How much do businesses donate and how else do they help solve social issues in Ukraine during the war — Gradus Research survey

Gradus Research in collaboration with the NGO Impact Force, conducted a survey of small, medium, and large businesses to find out whether companies undertake a mission to help solve urgent social issues, which social initiatives they support, and how much money they spend on them.

84% of Ukrainian businesses surveyed say they are somewhat involved in social issues. Most often, businesses help by providing goods or services related to their activities (43%) or supporting social initiatives financially (36%). Another common form of aid is the volunteer work of employees (32%).

Helping the military comes first: 41% of surveyed business owners and managers declare this. Here the companies that are engaged in wholesale or retail trade show themselves the most. At the same time, Ukrainian companies also contribute to community development (29%) and allocate funds for social protection (27%). More than half of the respondents (53%) declare that they contribute to solving social problems by providing financial assistance directly to the recipients. One-third of respondents (37%) also help through a partner charity or public organization. Independent social programs are implemented by 27% of surveyed businesses.

In most cases, the initiative comes from business owners or managers — in 87% of surveyed companies, they are the ones who handle functions related to the implementation of social initiatives.

How much do businesses spend on average per month on such assistance? Half of the surveyed companies (48%) allocate up to UAH 10 thousand per month, which is typical for small companies, which predominate in the survey sample. Another quarter of businesses allocates between UAH 10 and 50 thousand. In general, we see a particular trend: aid budgets often depend on the financial performance of the business — the higher the annual turnover of the company, the more it donates. For example, budgets for social initiatives from a company with a turnover of more than UAH 1 billion per year can exceed UAH 1 million per month.

"The Great War has radically changed the priorities and social behavior of most Ukrainians, affecting many aspects of our lives: from what products we prefer to how we communicate or make decisions. Common challenges have united the nation around the most important things and made volunteering an integral part of our lives. Businesses, both large and small, did not stand aside. It is important to maintain this sense of unity and willingness to help each other even after the Victory. Social impact as a mandatory element of business strategies of entrepreneurs and changing the social behavior of Ukrainians should become the key to and symbols of successful and sustainable post-war recovery of Ukraine," comments Olga Diakova, co-founder of NGO Impact Force.

"In general, we can talk about the high involvement of Ukrainian businesses in solving social problems. Even companies with an annual turnover of up to UAH 100 thousand find an opportunity to donate to social needs on a monthly basis with products, money, or volunteering. Moreover, the vast majority of surveyed businesses are ready to continue these social initiatives even after the end of the full-scale war. This once again demonstrates the strength of horizontal ties in Ukrainian society, which began to sprout during the Maidan and have bloomed now," comments Evgeniya Bliznyuk, sociologist, CEO & Founder of Gradus Research.

The survey was conducted by Gradus Research. The period of the survey: December 28, 2022 - January 16, 2023. Sample size: 318 respondents (owners/managers of small, medium, and large Ukrainian businesses). The survey method was a self-administered questionnaire in the Gradus mobile application.