People of the Vakoms company held a charity auction and handed all raised money over to the Armed Forces.
A company employee, UX designer Bohdan Sulanov, came up with the idea of organizing such an event.
“The company members volunteer and donate since day 1 of the full-scale war. Of course, we engaged in charity long before February 24, too. Now related requests more often pop up in our work chats: calls for help or fundraising for the needs of our defenders. And it seemed that people have lost the former enthusiasm to engage. Then I thought: “Can a creative approach help encourage people to donate more?” And I realized that the auction can be the answer. Plus, it’s a nice opportunity to meet the teammates and spend some time together!”, Bohdan Sulanov, organizer of the event, UX designer at Vakoms.
Vakoms’s teammates were supposed to offer lots that we could sell at the auction.
“I was quite worried about getting the sufficient number of items which people would be willing to buy. As a result, surprisingly, we got nearly 40 lots and we literally didn’t have enough time to put them all up for sale. There was a constant flow of new items, even in the last moments before starting the auction. We couldn’t be happier with such a level of engagement” – Khrystyna Liudkevych, HR manager at Vakoms, co-organizer of the event.
The lots were highly diverse: souvenirs from other countries, a camera, ukulele, war-related items (our soldiers’ trophies), and hand-made goods of the Vakoms teammates. One of the most interesting lots was a Russian dry ration. It was offered by our employee whose father’s been fighting on the frontline and brought the trophy from the East.
A creative lot worth mentioning is “Writing on a bomb”. The person who purchased it got an opportunity to convey a message to the orcs. The inscription would say something like “To orcs from Andriy (Ivan, Pavlo)” etc.”
Each lot had a personal story behind it, or it was crafted in hands of the company employees. That’s why the auction Members competed with each other for every item. Sometimes these were real battles. Especially because everybody realized the good goal.
“We once again became convinced that our teammates are highly talented. It’s because so many lots were hand-crafted and all of them were so nice and creative. We also learned more about teammates’ hobbies.” – Nataliia Borska, HR marketing manager, and co-organizer of the event.
The priciest lot turned out to be the pack of NATO energy bars. They were sold for 30 000 hryvnias. Also, two launch tubes from MANPADS were purchased for 9 000 and 10 000 hryvnias.
“I presumed NATO energy bars would be bought at no more than 3 000 hryvnias. Of course, they are tasty, add energy, and all, but I didn’t expect such a fight for them. Nor I expected them to be sold at ten times more expensive” – Bohdan Sulanov, organizer of the event.
Therefore, by means of the auction, the company easily collected nearly 150 000 hryvnias to buy Starlink terminals for the 80th and 57th brigades. The total sum turned out to be even more than it was initially required. In addition, all Members got positive emotions from the time spent together. It’s especially important during wartime as it’s not always possible to get together in an informal setting.
“What would be my advice? First, conduct a survey before organizing such an event. It will help learn about what items people would like to buy and what items they are ready to offer for auction. Second, make a presentation about the available lots. This way, people can check out the lots and estimate their possible price. This step also helps increase the number of lots. Third, such events help people better know each other and their off-work interests. This is always beneficial, it unites co-workers and builds a strong team. And, most importantly, we managed to help our defenders in such a creative way” – Khrystyna Liudkevych, HR manager at Vakoms, co-organizer of the event.
The Vakoms company volunteers and helps the Armed Forces since day 1 of the war. Our major areas of responsibility are SUVs for the military, drones, and ammunition.