Instagram Live Fundraising: Artsakh 2020
Tags: Instagram, Fundraising, Updates, Humanitarian Aid, Armenia

Alik (6) and Hayko (4) are among the roughly 1,400 displaced children from Arstakh living in the Tavush Province. Thanks to our community’s fundraising efforts, their families will not have to worry about putting food on the table for the next 5 months through our nutrition project with Focus On Children Now.

It was the night before our Rock For Artsakh fundraising concert, and our creative director was working away in our Yerevan office, preparing for the big show. “At around 2:00am several people began forwarding me an Instagram live,” says Kyle. It was a live fundraiser hosted by LA-based entrepreneur and makeup artist Lilit Caradanian (@lilitcaradanian).

“It was very exciting to see funds being raised live, but when I saw the amount, I was blown away.” By the time Kyle began watching, Lilit had already raised around $150,000 for ONEArmenia through her live makeup tutorial. Her original goal was $10,000.

“I knew I had to join to say thank you to Lilit and everyone donating, which is what I did from our office in Yerevan. In the 10–15 minutes that I spoke to her, we hit the $200,000 mark.”

Lilit raised $252,473.36 through her live that night, and launched an exciting trend for nonprofit fundraising in the global Armenian community, one that we were excited to bolster.

This blog post outlines the results of our Instagram live fundraising efforts throughout the 2020 Artsakh war, including how much was raised, and where funds have gone.

Donations from our community are supporting a number of different post-war projects. A portion of what was raised through Instagram Live is going to our current campaign to secure equipment for the Homeland Defender’s Rehabilitation Center, so that they can offer care to 300 more soldiers per month free of charge.

A new, interactive space for fundraising

The war in Artsakh added to the pain and challenges our community continues to face during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But Instagram live offered a unique opportunity for our global family to connect over a cause we care about, while also raising funds at a safe distance from one another. That’s why we launched our $1,000,000 Instagram Live Challenge shortly after our Rock For Artsakh concert (watch it below if you haven’t already!).

The challenge was simple: go live on Instagram and raise funds to support the humanitarian response in Artsakh, and we will double all funds raised up to $1,000,000.

Our community accepted the challenge with creativity and tenacity like we’ve never seen before. Individuals and groups around the world came together for virtual panel discussions, raffles, live music sessions, art therapy, yoga classes, and much more during their live fundraisers.

Several leaders emerged during the challenge, who used their influence to raise incredible amounts for Artsakh. Keep reading to see how much they raised through their lives, and where that money has gone.

How much was raised?

Lilit (16) holds her youngest sister Adriana (1). They are 2 of 10 children. Mom is pregnant with her eleventh child. Dad was killed defending their home in the war. They still don’t know whether they will return home to Artsakh. But thanks to our community, food is one less thing they must worry about.

Due to limited information provided to us from Instagram, reporting on who went live and how much was raised by each fundraiser is an arduous task; we asked everyone who went live to send us screenshots of the final amounts they raised for us to keep track. And while we’re thankful to everyone who hosted lives, donated, and joined the conversation, the following individuals stood out for the incredible amounts they raised with their followers, which we’ve tracked back and confirmed with screenshots and using transaction reports from Instagram.

Here’s a roundup of how much they raised, and where their funds are going.

Sarmen Bandaryan

@cashbws

Total Raised: $268,280

Beneficiary: $90,000 Homeland Defender’s Rehabilitation Center

Beneficiary: $67,370 Focus On Children Now

Beneficiary: $80,910 Armenia Fund / 1000+

Beneficiary: $30,000 Sose Women’s NGO

Lilit Caradanian

@lilitcaradanian

Total Raised: $252,473.36

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Suzy Sogoyan

@suzysogoyan

Total Raised: $348,763.94

Beneficiary: Armenia Fund / 1000+

Ani Goulayan

@vanitymakeup

Total Raised: $202,925

Beneficiary: $30,585 ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Beneficiary: $172,340 Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund

Rob Sargsyan

@facesbyrob

Total Raised: $160,000

Beneficiary: Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund

Suzy Shirinian

@glamour_by_suzy

Total Raised: $55,610.28

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Deanna Paley

@deelishdeanna

Total Raised: $49,909

Beneficiary: $30,715 Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund

Beneficiary: $19,194 Armenia Fund / 1000+

Lusine Galadjian

@makeupbylusine

Total Raised: $24,700

Beneficiary: $24,700 Armenia Fund / 1000+

Maria Sarkisian

@sarkisii

Total Raised: $36,821

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Paul Karmiryan

@paulkarmiryan

Total Raised: $35,376

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Dr. Diana Arouchanova, PharmD

@clinicarerx

Total Raised: $33,482

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Lillian Babaian

@lillianbabaian

Total Raised: $22,621.06

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Armenian Cultural Committee of Sacramento

@accofsac

Total Raised: $21,611

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Jasmine Sarian

@jasminesarian

Total Raised: $16,730

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Christina Yesayan

@christinayesayan_hair

Total Raised: $16,600

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Kristine Agabaian

@krischerie

Total Raised: $13,856.70

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Serda Ursan

@the_serdz

Total Raised: $11,598.89

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

R-Mean

@rmean

Total Raised: $11,290

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Sarkis Shaginian

@sarkisshaginian

Total Raised: $10,120.12

Beneficiary: ArmeniaFund / 1000+

Thank you for going live for Artsakh and trusting us while we report back on your fundraising efforts! We’ll update this blog post as soon as we can with the grand total raised on Instagram during the war. No matter how much you raised, we are inspired by your dedication to Artsakh and Armenia.

Where are the funds raised on Instagram now? See our FAQs below. Have more questions? Reach us at contact@onearmenia.org.

Three generations of women from the same family, all displaced by war over the last 30 years. Their families, 13 people total, now live in the same house, with no clear future plan or permanent home for Karine, her children, husband, or in-laws. They’re receiving emergency food through Focus On Children Now thanks to your donations.

Frequently Asked Questions: Instagram Donations

Question: Have these funds been sent to the organizations listed above?Answer: The following amounts have been transferred from our community’s overall fundraising efforts, including IG Live fundraising.

ArmeniaFund: $3,936,895 ($932,892 from this total sent to ArmeniaFund has been transferred to 1000+, the Insurance Foundation for Servicemen. Read the press release)

Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund: $322,000

Focus On Children Now: $90,000

TOTAL: $4,348,895

For confirmation receipts of our transfers to these organizations, see our receipts blog post, which we are updating as we receive more receipt confirmations.

Question: How are funds being used by these organizations?

Answer: We’re working on detailed project briefs for each of these organizations and will add to this blog post when ready. For now, you can read all about our current campaign supporting the Homeland Defender’s Rehabilitation Center at campaign.onearmenia.org/rehab.

Question: How long does it take for ONEArmenia to receive funds raised on Instagram?

Answer: It takes 2–4 weeks for funds to be paid out to us. Here’s a direct quote from Facebook (which processes donation transactions on Instagram): “Funds donated the 1–15th of a month are generally paid out during the first five days of the following month. Funds donated on or after the 16th are generally paid out during the 16–20th of the following month.” Learn more here.

Question: I donated to an Instagram live fundraiser — where’s my donation receipt?

Answer: We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered with Instagram and Facebook. You should have received an email receipt confirming your donation to our organization to the email associated with your Instagram or Facebook account. If you did not receive a receipt, please let us know at contact@onearmenia.org.

Question: Does ONEArmenia keep any fees from donations?

Answer: No. We’ve kept zero admin fees from donations to us during the war, and continue to keep zero fees. And because we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered with Instagram and Facebook, both platforms cover all processing fees for donations to our organization, so 100% of what was donated went to our partner organizations.

Question: Why can’t I go live to raise funds or donate to a live fundraiser?

Answer: Instagram fundraising for nonprofits is only available in certain countries. If you can’t donate or fundraise on Instagram from your location, you can still help by sharing Instagram fundraisers supporting our efforts. Sharing goes a long way!