By Dzmitry Yahorau | Project Leader
On September 16, the day 25 political prisoners were released, independent Belarusian media published 24 stories mentioning BYSOL. Our emergency fundraiser went live the same day. That kind of speed comes from work done during quiet months, and from knowing that you will respond.
This summer we finished BYSOL's first communications strategy. It sets out who we talk to, through which channels and why.
We have tracked media coverage systematically since February. Around 50 articles mention BYSOL every month, 382 through late September. We keep direct contact with about 40 journalists. In September alone our representatives spoke in 10 broadcasts.
The team also built its first internal tool: a bot that collects information about a person in need and helps prepare their fundraiser. Less paperwork means more cases handled by the same four people, and more time for the person on the other end of the line.
None of this slowed the regular work. Between June and August the team handled 489 hotline consultations, 67 payouts to political prisoners and 17 evacuations, and closed 46 personal fundraisers. There was no mass release in those months and no emergency campaign. People kept reaching out, and the team kept answering.
This project has no monthly donors on GlobalGiving yet. A recurring donation of any size lets us plan the hotline, evacuations and case processing ahead of time. It also tells a small team that they are not doing this alone.
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