action, great. If you are inside the country telling real stories and conveying emotion, great. Try not to mix tactics too much. When people set your brand in their minds, they will come to expect a certain thing, and so don’t disappoint.
This is the best roundup we can give at this time, but again, please feel free to send tactics and tips to the email below. Good luck. Slava Ukraini!