Estonia’s oldest and largest donation environment keeps growing

01.06.2021

Seven new organisations that collect donations to benefit children, education, health, the environment or a strong society have been added to the largest donation environment. This means that as of today, the “I love to Help” donation environment brings together 60 charity organisations.

The new organisations include the NGO Older Brother, Older Sister (MTÜ Vanem Vend, Vanem Õde), which for six years now has connected children in need of additional emotional support with a volunteer Older Sister or Brother. According to Maari Ernits, the Executive Director of the NGO, the organisation aims to grow into a national endeavour, which is also the goal with which they joined the donation environment. “Support from kind donors will help us make great strides towards every child in Estonia who is in need of extra support, caring and a role model,” added Ernits.

Karin Arvisto, Communication Manager for the Good Deed Foundation, noted that more than a hundred charity organisations have got support through the donation environment over the years. “13 years ago, the Good Deed Foundation and Swedbank set themselves the goal of developing donation culture in Estonia by creating the “I Love to Help” environment. The volume of donations, which grows year by year, shows that the environment has become a reliable and convenient way for Estonians to support initiatives that our close to their heart,” she added. 

In addition to the NGO Older Brother, Older sister, as of today the www.armastanaidata.ee environment also welcomes the Tallinn Children’s Hospital Foundation, NGO Head Matters, the Estonian LGBT Association, NGO Estonian Forest Aid, the Estonian Scout Association and the Estonian Debating Society.

Head to the “I Love to Help” platform to find out more about the various charities and conveniently make a one-time or a permanent donation. Donations are made directly to the organisations and donors or fund-raising organisations do not have to pay any commission or service fees.

All NGOs in the donation environment have passed a background check and have undertaken to use the donations made to them for the intended purpose. The organisations that applied for the environment this spring were evaluated by a commission, which included representatives of the Estonian Civil Society, the National Foundation of Civil Society, the Ministry of the Interior, the Estonian My Dream Day Foundation, the Good Deed Foundation and Swedbank. A total of 41 organisations applied to the environment this time. 

“I Love to Help”, which was founded by Swedbank and the Good Deed Foundation in 2008, is the largest platform in Estonia that mediates donations and it has been used to make over 2.75 million euros worth of donations to date. 

Newcomers in the donation environment

  • The Tallinn Children's Hospital Foundation is one of the oldest charity organisations created in Estonia – it has been operating in Estonia since 1993. The foundation aims to ensure the best possible medical aid to at the Tallinn Children’s Hospital; donations are collected to purchase equipment needed to help preterm babies.
  • NGO Head Matters (MTÜ Peaasjad) works in the field of mental health promotion, problem prevention, early intervention and reducing stigmatisation in our society. Head Matters joined the donation environment with the goal of collecting funds to teach mental first aid skills to education workers.
  • NGO Older Brother, Older Sister supports the development of children by means of one-on-one friendships with volunteer adult support persons. The donations will be used to expand the organisations so that is can work across Estonia.
  • The Estonian LGBT Association is a non-profit association working for the benefit of LGBT+ people and their relatives, which aims to ensure that everyone can have a good life in Estonia. They are collecting donations to support its main activities.
  • NGO Estonian Forest Aid (MTÜ Eesti Metsa Abiks) aims to find balance between logging and nature conservation, donations are collected to support its main activities.
  • The Estonian Scout Association supports the development of young people by teaching them life skills and encouraging them to take responsibility. Donations are collected to support initiatives that the children themselves will set up.
  • The Estonian Debating Society has been teaching argumentation skills in Estonia for 26 years now. The society believes that strong arguments are decisive in social dialogue and therefore provides the necessary skills to students. Donations are collected to strengthen debating education in schools.

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