details on Kunis-Kutcher fundraiser?
March 17, 2022 5:26 PM Subscribe
I searched and learned that the gofundme for Ukraine relief that was started by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis has reached its $30 million-match goal and is going for more. Great! I gave to it, but have not heard anything since.
Does a match goal mean that they raised $15M and will give $15M themselves, or will they give $30M? They stated that they were giving $3M to Flexport and to Airbnb, but where is the other $27M+ going? I don't mean to sound belatedly skeptical, but I guess I expected more information, or reporting beyond an article in the Daily Mail.
Does a match goal mean that they raised $15M and will give $15M themselves, or will they give $30M? They stated that they were giving $3M to Flexport and to Airbnb, but where is the other $27M+ going? I don't mean to sound belatedly skeptical, but I guess I expected more information, or reporting beyond an article in the Daily Mail.
Best answer: I read a couple of articles from when they started the GoFundMe, as well as the current text on the GoFundMe page, and it seems pretty clear to me what the deal is. Their goal was $30 million, and they always said all of it would go to Airbnb and Flexport's on-the-ground relief efforts. They always said that they would match up to $3 million, which means that the other $27 million is coming from other people.
Frankly, I think it's a little bizarre to donate money to Airbnb and Flexport, which are for-profit companies that have no expertise in refugee resettlement or humanitarian work. I also am not super-inclined to trust celebrities on this stuff, and particularly not Ashton Kutcher, who did some shady stuff having to do with arranging for a company owned by buddies of his to get no-bid contracts for COVID testing in Iowa. But I think the goal was clear from the beginning, and I don't think anything has changed.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:59 PM on March 17, 2022 [16 favorites]
Frankly, I think it's a little bizarre to donate money to Airbnb and Flexport, which are for-profit companies that have no expertise in refugee resettlement or humanitarian work. I also am not super-inclined to trust celebrities on this stuff, and particularly not Ashton Kutcher, who did some shady stuff having to do with arranging for a company owned by buddies of his to get no-bid contracts for COVID testing in Iowa. But I think the goal was clear from the beginning, and I don't think anything has changed.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:59 PM on March 17, 2022 [16 favorites]
AirBnB has waived their fees for hosts in Ukraine, so people have been booking nights as a way to get money directly into the hands of people on the ground. Etsy did the same when people started buying digital goods from Ukrainians for the same reason. This is presumably a more direct way of getting money to people already set up to receive money from them.
posted by soelo at 7:02 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by soelo at 7:02 PM on March 17, 2022
Response by poster: Is there any way to know, other than the gfm page, what money they have in fact given out, and to what recipients?
posted by mmiddle at 10:37 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by mmiddle at 10:37 PM on March 17, 2022
where is the other $27M+ going?
I lean skeptical as well, and I work in fundraising so /shrug, but disaster relief and war resettlement efforts need funds for a lot longer than the initial few weeks, unfortunately. The people of Ukraine will need support for years and decades. It’s (imo) okay if there is money there waiting for them when fundraisers have moved on to the next crisis.
posted by third word on a random page at 2:05 AM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I lean skeptical as well, and I work in fundraising so /shrug, but disaster relief and war resettlement efforts need funds for a lot longer than the initial few weeks, unfortunately. The people of Ukraine will need support for years and decades. It’s (imo) okay if there is money there waiting for them when fundraisers have moved on to the next crisis.
posted by third word on a random page at 2:05 AM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Reading the text on the GFM, the money is actually going to Airbnb.org and flexport.org. I was also curious why they’d be giving money to for-profit institutions, but apparently these are independent non-profits. I’m still skeptical that those are the best recipients of the donations, but it’s less weird than it seemed on the surface.
posted by bluloo at 6:37 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by bluloo at 6:37 AM on March 18, 2022
Response by poster: Yeah, but $30 MILLION ++?! Is there a way to know when these 2 nonprofits got all that money, and how/when they then spent it? Sorry, I’m just kicking myself.
posted by mmiddle at 9:38 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by mmiddle at 9:38 AM on March 18, 2022
Best answer: If they are both 501(c)(3) organizations, they need to file a return that will be publicly available. Form 990 is due the 15th of the 5th month after the end of their fiscal year. That Wikipedia page says that organizations must provide copies of their 990 to anyone who requests them. I checked Charity Navigator, but they don't have an electronic 990 for AirBnb.org and note it might mean they file a paper version. I can't find a listing for Flexport, but I did not try very hard. In both cases, you should feel free to ask them for their current 990 even though it will not show the details for this money. It should show you when their fiscal year ends and you can get figure out the due date for the next one.
That is how the transparency part of this is supposed to work, but do not be surprised if you hit roadblocks. This is a lot of money, so you should expect others to be watching as well. I know lots of bail funds here in Minnesota got huge donations in 2020 and are now being put under the microscope and held accountable. You should not feel bad about donating to a worthy cause.
posted by soelo at 2:31 PM on March 18, 2022
That is how the transparency part of this is supposed to work, but do not be surprised if you hit roadblocks. This is a lot of money, so you should expect others to be watching as well. I know lots of bail funds here in Minnesota got huge donations in 2020 and are now being put under the microscope and held accountable. You should not feel bad about donating to a worthy cause.
posted by soelo at 2:31 PM on March 18, 2022
Best answer: A good resource is How to responsibly donate to Ukrainian causes, a short article by Beth Gazley, professor of environmental and public affairs at Indiana University. (Among other things, she points out that efficient and effective charities aren't necessarily those with low overhead.)
From The Conversation, a nonprofit with the admirable mission of sharing academic writing with a general readership.
posted by virago at 1:20 PM on March 19, 2022
From The Conversation, a nonprofit with the admirable mission of sharing academic writing with a general readership.
posted by virago at 1:20 PM on March 19, 2022
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It looks like a total of $34 million has been raised as far. If you look at top donations, you will see $3 mil from Ashton and Mila so I think maybe there was an original promise of raising and matching $3 mil that has been far exceeded.
They only mention the two organizations (Flexport and AirBnb) with no dollar amounts so I assume the entire amount is being split between the two organizations and the original $3 mil was associated with the original goal.
posted by metahawk at 5:55 PM on March 17, 2022 [1 favorite]