Meet Velina Velikova | ACTUM Giving Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Velina Velikova and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Velina, what principle do you value most?
Transparency. A big part of why I started my non-profit was to emphasis transparency and trust. There is not only misinformation about how non=profits work, but corruption with big businesses and their non-profit projects. Most people have no idea where their donation is going and what impact they are actually creating. Being in the philanthropic space for almost 8 years now, I’ve worked with small, local organizations as well as huge, international non-profit orgs. One thing they have in common? Struggling to retain donors and keep funding projects. The masses are constantly hit with an overload of “buy this,” “donate here,” or “save a child for $x/day.” What are we supposed to believe? There is power in transparency and authenticity and believe building that trust is how we can build not just a donor base, but a community of people that want to be a part of a positive change in the world.

So all in all, when I started ACTUM Giving my immediate mission was to show that 100% of anyone’s donation is going directly to projects for kids in need (not the overhead). Our current hiccup is figuring out to raise enough money to cover transfer/processing fees on our donation platforms, but we are figuring that out and have a goal of being able to cover ALL fees by 2025.

Our focus is leveraging digital marketing, social media and grants to cover overhead so we can be as transparent as possible when it comes to where donation money goes.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In college, volunteering at mobile clinics in TJ, Mexico, and organizing drives for San Diego’s homeless population became my passion. I saw extreme needs in low-income communities and the tireless organizations trying to help them.

There’s a clear limit to how much an organization can do based on their funding. Some of the most dedicated and selfless groups are restricted because they lack resources for successful fundraising, limiting their reach. This means people they aim to serve continue to starve, suffer from malnourishment, or face homelessness.

I grew tired of seeing children struggle for daily meals or die from basic infections due to hygiene issues. Often, the difference between their survival and suffering is just a few hundred dollars. While this is only a bandaid for their root problems, it’s a crucial first step toward progress. So I started doing basic Instagram fundraisers with my friends and we quickly started doubling the monthly donations for local non-profits. I thought, “how can we sustain this?”

I started creating video and writing projects, adding a huge storytelling element to my fundraising strategy. I got interested in how digital marketing could further fundraising and starting messing around with e-commerce social media, and affiliate marketing.

Consider what happens if 1,000 people donated $1/month. That means over 250 kids fighting malnourishment could be fed over a year.

It sounds small, but it makes a big difference when many join our mission contribute. Let’s skip the sad marketing and feel empowered by what we can do. It’s beautiful to contribute even a little to humanity’s betterment, so let’s celebrate this! I want to show you exactly where your contribution goes and who it helps, highlighting your impact. Things go viral every day; why not normalize being part of a struggling family’s progress?

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
LA weekend bucket list:

– Vegan + GF foodie spots (Green Leaf, The Butcher’s Daughter)
– China Town
– Griffith Observatory
– Melrose Flee Market
– Venice Beach

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My immediate community has been more than supportive throughout this entire journey. My family and closest friends constantly support any project I promote, whether it’s an e-commerce project trying to raise money, silly social media ideas or even my big jump in quitting my 9-5 to pursue my passion of untraditional fundraising.

Website: http://actumgiving.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velinaveli/

Linkedin: n/a

Twitter: n/a

Facebook: n/a

Yelp: n/a

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ACTUMGiving

Other: TikTok is our main platform: https://www.tiktok.com/@actum.giving

Image Credits
Velina Velikova & East Bali Poverty Project