So, this is a half baked idea - but I just started thinking last night about if there’s any way we could unite together in some way to raise funds. Maybe by creating something specific to sell or by nominating a single item each, with a good hefty percentage of that sale (say, minimum 50% or something?) going to the Disasters Emergency Committee or Red Cross?
Folksy would need to create a category for it, and would need to coordinate the donation, so we’d need them on board and their help for this. I don’t know how it would work technically, and I don’t know how it would work with Folksy taking commission out of it, but just in principle I wondered if we could all put our talents to good use in some way. Who knows, it might get some traction in the media too, and that could drive people to the site to support the fundraising too.
Like I say, it’s a half baked idea and probably horribly complicated to action, but I just thought I’d put it out there!! x
I think it would prove impractical from a technical stance - since Folksy don’t ever hold our sales proceeds they would need to ‘bill’ us for the donation which means they would need to keep track of which items are included and what percentage is being donated which would be a lot of work for a small team. (The money would also end up being subject to multiple payment processing fees and I’m not sure how Folksy would need to declare t on their accounts for tax purposes.)
I know some sellers have already chosen an item where they are donating proceed from the sale to charity so perhaps Folksy could bias their social media towards promoting those items instead of co-ordinating the donations and then it gets left to the seller to sort out the donation (which means they might be able to gift aid it depending on their tax status).
No that makes sense, you’re right Sasha - I’m wondering though if Folksy could perhaps create a category for the items that are raising funds, just to bring some awareness to them? I’d have thought that would be relatively easy maybe? And it would be great if they could waive their commission for those items so that the maximum can be donated by the seller… perhaps restricting it to 1-3 items per seller so that no one gets carried away… like I say, this is a very sketchy idea!
there’s a lorry leaving from my town on sunday where they’ve specifically asked just for toiletries.
i’m just gonna go into wilkos on my way to the post office, spend my folksy sales paypals on stuff, then drop it at the collection point. figured it’s the simplest way to do something practical immediately
I think the government have pledged to double donations to the DEC, so all I was thinking was by donating it could potentially double the funds.
Brilliant that there are all these towns coordinating supplies too, it makes you feel helpless when you see the news, but at least donating supplies and/or money you feel like you’re helping a bit. The news is so heart breaking
I’ve also made a donation but to the British Red Cross, I wasn’t sure who to donate to for the best but wanted to do something.
I also have regular lorries leaving my area in a convoy to Poland packed with supplies so i’ll be adding to this too.
It’s a lovely idea but i’m not sure how long it would take to make something and then sell it and get the funds over
I donate half of my sales to a childrens long term illness charity and the only way I could send the proceeds was to donate half my sales amount to my Just giving page. I did check with Folksy before I did this, to check if there was any other way but, unfortunately there wasn’t. Hopefully all our personal donations are helping them
I’ve got select items listed in my shop where I’ll donate 50% if they sell (so they can be part of the Give With Art thing on social media, which requires a minimum of 50% donation), and the rest of my shop sales will have 10% donated, and I’ve just stated that in my shop announcement and on all of my social media.
We’re all aware of how long it takes Folksy to work on features, which isn’t from a lack of desire to make the changes, but limited resources and time with such a small team. Anything that requires changes to the site is likely complicated and will take too long (waiving commission only on select items sounds particularly tricky, especially as it would also involve the payment processors, and unfortunately I fear could lead to some people misusing it as there’s no way to guarantee the money will be going to charity).
It’s probably a lot easier to just work with what we already have. One simple way would be to pick a tag (something like “stand with Ukraine” would work as clear and not something someone is likely to use as a tag in normal use). People who are donating a percentage of the item cost could use that tag, and we could link to the tag page (which in that case would be Tagged items: stand with ukraine on Folksy) for people to browse the items available.
Personally I’m donating to AUGB’s fund, this is the one set up by the Ukrainian organisations in Great Britain, and was set up a few weeks ago so was one of the earliest options available. As our community has a lot of existing connections within Ukraine, they’re in a good position to know which are the reputable places to work with in the country, to find out what’s currently most needed and know the logistics of how to get things there. The AUGB was also created by the Ukrainian refugees who came here after the second world war (which includes my grandparents), so they have an understanding of some of what these people will be going though.
I think charity choice is a very personal thing though so it’s good for people to choose which they think is right for them. I know some people are more comfortable with a well known charity, where others are more wary of charities that they can see spend a lot on things like advertising, or some will prefer ones which are in more specialised areas such as specifically helping children or with medical needs.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who is trying to help in whatever way they can though. It’s very appreciated.
A product category called ‘charity’ would be really useful, and sellers could use it for any charity they want to support. This weekend I’m taking part in the Great Charity Pot and Print Fair, so I’ve created 3 ‘dummy’ promo listings to be featured at the top of my shop. These listings are currently buried in the homeware category though !
I think Kim’s idea of a special tag is brilliant - it would be helpful if Folksy could perhaps email sellers and let them know so that we’re all using the same tag (and maybe giving it a mention on the home page or something so that customers know about it?). And yes, I think as Jenny says, having a ‘charity’ type category would be fabulous - not just for this but long term too; I know lots of us sell things to support charity all year round and it would be great for shoppers to be able to search for these items.
@PhotoFairytales Shall we go with that tag then? I’ll add in my items that have 50% donated for now, I’m not sure how people feel about whether it’s better to just have items with a large percent donated, or a larger choice with any percent donated.
Either way, once it’s got a few items in hopefully it’ll be easier to share and promote, and it can be used to quickly pick items for Folksy Friday style boards.
What’s needed are clothing, coats, childrens toys, toiletries, etc which can be dropped off at certain points around the UK. Our local Polish Centre is doing this, so I will be donating that way.
Item donations are good, and can specifically be more helpful for those leaving Ukraine to countries such as Poland, but monetary donations can get help to those still within Ukraine a lot faster, and they can be used specifically for those things that are most needed at that exact time, where with item donations they’re limited to what people have given (which is unlikely to be things like specialist equipment or medicines).
As we all know, items getting through customs and crossing the border into the EU (and out again) isn’t always fast, so the time between requests being made, the items being collected and then being transported and arriving in the destination country could be quite slow. With money they can buy those things within the country or in neighbouring countries and vastly reduce the transport costs and times.
Of course all types of help are welcome, so if you can donate items but not money then it’s still very appreciated and will still be useful, but please make sure you check the list of items being collected for wherever you’re taking them to first. Different places will have different lists of requested items, and some are specifically asking for no toys or clothes or only very specific clothes such as thermal vests, balaclavas and opaque tights, where other places will happily accept them.
TBH I would love to donate from sales…but I don’t get any! I think this applies to a lot of shops on Folksy, so donating direct is the best choice for many of us wanting to help
There are already a whole raft of scams regarding money donations, so always pay with your credit card. I may consider donating also to the Red Cross, but I’m wary of the amount of Go Fund Me’s etc that are popping up.
I can understand that when they’re run by people/organisations you know nothing about, and unfortunately there will probably be some people out there trying to take advantage of the situation, which is why I think it’s best for people to pick the charity or way to donate that they’re most comfortable with, rather than everyone having to stick to a certain one.
For me, the one above is an organisation I’ve known my whole life, the people involved in running it all have Ukrainian families so it’s an issue very close to them, and I know they’re working with accredited charities so it’s one I trust. But I also know a lot of people will never have heard of them so would be a lot more wary, and that’s fine. Just choose what works for you
@Bimblebird I appreciate that (and it still surprises me you don’t get more). But just in case you ever want to… with the right colour selection those flower garland earrings of yours would look very Ukrainian! Flower crowns are part of the traditional dress.
I came on to edit several paintings tonight as I wanted to try and raise some money for the Ukraine appeal via some art sales if possible. So I was pleased to find this thread as it’s helped me decide how to do it so thank you! I’ve done the first one using the suggested hashtag and gone with 50% donation for now.
I like my charity giving to be as direct as possible, giving things instead of money, but I realise that money is also needed to get the aid to where it’s needed asap. Good point too @konyskiw about purchasing the supplies in countries nearer than we are, makes so much sense.
I have been sewing to donate some tote bags and things to a local hotel who are hosting a coffee morning, Bring and Buy sort of event to support the Red Cross efforts. I might list some things online and will use Kim’s suggestion AUGB for my donations.
