Views from the Field

Community foundations in Ukraine have proved to be an effective mechanism for mobilising and transparently channelling resources to support communities, particularly during wartime. They can help address urgent needs, contribute to the recovery of damaged infrastructure and respond to the growing mental health needs of local people. Deeply rooted in a particular place and connected to the people who live there, they are able to mobilise local resources, identify and support civic initiatives, and foster a culture of local philanthropy. This rootedness gives community foundations a close understanding of local needs and concerns, enabling them to respond quickly and effectively as circumstances change.

Ukrainian community foundations are connected through the National Network for Local Philanthropy Development, which enables them to operate more systematically, access necessary training, and build their organisational capacity. Their context and roles vary considerably: some operate in large cities, while others work in medium-sized and small communities. Some act as regional hubs; whereas others effectively combine the roles of a charitable foundation, a community centre, and a local development agency.

A Five-Year Journey: From the pandemic to wartime life

Within this lively and diverse landscape, Boyarka Community Foundation serves a mid-sized suburban community within the Kyiv metropolitan area, situated in the so called “second security belt.” Boyarka community is not wealthy: there are virtually no large commercial enterprises, the local economy is driven primarily by micro-businesses, and around a third of the residents are older people.

The Foundation was formally established in 2020, in the midst of lockdowns, social isolation, restrictions on public gatherings and in person meetings, and widespread psychological stress. Despite these conditions, we built a team and defined our key areas of activity, launched a community crowdfunding initiative, held its first two social project competitions, and implemented a small  organisational development grant.

Responding to Russia’s full-scale invasion: adapting to what the community needs

In 2022, the Boyarka found itself under ​​immediate military threat. Russian troops advanced right up to the community’s settlements; logistics were disrupted, and supplies of food and medicine were cut off. Some team members left the area, while many activists went to the front line or joined crisis relief volunteer efforts.

The Foundation promptly pivoted to address urgent needs. Initially, this meant sourcing, purchasing and distributing medicines for people with chronic illnesses; later, it included receiving and distributing humanitarian aid. Following the liberation of the Kyiv region, we resumed our project competitions and grant programmes while continuing to respond to the consequences of the war.

In 2023 Boyarka Community Foundation continued to receive and distributing humanitarian aid to displaced people and helped equip healthcare facilities. At the same time, we continued to develop social project competitions and implement small-scale grant programs, maintaining our longer-term community development role alongside our emergency response.

Growing as an organisation amid an ongoing war

Against a backdrop of constant missile and drone attacks, air-raid alerts, loss of life, psychological exhaustion, and pressures on local philanthropy, the Foundation has continued to evolve. Our work has increasingly focused on supporting residents’ mental health, projects for children, identifying and nurturing local initiatives, social project competitions, and creating vibrant hubs of civic life.

From grant-making initiative to community infrastructure

Between 2021 and 2025, Boyarka Community Foundation experienced significant institutional and programmatic growth. It established an effective mechanism for supporting local initiatives, substantially increased the resources we were able to mobilise and developed a more diverse portfolio of programmes.

During this period, the Foundation funded 177 projects proposed by residents from 364 applications. Our annual funding volume increased more than fivefold, while the number of charitable programs reached 12. These figures mark the community foundation’s transition from a local grant-making initiative into a sustainable institution and infrastructure for community development.

Our five-year report shows that the Foundation is no longer simply an organisation that ‘awards grants’. Increasingly, our role is to nurture an ecosystem of local philanthropy and civic engagement. We have moved from being a ‘foundation that runs competitions’ towards becoming a foundation that helps different aspects of community life to develop and connect.

What are we most proud of?

• Resource diversification: The Foundation mobilises funding from international donors, Ukrainian organisations, local businesses, residents, and other partners. Although the overall volume of funds raised remains modest, the foundation has built strong basis for systematic fundraising.
• Broadening the scope of our work: By 2025, we had developed 12 charitable programs, covering areas ranging from culture, education, support for creative youth, health, and the environment to entrepreneurship, support for civic and youth initiatives, crisis and socio-psychological assistance, and the fostering of civic dignity.
• Creating a community centre: We are working to establish a community centre in a historic dacha recognised as a cultural heritage site. It is an ambitious and complex project, requiring significant resources to restore the building and transform its different rooms into spaces that can serve the community.
• Supporting mental: Ukrainians are living through such inhumane trials that the issue is not merely physical survival, but mental one as well. The foundation has implemented ten grant projects focused on mental recovery and supported dozens of socio-psychological projects on a competitive basis.
• Projects for children. In conditions of prolonged stress, it is important not only to protect children from the negative effects of war, but also to create positive experiences. We want their memories of childhood to contain not only traumatic events, but positive and meaningful experiences too.
• Using small grants to create a bigger impact. Grants, even though modest in size, make it possible to support a large number of people and initiatives while identifying active residents capable of transforming their community for the better on their own. Rather than imposing a ready-made solutions, these competitions enable residents to determine which issues require immediate attention. In doing so, they mobilise civic organisations and informal groups, strengthen civil society and stimulate local fundraising.

What does meaningful partnership look like for us?

For foundations serving medium-sized and small communities with limited resources, individual grants are valuable – but trust and predictable, long-term partnerships matter even more. What we need are relationships in which a donor can move beyond the role of a formal grant-maker and become a genuine ally of the community.

For us, an effective partner is one who knows and trusts us over time: someone who understands not only our successes, but also the challenges facing the Foundation and the wider community. We particularly value the freedom to determine local priorities, proportionate application and reporting requirements, and predictable funding that enables us to re-grant resources through social project competitions.

For small foundations, it is particularly important to have long-term partners and to plan their development several years ahead, rather than moving from one grant to the next. From a donor’s perspective, a community foundation should therefore be seen not simply as another recipient of funding, but as a trusted and knowledgeable local partner.

The experience of the Boyarka Foundation demonstrates that even during wartime, amidst uncertainty, hardship, and unpredictable global and local upheavals, a community foundation serves as an institution that effectively sustains community vitality, fosters trust, identifies proactive individuals, and creates the conditions for the community’s physical and mental survival as well as for positive change driven from the grassroots level.

This is why investing in community foundations is about far more than funding individual projects. It is an investment in local capacity, relationships and trust – and ultimately in the resilience and future of Ukrainian communities.