The NNLPD team volunteered at Community Foundations across Ukraine
In July, our team temporarily paused their main activities to fully immerse themselves in the work of community foundations across Ukraine for four weeks. The goal was to better understand their context, daily challenges, operational processes, and community needs.
We launched an internal open call within our community foundation network and received 15 clear requests. This allowed us to immediately dive into meaningful work:
What did we do?
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Developed communication strategies, brand books, and content plans
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Assisted with HR processes and job descriptions
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Held fundraising brainstorming sessions and prepared proposals for businesses
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Trained teams in Canva, video production, and social media management
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Participated in meetings with local authorities, events, and worked directly with beneficiaries
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Created development plans and analyzed organizational structures
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Supported event organization, record keeping, and internal documentation
“Community foundations are a powerful force working directly with the real needs of people. To truly understand their work, you need to immerse yourself in the local context,” shared Katya, Project Manager of the Resource Hub.
“Not everyone waits for opportunities — many create them from scratch. That was the key thing we saw in the communities,” added Margo, PR Manager.
Key insights we gained:
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Volunteering is a powerful resource, but delegating tasks isn’t always obvious for foundations.
This is a skill worth developing to scale impact. -
Context is critically important.
Only by being on the ground can you understand why some decisions work and others don’t. -
People in communities don’t wait for change — they create it themselves.
Many towns don’t have large businesses or international offices, but there are initiative-driven people moving their communities forward every day.
We will soon publish detailed case studies from our trips with more examples — stay tuned!
