StandUP Ukraine

The challenge

Millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes, many with nowhere arranged to go. StandUP Ukraine was formed to get resources and support to marginalised and displaced communities — but it was a start-up with an urgent mission and none of the organisation behind it. Three problems stood in the way:

Establishment. It needed to be constituted quickly as a non-profit with an international charter and mandate.
Volunteers. Plenty of people wanted to help, but the organisation struggled to attract and keep them.
Corporate donations. Its approach to businesses wasn’t working, leaving it short of the resources to extend its reach.

The work

Establishment and strategy

We helped StandUP Ukraine define its brand narrative and operating strategy, set clear goals and KPIs to measure progress, and put a framework in place for growth.

Volunteer programme

We designed a volunteer management programme: an outreach campaign to recruit, a structured onboarding process, and regular recognition and feedback to keep people engaged.

Corporate fundraising

Using our network, we introduced StandUP Ukraine to potential corporate donors, built a fundraising strategy that set out the mission and the value to partner businesses, and trained the team to negotiate and manage those relationships. We worked with local merchants, retailers and manufacturers and reached out to corporations internationally.

Platform and partners

We set up the organisation’s technology and sourced products and services from vendors including Microsoft, Sangoma and Countable. Through Airbnb.org, refugees were given access to hosts offering free or heavily discounted housing, and people with spare space could easily offer it.

Throughout, we ran strategic workshops, training and ongoing mentoring so the team could run the organisation themselves.

The outcome

StandUP Ukraine was established as a non-profit with a solid framework for growth. Its communication platform continues to serve the Ukrainian diaspora, and a video-conferencing and learning platform supports skills retraining. More than 20 businesses pledged time and products after the first outreach campaign, and the organisation secured support from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It now operates as a non-profit in Ukraine, delivering on its mission.