The case for crowd-funding of Serbian community needs in Kosovo - Q&A

A fellow Serbian American, Aleks Zivanovic, has posed a number of challenging questions in response to my (admittedly sketchy) article about the value of crowd-funding campaigns as a tool for the Serbian American community to aid our much less fortunate compatriots who live in Kosovo. After some serious thought, I've decided that there is little point in getting the answers and counter-questions lost in the hierarchy of comments and replies; and, thus, I have created this article in which I am responding to some of those in a form that resembles an interview. The idea is that - as Aleks or other people add more questions - the article grows until all concerns have been sufficiently addressed.

As a background: I am currently running a crowd-funding campaign to help the Diocese of Ras and Prizren erect a small dairy farm to lower the costs of milk supplies for the church-operated soup kitches (Narodne kuhinje). I need to mention this because some of the questions are specific, and relate to details of this project. Also, the questions have been transferred "as is", without any alterations, and this practice will be followed if the article continues to grow.

This entity has a fundraiser on another site for a dairy to support a soup kitchen in Kosovo. On closer inspection, it appears to be a church project. Which raises the question: if the goal of the foundation is to address the "diaspora trust and confidence" problem, doesn't asking for donations to a private foundation rather than to the church defeat that purpose? It's not nefarious per se but it says we're raising money for a church project but we don't trust it enough to give it the money directly. I’ve made a promise to the donors I’ll do everything I can to ensure their money is not misused. I do trust His Grace Theodosius, the Bishop of Ras and Prizren, but I do not trust construction companies in the Balkans - they are notorious for cheating on the materials, inflating prices, and not getting stuff done in time. So, I need to retain control throughout the process. As our campaign page says, we will ask for the cost estimates beforehand, verify what they have done, and only then pay the bill. And if the costs seem fishy, I will go to my donors, present the documents, and put the issue to vote – should we pay notwithstanding the problems, or should we pull out? Ultimately, this campaign establishes a relationship between me and the donors, and I feel I cannot let anyone else make decisions that potentially affect that bond of trust, because my honor ("moj obraz") is at stake.

On paper (assuming everything is accurate) the economics of the project seem so compelling (compared to the cost of buying milk daily for 2000 people) that one has to ask why the Serbian government hasn't funded this? Why didn’t the Serbian government fund the hospital in Gracanica and Laplje selo? Take a look at this report from a small but excellent Serbian-American charity from Washington DC: https://www.sama.rs/laplje-selo-kosovo-metohija. These institutions are directly run by the Serbian government. How they could have tolerated such conditions for years is beyond my understanding.

BTW, the costs listed in the campaign page are only for the building (i.e. barn and corral). There are animals to be purchased on top of that (20 x $1,200 or $25,000). There are operating costs of the farm and animals, at some $1,600 per animal annually. There might be costs for some basic milk pasteurization equipment (you shouldn’t really serve it raw, even though you could). And there is the issue of efficiency – modern dairy cows are able to produce up to 8,000 L of milk per animal per year, but the same breeds typically under-perform in Serbia because of how the animals are being feed, and in what sanitary conditions they are being held. So, there are risks down the road, and the economics may not be as compelling in the end as it may appear at a first glance. Still, this project will achieve a huge cost reduction (roughly 50% reduction in cost per L) if the farm operators manage to get the cows to produce 6,500 L/animal of milk annually.

The church just gave Vucic the order of St. Sava, no? It gave minister Mali an award for using budget resources to donate to the construction of the Cathedral in Belgrade. This isn't a lot of money to help 2000 people have food security. I agree with the observations; however, the fact that Serbian president and patriarch get along well IMHO does not imply the government will fund everything the church needs in every part of every Diocese. The farm is likely too small to be of direct interest to these statesmen.

So why hasn't this been done by now? It's not a resource problem. And if the Serbian government won't fund this, then it raises other questions about who or what the problem is. Stick our heads in the sand once more? There are two problems with this question. First, the track record of the Serbian governments since 1991 IMHO does not justify using their judgment as a measuring stick for what is worth doing and what not. Second, until the current (or some future) Serbian government clearly articulates its goals in Kosovo, any attempt by an outsider to pick a priority and implement it can be criticized as just a sub-optimal guess (aka "pet project"). I do not know for sure why the government is not funding this farm. It could be because under the “historic compromise” (i.e. partition plan) Gracanica will find itself outside of Serbia – so why bother? It could be the partisanship - they may not want to fund the projects of their opponent (which, it is no secret, the local bishop is, albeit he is not as vocal as some other clergymen). It could be that the bishop did not really ask them because he assumes they’d turn him down. Or it could be just another example of the Serbian government failing to see the obvious. Whatever the reason is, I do not see why we shouldn’t use our own judgment and initiative to assess the project and implement it. This is how every successful startup has begun – the "big guys" don’t see something, then a few years later everybody finds that obvious. 

Even assuming a convincing case that this is the right problem and this is the best problem to be solving this way, why you? Why this foundation? Because I have the will and determination to tackle it. However, please realize that the field of crowd-funding is inherently democratic. Whenever anyone else has some ideas, and the will and time to fundraise, and the will and time to deliver on it – the social networks and crowd-funding sites are out there, at their disposal. If the broad audience likes the proposition – it will get implemented. We should not apply the typical Serbian approach of “my way or high way” to this and similar endeavors. It is quite possible others would follow me as independent entities, and I actually very much welcome that as long as we can weed out the scammers. Which we – in a social network form of community watch – can, indeed, do. One way or the other, the Serbian communities in Kosovo will benefit from such efforts.

Maybe the best people who are doing the most help are already on the ground? Do we need to replicate? Whom exactly do you think we’d be replicating? I am not aware of any Serbian entity (outside of the government) that has both (1) the means and (2) the will/mission to constantly, year after year, invest $3+ million in infrastructure (=schools, health care, child care, farming) in Kosovo. There are Serbs for Serbs, who are doing a wonderful job but they cater only to individual poor families. And there are ‘hit-and-miss’ projects, which is OK but not sufficient. But, if such people or entities exist, and you can point to them, the things will only be better if we (1) mobilize ourselves here in the US, and then (2) join forces with those entities. With respect to the Serbian government, the replication is a possible issue, but it can be overcome by actively looking for and sharing information. I actually contacted the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian government in July of 2019, asking about the cardio-ICU unit in the hospital in K. Mitrovica, as the beds in the unit (and the entire floor) looked really, really bad when I visited there in April of 2019. I wanted to know if they or some other entity had already committed to purchasing new bed frames, but to this day I did not get an answer. So, that potential project has been put on hold until we get a clarification.

Maybe we just give them money and provide oversight? Whenever applicable – why not. But I must be certain in their trustworthiness and/or ability to deliver. Again, I am putting my “obraz” at stake when fundraising.

I think more of that needs to be figured out before people fork over cash. I agree with Dushica, you need the 503c etc, but those are technical details that are easier to overcome than answering the big questions about mission, purpose, method, etc. And then what's the exit strategy? When will we know we've succeeded? How will we know? Please take a look at our Kosovska Mitrovica campaign – it exemplifies our commitment to transparency. Every receipt, every money transfer or conversion, photos of the equipment in transit and in Mitrovica, photos with the hospital management, their written statements we had indeed been there and delivered, media coverage – it is all put out on display. In the current case of the dairy farm, as stated on the GoFundMe page, we will have photos and video clips of the location before, during and after the works we will have paid for, and we will publish all the receipts, money transfer documents, and the like. Ultimately, at the end of 2020 the barn building will either be standing there or it will not. That is easily verifiable.

Or are you looking for an open-ended commitment? No, I am not. Each crowd-funded project we have done or will do has clear goals, a reasonably accurate cost estimate, and timeline. They may succeed or fail, but they will not drag forever. The public may not like our goals, but that is easily handled in the crowd-funding framework: you don't get funded.

In sum, the proposal needs more work addressing some of the tough questions. When it comes to Kosovo and even Serbia, most Serbian Americans don't know what they don't know.  I agree. However, the crowd-funded projects will help with this aspect too. Not only will the financial burden of these projects on any single individual be lowered, but the true conditions in which our compatriots in Kosovo live will be brought to the attention of a (hopefully) ever growing community of supportive Serbian Americans.

Unfortunately, few want to even think about whether they can trust the Serbian government with anything… and if they can’t what that means for whether they can help and how they might need to go about it if they do want to help. I have no problem collaborating with the Serbian government. And not just the current, SNS government, but any government. They are just a group of diverse people, some competent, some incompetent, some corrupt. It is a fine art to discern among these three varieties, but it can be done. I wish the collaboration between the government and diaspora is more advanced and formalized, but I do not think the American Serbs should merely wait until the government extends its collaborative hand towards us here. We do have the intellectual potential to formulate meaningful goals and pursue them.