MacPaw Foundation: “We Should Not Compare Ourselves with Other Countries Where There Is No War”

MacPaw Foundation: “No Need to Compare Ourselves with Other Countries That Are at Peace”

The Foundation’s Activities

The Ukrainian IT company MacPaw has had social projects since it was founded in 2008, and many of them initially started as local initiatives by our colleagues, being unsystematic and targeted.

On the company’s 10th anniversary, we decided to launch social initiatives and perform 10 good deeds in 10 years. Our employees suggested many ideas, with a vote held. Over time, some initiatives faded away, while the strongest ones survived and merged into MacPaw Cares, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) area.

For several years, our initiatives covered projects in 10 priority areas: Science and Education, Green Projects, Ukraine, Inclusiveness, Education, Animals, Humanitarian Aid, and City. Some of our colleagues were particularly interested in green projects, such as cleaning the city and the Kinburn Spit, planting trees, and sorting waste. We even launched our own app, Sortui, a waste sorting assistant that can be downloaded now. Specialists passionate about animals helped with animal welfare, while others helped the elderly.

During COVID-19, we added medical assistance to our main focus areas, helping hospitals purchase medical ventilators.

The beginning of the full-scale invasion has significantly shifted our focus. We had previously cooperated with the Come Back Alive, but in 2022 we concentrated entirely on helping defenders. In all our products, we started talking about the all-out invasion of Ukraine, and our users, along with others, began donating to support our initiatives both in Ukraine and abroad.

The MacPaw Foundation corporate fund has operated since 2016 but got public after the full-scale invasion in 2022. Having received a huge number of requests from users of the company’s products supporting Ukraine from over 50 countries, the Foundation began accepting donations and transforming them into the necessary assistance as efficiently as possible.

Two other important areas we focused on before the all-out invasion included Inclusiveness and Education. These issues became even more pressing afterwards. Previously, we focused on improving and implementing new educational initiatives and promoting innovative IT solutions, but now, children are physically unable to attend schools. Hence, we currently help restore access to education by cooperating with Ukrainian specialized non-profit organizations. Inclusion implementation, though an extremely important issue, also faces more challenges.

Today, the Foundation is focused on helping defenders, as well as providing assistance to affected civilians. However, we have restored our focus on these two areas and added them to the priority of helping the military.

About the Team

The MacPaw Foundation was created as a tool for implementing the company’s social and charitable initiatives, so the foundation’s team consists of five people, who are also the team of the CSR department. In addition to these five, there is a large number of internal company specialists whom we engage for specific projects or launches.

For example, we engage developers and designers to create landing pages – we coordinate this within the team, and departments allocate specialists voluntarily with the necessary resources.

Another area is corporate volunteering, where the company’s specialists join our CSR or charity initiatives as volunteers. For example, we organized blood donations and regular visits to animal shelters.

We also have a MacPaw Cares Day, during which colleagues can volunteer. This time can be devoted to volunteering both within the company and in other external projects, such as helping other foundations, weaving camouflage nets, cooking, participating in reconstruction, etc. This is their choice, and we provide them with this opportunity.

For example, when we organized aid to Kherson after the tragedy at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, we simply invited our colleagues to join in, and the response was incredible – they brought many items to our warehouse, helped us search, buy, and ship them. We just organized the delivery. Everything else was done by our colleagues.

About Our Team

Since the MacPaw Foundation was created as a tool for implementing the company’s social and charitable initiatives, its team consists of five people, who are also the CSR department team. In addition, there is a large number of internal company specialists whom we engage into specific projects or launches.

For example, we involve developers and designers to create landing pages — we coordinate this within the team, while departments allocate specialists voluntarily with the necessary resources.

Another area is corporate volunteering, where the company’s specialists join our CSR or charity initiatives as volunteers. For instance, we organized blood donations and regular visits to animal shelters.

We also have a MacPaw Cares Day, during which our colleagues can volunteer.  They can do this both within the company and in other external projects, such as helping other foundations, making camouflage nets, cooking, participating in reconstruction, etc. The choice is theirs, and we provide them with this opportunity.

For example, when we organized assistance to Kherson after the tragedy at the Kakhovka HPP, we simply invited our colleagues to join in, and the response was incredible — they brought a lot of things to our warehouse, also helping us search, buy, and ship them. We just organized the delivery, while our employees did the rest.

The Foundation’s Budgeting

Before the full-scale invasion, we developed strategic plans for 3–5 years, depending on circumstances. During COVID-19, we reduced our planning timeframe due to the unpredictability of the situation. Now, we plan a budget for a year ahead, but we consider each new initiative separately and agree on its budget in accordance with the company’s current needs and capabilities.

We started fundraising in 2022. All the funds raised are used exclusively to help Ukrainians: the military, medical professionals, and those affected by events such as the explosion at the Kakhovka HPP. However, most of the costs are covered by the company’s own funds.

We are currently trying to create a more specific strategy for the foreseeable future. The difficulty of building this strategy is that plans can change suddenly, and we should be prepared for any circumstances.

On the Decline in the Number of Donors

At the beginning of the all-out war, people all over the world were actively donating when they saw calls to support Ukraine, simply giving money as an emotional impulse. Currently, they are more cautious and deliberate, with many events happening globally.

Now, we need to diversify assistance approaches. It is important to focus on targeted fundraising and explain to people in detail what exactly the funds are being raised for and why this help is needed. When fundraising is focused on specific needs, the wave of support returns, particularly from our foreign donors, and attention to us grows.

The users of our products are primarily foreigners, particularly from the US, Canada, and Australia. Still, the Foundation’s activities are also supported in Ukraine. We monitor these trends and try to adapt our fundraising strategies to meet the needs and opportunities.

CSR Conference Held by MacPaw in March 2024

Over the past two years, we have seen a growing interest in implementing CSR initiatives in business. However, unlike the non-profit sector, the business community lacks similar events where practitioners can discuss challenges and share experiences.

We decided to fill this gap by creating a conference where business representatives from different industries can find common solutions.

We invited representatives of the IT industry, the civil sector, the military, and volunteers to the conference. Many businesses are already supporting Ukrainian defenders, realizing this is vital for our victory, but even more companies want to start helping and are looking for a convenient algorithm. That’s why this was an important discussion.

An Interesting Observation

International companies with offices in Ukraine regularly organize conferences on social responsibility. In a world where there is no war, climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental issues are very important and actively discussed. For Ukraine, these are no less important challenges, but against the backdrop of the horrors caused by Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, they fade into the background. For us, a conference program disregarding the realities of a country living in war often looks strange.

In other words, international companies often limit themselves to discussing “safe” topics, while the war in Ukraine remains out of sight. On the one hand, this is understandable — international standards of sustainable development defined by the UN are an integral part of the global business.

On the other hand, though, the war has a huge impact on sustainable development! This requires due attention and discussion, especially in the context of international companies having offices in Ukraine.

How Ukrainian Defenders Are Supported

First and foremost, we provide assistance to our colleagues who join the defense forces, as well as their families and relatives / loved ones. We check all the requests received, examine the documentation, and provide assistance within our capabilities. As it is important to focus our resources, we work only in certain areas we are expert in.

In addition, we regularly support the operational activities of the Come Back Alive Foundation, which specializes in helping the army. They are able to act on a larger scale than we do, so we support their administrative activities. This project is important to us, and we are confident that our support contributes to more effective assistance.

Our procurement needs are constantly changing depending on our needs. We follow these changes and adapt to new requirements. For example, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there was a need for military uniforms, while now other items are relevant, such as wound dressings, warm blankets, medevacs and blood transfusion devices, and infusion warmers. We also promote blood donation.

Cooperation with the State

Every state has its weaknesses. Even in countries with effective institutions, business and civil society can complement government agencies, provide support in areas where the state fails to act properly, and play an important role in monitoring and advocacy.

In other words, cooperation with the state can take different forms and depends on specific circumstances. Our goal is to help where needed, sometimes by cooperating with government agencies and sometimes by acting independently. It is important to balance these approaches to maximize the efficient use of resources.

We should not compare ourselves with other countries facing no war, because we do not know how the society and the state would act there. In Ukraine, it is important to establish horizontal connections: Businesses and the third sector have the flexibility to provide quick solutions — unlike government agencies, which often lag behind.

CSR Impact on the Employer’s Brand

MacPaw products are mainly used abroad, but we are primarily a Ukrainian company. Our specialists and their families live in Ukraine, with many of them directly defending or supporting the country.

It is important for the company to hire specialists in Ukraine, and corporate social responsibility plays an important role in maintaining a positive reputation and trust in the business. Surveys show that candidates hesitating between several offers with the same salary choose MacPaw because of its active participation in social initiatives.

Corporate social responsibility is formed through systematic and high-quality initiatives rather than one-time events. For the third year in a row, the company’s priority is to help Ukraine’s military and support the country.

All of our initiatives have been born out of people’s care and continue to exist thanks to their active participation. Engagement is a core value at MacPaw that has emerged naturally and become an important part of our corporate mission.

By the way, in March we released a large CSR report, which can be found on our website. It’s very beautifully designed, check it out =)

About the Partnership

We cooperate with companies that share our values and implement similar projects. We have created inclusivity projects in cooperation with experts in this field, such as the Dostupno.UA organization. They have an extensive analytical base and have developed metrics to improve office accessibility. Since our office was designed as an inclusive space, we invited Dostupno.UA to evaluate it and provide recommendations for improvement.

Last year, we also launched a joint project with Uklon and Mastercard called the “Inclusive” class. From now on, passengers using wheelchairs can move freely in specially equipped cars. Driver training was held at the MacPaw Space.

Another example is our cooperation with the Akademik Vernadsky Antarctic Station. We have been following the development of this state institution and its new head, Yevhen Dykyi, who has introduced innovations and started recruiting new people. We decided to support their research projects and help them with equipment.

The choice of partners is based on their stability and ability to implement projects independently. Dostupno.UA and Akademik Vernadsky Station are powerful players in their industries, with our support enhancing their work.