Four Years After Russia Invaded Ukraine, Philanthropy is Dwindling, Even as Needs Grow
Four years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jewish human service organizations are struggling to maintain funding.
“The Jewish community stepped up philanthropically in very significant ways, but four years in, it’s hard to continue to maintain that interest and attention,” Dyonna Ginsburg, CEO of OLAM, a network of Jewish organizations and individuals working in international aid, told eJewishPhilanthropy.
As early as four months into the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, Jewish organizations feared the rush of funding wouldn’t last, and they wouldn’t be able to provide the services Ukrainians needed, according to a July 2022 OLAM study. At the time, 16 OLAM partners worked in the region. Today, the number has decreased to six. Many OLAM partners now refer to the war as “a forgotten crisis,” a designation normally used to refer to far-off conflicts like those in Sudan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Jewish Federations of North America raised and distributed more than $100 million for Ukrainian aid projects. In 2025, JFNA allocated roughly $5.2 million in emergency funds for Ukraine, according to the organization.
Cuts in philanthropic donations are occurring alongside a decline in international aid overall, after the Trump administration slashed 83% of U.S. Agency for International Development programs last year. Even if an organization never depended on USAID, when one organization struggles to maintain services, others need to step up, international aid organizations told eJP.
Even as much of the philanthropic and American federal funding has dried up, the needs of Ukrainians have only increased, Alena Druzhynina, country director of IsraAid Ukraine, told eJP. Even though life is a struggle, Druzhynina, who lives in Ukraine and rushes almost nightly into a bomb shelter with her family, said that she is grateful. “We are still alive,” Druzhynina said. “This is already a positive thing to start with.”
Ukraine, like the U.S., is dealing with the coldest winter in years. But unlike most of the U.S., many Ukrainians are doing it without electricity, compounding the community’s needs, especially around mental health.
This article was originally published in eJewish Philanthropy on Feburary 25, 2026.
