Anastasia Glanskova
Abushahmanova Elvira
Valery Spiridonov
Anastasiia Isaeva
Sofya Kudryavtseva
The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
Natalia Yankovskaya
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All the activities of the foundation, all projects and events are pieces of a puzzle that the “Reserved Embassy" foundation confidently puts together. Being an ardent supporter of the protection and restoration of natural territories, all the innovations introduced by the foundation are aimed at achieving 12 of the 17 goals, but mostly at SDG 6 - clean water and sanitation, SDG 13 - combating climate change, SDG 14 - preserving marine ecosystems, SDG 15 - preserving terrestrial ecosystems. The recent innovation, which is the creation of Russia's first environmental endowment capital to help specially protected natural areas in the amount of 13 million rubles, partially satisfies SDG-17 - partnerships for sustainable development.
There is a strong opinion that all foundations live off the funds of their trustees. In fact, this is not the case, although the "Reserved Embassy" of the foundation has famous people among its trustees, such as Menshov V.V., Drozdov N.N. and many others. The trustees are friends with whom the foundation personally negotiates and who support its ideas, knowing the leaders directly. Therefore, trustees are more useful for image and reputation.
The "Reserved Embassy" receives significant sums of the money from grants that it wins. Most recently, the foundation submitted an application to the Presidential Grants Fund for assistance on the topic of preserving the puffin, which lives in the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve and on the islands. Its population is declining, no one can understand why. The foundation also has programs that are funded by businesses and partners, some of them are targeted donations, when the foundation comes to an agreement with companies, and they do some specific project together. For example, the "Reserved Embassy" had experience in the field of reforestation, when a business asked them to help with planting forests, garbage collection, etc. Then, among the "subordinate" protected areas, the foundation is looking for those where there are places of former harems that require the planting of new forests. Another example is the conservation of biodiversity. The topic that all companies report on in their sustainability reports. There is also an option to sign socio-economic agreements that big business concludes with the leadership of the region in terms of the development of volunteerism and tourism in the region.
The fund can also help from a marketing point of view in the construction of an eco-trail, make some beautiful projects of its own and much more. Tinkoff Bank has launched an action to help animals, offering an exclusive design of cards depicting symbols of Russian regions; Tele2 operator users can call wild animals to a short number, hear their voice, and the cost of the call will go to the fund for the protection of rare species of animals. The "Reserved Embassy" also developed the "Place of Power" project together with MTS about reserved tourism lessons. In general, now the company's environmental agenda is something that must necessarily be, and funds such as the "Protected Embassy" can help in this.
Endowment (endowment capital) is a part of the property of a non–profit organization formed by donations, transferred to the trust management of a management company to generate income used to finance the statutory activities of non-profit organizations. In this case, the target capital was formed at the expense of donations from the Potanin Foundation. The partnership between the foundations is an integral part of the promotion of environmental organizations. This method makes it clear that we all need to support each other and especially organizations that specialize in achieving sustainable development goals and preserving the country's natural lands. In Russia, endowments appeared in 2007, when Law No. 275-FZ "On the procedure for the formation and use of endowment Capital of non-profit organizations" was adopted. But among environmental organizations, the first endowment in Russia was received by the "Reserved Embassy" foundation.
The "Reserved Embassy" is the quintessence of caring people who devote themselves entirely to the protection of nature and try to attract public attention to this. Each of them has their own path to ecology, but without a true interest in this area, the foundation would not have been able to achieve such a scale and such fame. Ksenia Gasparyants, with whom the interview was conducted, was directly involved in obtaining the reserved endowment capital, shared with us her interesting way to restore nature. During the years of her studies, the topic of sustainable development was not developed at all in Russia. But Ksenia's university actively promoted international cooperation, in particular international conferences and practices. It was this that once fell in love and amazed Ksenia, the current development director of the “Reserved Embassy” Foundation. The educational idea and the idea of promoting reforestation, preserving diversity did not leave her, so now she is doing her job with such unconditional love and commitment.
Short-term outcomes of incorporating an endowment into the "Reserved Embassy’s” operations significantly impact its financial standing. Firstly, the increase in available financial resources provides the Foundation with the opportunity to expand the scale of its activities significantly. This additional funding can be directed towards improving the efficiency of ongoing projects and programs, contributing to a more successful achievement of set objectives. Another crucial aspect is the enhancement of the Foundation's financial stability by utilizing investment returns to fund current and future initiatives. This financial reserve provides the Foundation with additional flexibility in responding to changing circumstances and conducting more adaptable and responsive charitable activities.
The long-term consequences of implementing an endowment also have a substantial impact on the Foundation's operations. Establishing a stable source of income over the long term allows the "Reserved Embassy" to strategically plan and implement more ambitious projects. This contributes to increasing the influence in the long run and ensures a sustainable flow of funds to support its charitable efforts. Moreover, the presence of an endowment positively influences the Foundation's reputation. It creates an impression of financial stability and long-term orientation, making it more appealing to potential donors and sponsors. Collectively, these factors strengthen the Foundation's position in the charitable community and its ability to effectively respond to societal needs.
Due to the fact that the fund managed to create a target capital to help specially protected natural areas, it received even greater recognition. Now the endowment for the fund is a safety cushion. The fund's employees know that in case of an emergency, they will remain with money and will be able to continue their business. They know that if an organization is fined, then it will not affect the personal salaries of employees in any way, because the money for the fine will go from the endowment capital. After all, the salaries of the foundation's employees directly depend on the size of donations and the number of projects, since most of the speeches and various forums are not paid. The fund will be able to spend the income from the reserved capital on new projects and developments, which means directly to help preserve nature and animals.
For society, this innovation provides an excellent example of mutual assistance of organizations to each other at the regional level. For the environment, innovation brings an invaluable contribution, because the yield from the endowment is much greater than from a bank deposit. This means that the foundation will need less of the same donations, processes for protecting its proposals and ideas to receive grants, and therefore, the foundation will be able to devote more time to territorial protection and educational activities. Because, as it turned out, most people do not even know that some objects are of great importance and are protected, and many do not even understand the difference between a walking park and a nature reserve. It is also worth noting that receiving the reserved capital brings the “Reserved Embassy” to another level of recognition, which will attract more trustees and will certainly have a positive impact on the brand of the foundation.
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Gasparyan Ksenia Alexandrovna, Development Director
The Reserved Embassy Foundation represents the interests of a special "Reserved Country" in the Russian Federation. The "Reserved Country" is a network of nature reserves, national parks, other specially protected natural territories and museum-reserves, which are located on more than 12% of the area of Russia. The principle that the foundation is guided by is the priority right of nature to conservation. The Foundation promotes the development and preservation of pristine nature, as well as opens up its beauty and opportunities to people. In addition to all of the above, the foundation conducts educational activities among schoolchildren.