How can emotional and spontaneous donations be transformed into a systematic tool that generates millions of hryvnias—without grants or external funds?

The Rivne Interregional Medical Cluster has proven that when there is absolute transparency and trust in leadership, entire teams are willing to contribute a portion of their salaries for years to support victory.

This is the story of how the “One-Day Earnings” initiative helped purchase 8 vehicles, support local drone production, and unite a young cluster more effectively than any business training.

“When doctors see a real vehicle at the front, purchased with their own contributions, they understand the power of a cluster community built on trust and shared values,” — Tetiana Vorontsova, President of the Rivne Interregional Medical Cluster

Practice Passport

Practice Title	“One-Day Earnings for the Armed Forces of Ukraine” (A Systematic Fundraising Model by Healthcare Institutions)
Cluster / Source Organization	Rivne Interregional Medical Cluster, through its founding organization NGO “Rivne-Takmed”
Region	Rivne Region
Implementation Period	Since February 2022 — ongoing (active practice)
Cluster Maturity Level	Mature cluster with international projects
Thematic Areas	Crisis / wartime adaptation, fundraising, networking
Target Audience	Initiatives and emerging clusters across any sector that need to build initial trust and unite participants around a shared overarching goal

Context and Problem Addressed by the Practice

With the onset of the full-scale invasion, every healthcare professional sought to support the front, but individual efforts were fragmented. A doctor or nurse might donate 200–500 UAH to various fundraising campaigns; however, such “emotional” micro-contributions were insufficient to meet large-scale needs—such as purchasing an off-road vehicle for evacuating the wounded.

What did not work? Fragmented fundraising efforts quickly led to psychological fatigue. Moreover, independently searching for reliable vehicles or verifying drone manufacturers at the level of individual departments proved inefficient: medical staff spent valuable working time on non-core logistics and risked encountering fraud.

There was a clear need for a centralized “procurement hub” that could take responsibility for supplier verification and logistics, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on their primary duties while being confident that their contributions were used as effectively as possible.

Description of the Practice Mechanism (“What’s Under the Hood”)

The practice transforms a one-time act of support into a sustainable business process under the umbrella of the cluster.

The process logic is as follows: a team within a healthcare institution (for example, a maternity hospital) makes a collective voluntary decision to provide регулярна support. Most commonly, this takes the form of a “one-day earnings” contribution or a fixed percentage (e.g., 3%) of monthly salaries.

Roles and Tools:

• Cluster (Rivne Interregional Medical Cluster): Plays a key role in mobilization and coordination. It serves as a communication platform for healthcare facility managers, motivates teams to participate, and provides informational support for the initiative.
• NGO “Rivne-Takmed” (Co-founder of the cluster): Acts as the operational and logistics center. With 10 years of direct cooperation with the military, the organization ensures professional expertise in equipment selection. The NGO handles all financial procedures, sources vehicles abroad, collaborates with drone developers, conducts technical inspections, manages legal documentation, and delivers procured assets directly to requesting military units.
• Accounting departments of healthcare institutions: Handle the technical aspect—collecting funds based on employees’ voluntary consent and transferring them to an official designated account.
• Reporting: This is the system’s “safeguard.” The cluster and the NGO provide detailed reports to each participating team (receipts, handover certificates, photo/video evidence from military personnel). Thanks to transparency and the partner’s 10-year track record, donors have full confidence in the targeted use of funds.

The rhythm of the practice is monthly. This ensures predictability: the cluster knows in advance the amount it will receive in the following month and can proactively reserve equipment or order components for drones.

Resources and Preconditions

The financial foundation of the project is entirely based on the participants’ own funds (salaries) within the cluster. There are no external grants or donors involved, making the initiative fully autonomous.

The key prerequisite is absolute trust in leadership. Without a transparent reporting mechanism and confidence that funds will not be “absorbed” by administrative costs, the model of collective contributions would not last even three months. Another important factor is the administrative capacity of the cluster’s management to handle complex logistics and formal asset transfer procedures.

Results and Outcomes

Short-term results are highly tangible: in 2025 alone, approximately UAH 2 million was raised, and 8 vehicles were purchased and delivered to the front line.

However, the medium-term effects are even more valuable. The cluster has managed to stimulate the local economy: instead of purchasing ready-made solutions, funds are directed to local drone manufacturers, creating a micro value chain within the region.

Structural changes:

• Cohesion: Joint volunteer activities have “stitched” hospital teams together more effectively than any corporate events.
• Culture of collaboration: For example, the Rivne Maternity Hospital has been consistently donating a portion of salaries for three consecutive years. This has become part of its institutional identity.

Readiness for business initiatives:
The trust built through volunteering has enabled the cluster to move toward more ambitious plans for developing the regional healthcare sector—participants have seen that they can effectively manage significant resources together.

Sustainability of the Practice

The practice demonstrates exceptional sustainability. It does not depend on project cycles or changes in donors, as it is driven by the intrinsic motivation of participants. Even after three years, the intensity of fundraising has not declined. Its sustainability rests on three pillars: the leadership of hospital managers, the impeccable reputation of the cluster’s management, and regular public reporting.

“Donating one day’s earnings once a month is not painful for the wallet, but when you see the result in the form of lives saved at the front, it gives a sense of belonging to a greater cause,” — Tetiana Vorontsova, President of the Rivne Interregional Medical Cluster

Limitations and Risks

The main risk is administrative pressure. If contributions become mandatory (“imposed from above”), trust in the cluster is instantly undermined, and the practice turns into a “voluntary-compulsory” tax—killing grassroots initiative.

There are also significant communication risks. Any delay in reporting, lack of transparency in supplier selection, or absence of feedback from the military can lead to a halt in fundraising. In this model, the cluster’s reputation is critically dependent on every single hryvnia.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Clusters4Regions

This case is ideal for emerging clusters and initiatives. Joint volunteering is one of the most effective ways to build initial trust (“social glue”) among participants who often perceive each other as competitors.

Recommendations:

1. Start with values: Do not wait for large commercial contracts to bring people together. Supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine is one of the strongest foundations for cooperation in the Ukrainian context.
2. Support your own ecosystem: The model where the cluster procures drones from local manufacturers is a perfect example of cluster logic. You simultaneously support the front and stimulate your regional economy.
3. Transparency above all: Use this case in training to demonstrate how transparency converts into millions in resources.

The presentation of the case study is available via the link:

This practice has been included in the Ukraine Best Practice Guide, which we are developing as part of the Clusters4Regions project.

To be among the first to receive the full version of the Guide, please complete the short pre-registration form.

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Clusters4Regions is an initiative aimed at designing and implementing cluster programs in six regions of Ukraine (Vinnytsia, Volyn, Sumy, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi, and Ternopil regions). The initiative is implemented by the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance at the request of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian project “Ukraine`s Cohesion and Regional Development” UCORD, and is aligned with EU priorities, international donor frameworks, and Ukraine’s recovery agenda.