World Giving Index and Ukraine

Starting from 2010, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), UK, has been publishing the World Giving Index (WGI), private charity rankings across the world. According to CAF experts, levels of giving depend on the number of happy people in the country, religious and cultural traditions, rather than on the wealth level.

Over the past year, Ukraine has become more giving, and according to the WGI 2015 ranked 89th among 145 countries. Just to compare, in 2011 the country scored 105 in the ranking.

Factors that have powered people’s response and impacted the ranking’s indicators, are mostly the recent events in the Donbas. Beyond that, certain changes have occurred to the key charity trends in Ukraine. If earlier only 48 % of Ukrainians donated money, mostly as targeted donations to particular receivers or charity boxdonations, the past few years have seen an increase in the number of givers and a change in their charity approach. Now people maintain a more deliberate attitude towards giving and donate predominantly for long-term projects that allow to form a comprehensive approach for supporting socially disadvantaged groups and contribute to the development of charity as a systematic phenomenon. In the meantime, charity box donations have dropped by 30%. A comprehensive approach to giving usually marks countries with developed philanthropy, such as the USA and EU states.

Having a look at Ukraine’s charity areas in 2015-2016, we can see that, compared to 2014, volunteering in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area and donating for the military in the ATO area have been sidelined. On the top of the charity list in Ukraine is now giving to children and disabled people.

To return to the World Giving Index, top positions in the 2015 ranking were shared by Myanmar, the USA, and New Zealand, whereas bottom positions by Burundi, China, and Yemen. CAF experts have also found there is a trend towards the increase of volunteering, especially among young people, which shows human values are reverting back to life’s most fundamental principles.