The Freedonation sub-platform of Free Businesses (Freebusiness) raised GEL 700,000 within one week. As the founder of the platform, Giorgi Chugoshvili explains, businesses are participating in financing democracy in the country alongside individuals.
"The results for the first few days are definitely not bad. We are trying to mobilize funds for all parties who are fighting for democracy, not through one-time transfers, but over several months to make their future more predictable. The total contribution that we have received from donors is GEL 700,000. These funds are mainly distributed over the next 3-4 months.
We are further refining the operational part, which will be better organized in the coming days. What makes me most happy is that along with the businesses, which are very active and 85% of donations account for them, there are about 800 individuals who have also made contributions to the platform. In the current situation, when there are no more grants and these organizations have no funding, it becomes the responsibility of the community and, first of all, business to finance democracy ourselves," - Giorgi Chugoshvili stated.
According to him, funding for beneficiaries listed on the platform is balanced: "The funds are quite well distributed among media, foundations, and social movements, which makes us very happy, and this is natural as everyone has their own sphere of interest or favorite organization."
Chugoshvili notes that the addition of beneficiaries to Freedonation continues to this day, and various organizations have the opportunity to request addition to the list of beneficiaries through the website.
The presentation of Freedonation took place on February 21st on TV-Program "Analytics". The Free Business platform's continuation is financial support for actors who strengthen democracy in Georgia.
