Today is our most important day of the year: we report to the people the Kremlin has been trying to track down for years and still cannot find—the mysterious sponsors of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. In other words, to you.
Corporations, state-owned companies, and state banks in Russia also get nervous before their annual shareholder meetings: it is important to make sure there are enough name badges for everyone, the hostesses are smiling broadly, the coffee is hot, and the conference folders contain enough original souvenirs. In fact, nothing worse than dissatisfaction with the souvenirs can really happen: the people at the meeting decide nothing, while questions of money, compensation, profit, and the company’s very future are decided by government officials.
With us, it is exactly the opposite: we do not hand out souvenirs, we do not pour coffee, and if the shareholders—that is, you—are unhappy with the annual report, you do not even have to do anything. You just have to stop doing something—stop supporting us—and ACF will instantly turn from the most independent organization in the country into a nonexistent one, because we have no interest in being dependent ourselves.
However, I am sure that will not happen, and with great pleasure and pride I present our latest report (we presented the previous report on June 10, 2014). Over these 12 months, we truly worked at full tilt.
What especially pleases me is that all the tricks you witnessed along with us—the opening of bogus cases against ACF employees, constant raids, seizure of equipment, intimidation, and even attacks—did not slow our work down. On the contrary, they spurred everyone on and gave us even more competitive fire.
No one was afraid, and no one left.
So, take a look. https://report.fbk.info/ 109 pages of satisfaction and useful work. It reads quickly and easily, so do not let the length of the report scare you. We tried to make it lively and straightforward.
A few things about our work over the past year that seem especially important to me.
Olympics: An Encyclopedia of Spending was the biggest online project in ACF’s history. A massive undertaking that generated a huge public response.
#Twenty and the Investigations Department. A new standard for running public campaigns in Russia. Our investigations department, which searched for cases for #Twenty, proved itself brilliantly.
ACF’s Sociological Service. It has fully taken shape, built an effective system for working with volunteers, and now produces two very high-quality surveys a month. We have the best polling in the country.
RosZhKH and RosYama remain among the country’s most important and useful online services. In 2014, 91,000 complaints were submitted through RosZhKH, more than 40,000 of which were resolved. More than 11,000 complaints were submitted through RosYama in 2014, and this year we will completely overhaul it.
ACF Volunteers. Improving our work with them is a constant priority for us. Over the past year, we have become much more effective at channeling volunteer energy. The report tells that story in detail.
Money! Over the past year, you donated 28.5 million rubles through 24,000 transfers.
The average ACF employee salary is 67,000 rubles, and our main expense categories remain: Office rent. Staff salaries. Taxes.
So our example shows the typical cost structure of an organization whose work depends entirely on human capital. We invest your money in people and in the place where those people work.
Read it, look through it, ask questions. It is full of people, work, faces, direct quotes, and stories about what we do. It is the story of how, no matter what, you can and must keep doing your job while relying on the support of honest people across the country.
— Dear ACF staff, you are wonderful and heroic, and looking at you, I believe Russia has a future. — Dear ACF volunteers, you are wonderful and heroic, and looking at you, I understand that Russia has a future. — Dear ACF sponsors and donors, you are wonderful and heroic, and looking at you, I know that Russia has a future.
Please read it—this matters to us, and we want you at least to look through it.
Send the link https://report.fbk.info/ to your friends and acquaintances, post it on social media. Surely at some point during the year you argued with someone about us—or about me—so send it to them. It is very important to us that more people learn about what we do.
If, after looking through our report, the thought crossed your mind, “Maybe sending these guys a little money is a good investment in the future,” then by no means push that thought away—focus on it and set up a monthly payment to ACF right now. Bank card, Yandex.Money, bank transfer—we accept everything.
Many thanks in advance.
Stay with us, and we will not let you down.