Last week, the Giro555 initiative started a campaign to raise money for Ukraine. According to provisional figures, the campaign has managed to raise more than 106 million euros.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been a wave of national support in the Netherlands, with protests taking place around the country and campaigns set up to collect donations and supplies to provide relief for the people of Ukraine. The Giro555 initiative, a collaboration between eleven aid organisations, organised one such campaign to raise money for shelter, healthcare, drinking water and food for those who have been affected by the conflict.
The Giro555 campaign included radio and television broadcasts, which involved both public and commercial broadcasters. The radio broadcast ran from 6am until 9pm on ten different radio stations, with DJs taking requests from listeners in exchange for donations. The television special Samen in Actie voor Oekraine ran from 8,30pm until 11pm on NPO 1, RTL 4 and SBS 6, and saw celebrities man the phone lines to receive donations from the public.
Provisional figures suggest that Giro555’s day of action raised over 106 million euros, with this figure expected to rise in the coming days. The broadcast on NPO 1 attracted more than 1,4 million viewers, a number that was only bettered by the 8pm news on NPO1 and the 7,30pm news on RTL 4.
Before the radio broadcast had even started, Giro555 had already collected around 21,4 million euros in donations. By midday, this had increased to more than 29,5 million euros. Around the start of the TV special, 40,9 million euros had been raised. During the television broadcast, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher announced that the cabinet would allocate another 15 million euros for emergency aid to Ukraine, in addition to the 24,5 million that had already been promised by the Dutch government.
The Giro555 campaign is its third most successful fundraiser, according to the provisional figure of 106 million euros. Their campaign for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raised the most money of any campaign (208 million euros), followed by the campaign for the victims of the Haiti earthquake in 2010 (111 million euros).