Post by calcabrina

marabasso Ottimo, condivido.
Se il conteggio potrà essere utile a devolvere un domani gli arretrati (vedi mai che Abillion voglia distinguersi positivamente anche in questo) va bene lasciarlo ma, con una nota che indichi che in questo momento le donazioni sono sospese.
Se non erro non sono sospese ovunque: avevo proposto di alternare le zone mondo, magari su base mensile, per in modo da poterle distribuire equamente.12 likesReply

ericaeroica Grazie 💚4 likesReply

marabasso Possibile che, con tutto quello che gli italiani vegani se magnano, o con tutti i prodotti per la cura del corpo che comprano, l’Italia sia una vetrina meno importante di altri Stati?
Sempre penalizzati noi 😢8 likesReply

gretademarchi Ho contattato qualche giorno fa sia Il Santuario Capra Libera Tutti che Rifugio Miletta su ig e mi avevano confermato che a loro non arrivano al momento donazioni perché abillion ha perso dei finanziatori importanti e quindi non riescono al momento a ricevere nulla :(11 likesReply

lizmaselli I believe they have started up the donation system again. I used to be with a partner sanctuary and we would recieve the money after it accumulated to a certain amount, usually twice a year. But we did get it. Is it possible that which ever sanctuary just hasn't accumulated enough to be sent? Or it's not their sending period? 🙏🏻🩷🌿 (all love and good vibes from me here😊) 6 likesReply

beckyyy Hello! I also sent a message to abillion about donations/messaging/related matters recently. Vikas responded to the message and also offered to zoom with me to discuss. He was very kind, receptive and genuine when discussing the app, the challenges, the opportunities and the processes of moving it forward. During the conversation we discussed exactly this - that communication had been made but was missed by some and that it is not clear within the function of the app itself that the former “regular” donation process is currently suspended. During that discussion he noted that that was something to look in to.

The impression that I have is that the abillion team truly is working very hard to make the program a sustainable one and get back to regular donations. I think it is important that we, as both users and folks with ownership in the app provide feedback and ask questions when things are unclear (or in this case misleading). I believe that there was no negative intension here but that the team are “in the weeds” of the app and not always seeing things from the angles in which we see them as users. They are focused on building excitement and interest in the app and working with sponsors (in order to get us back to regular donations, etc). That being said, he was very receptive to the feedback and understanding of why there is a lack of clarity even though announcements were made.

After speaking with him I decided that I wanted to participate in the app again, with the hope that changes will be made to increase communication and transparency. 13 likesReply

vikas Sad to see this… we’re an ethically wrong company that’s donated over US $3 million to save animals and we started donations again this year with our new weekly impact program.

And we are committed to making donations that are accruing to our non profits. So we are happy to keep the existing program going while we raise capital for it. Maybe we’ll change it in the future, but our team is constantly talking about how we make it better, how we make it more impactful. And we are in touch with our community.

I’m sorry you feel like we’re not doing enough. 6 likesReply

vikas We’ve been making donations since Feb 2018 and in the last 6 years we paused donations for 5 months in 2023 due to the financial situation and working tirelessly to figure it out. I’m very proud to have started again on Jan 1 2024 and even more excited to push forward and donate $1 million this year. But it will take our community to come together and make it happen, not sow and seed doubts and confusion. 12 likesReply

udeshs I am also abit confused.. I am still donating to the animal shelters on the app,so where is that money gone too?3 likesReply

beckyyy Unfortunately I think this conversation, which was meant to shed light and understanding has evolved into even more confusion.

If I am understanding this correctly @calcabrina was expressing concern that the functionality of the app has remained the same - showing that donations can be allotted to specific groups by users after earning donation credits from reviews. In reality the donations are not currently being made in this way (though of course they are being recorded with the intent of those donations being distributed in the future). Though abillion has made announcements regarding this, it’s a challenge because not all folks read the notices, receive them in a filtered inbox, join the app at the right time to receive it, see it on their abillion feed, etc. A note on the donation page explaining the situation or a changing of the buttons/functionality to reflect a donation pause may possibly go a long way in making this clearer.

It is also my understanding that abillion IS currently making donations at this time, but it is through the weekly program.

I believe we are all in 100% agreement that this app has done AMAZING and unprecedented work and good for animal rescues and other charitable sustainability and social justice related causes.

I also believe we are all realistic and understand that money doesn’t just appear and that a workable and sustainable model must be implemented. Also, it is not easy to obtain long term sponsors in a wobbly market, especially in uncertain times.

I truly believe the only issue here is communication. I don’t think @calcabrina was accusing the app of being unethical, but was trying to call attention to the fact that the donation system is unclear. It would be unethical to intentionally mislead folks.

I also don’t think that abillion was intentionally misleading folks. It seems clear to me, after speaking w Vikas, that they’ve tried to communicate the current situation but that the message was not received by all.

Communication is a challenge. It is easy for any of us to read things too fast, misinterpret intensions or just miss messages completely. This is compounded on an international app with folks from varying backgrounds, cultures, languages, experiences.

I think we can all agree that working together as a community to make this app strong is a win for us and animals.

My suggestion would be to add a video to the app to explain the situation and change the functionality or add a note to the donations page. It may also be a good idea for the community to hold a “town hall” of sorts on zoom or another platform at some time. I’m confident that if we could see one another and discuss concerns together we would understand each other more.

We’re stronger together.
Much love 💗 11 likesReply

geb Non ci posso credere 🤯
Se non avessi letto questo post, me lo sarei totalmente perso. Avevo donato non pochi soldi ai rifugi nell'ultimo periodo 😭5 likesReply

-pervinca- Io continuo ad accumulare sperando sempre di non perdere il mio piccolo gruzzolo! Le mie recensioni sono tutte fatte con lo scopo di donare in futuro!6 likesReply

felika Grande @calcabrina giusto essere trasparenti 💚🍀5 likesReply

rosaliab This is not the only anomaly. Worse things have happened (like a certain sanctuary not only not receiving anything for a time, but also not having the money in due incrementing in spite of the many donations, that is, like if, contrary to what happened, no one chose to give to this sanctuary for months - that is: we, the ones who reviewed for that sanctuary, saw how our efforts equated to ZERO).

But abillion will tell you "oh no, we're incredibly transparent" and will try to make you feel bad just for asking for transparency saying something like "with all the money we have donated... you come and say this!", but subtly, of course, not in this direct manner. Wait and see how they'll say something similar to this.

The lack of transparency itself is bad. They should inform about all this changes so we decide if we want to make reviews or not. It is not ethical to urge us to write reviews under false promises. But, like I said, worse things happen.

7 likesReply

paolinasw Io ho smesso di recensire, e praticamente usare questa piattaforma da agosto 2023, quando venne riferito che le donazioni erano sospese fino a che non avrebbero trovato nuovi finanziatori. Io non ho più interesse ad usarla se lo scopo principale per cui è nata (donare ai santuari tramite recensioni) viene a mancare. Se voglio recensire, far conoscere o cercare prodotti veg, vado su blog, o altri gruppi social dove le intenzioni sono più chiare!3 likesReply

regimack I was unaware of the pause in donations, reading this thread is news to me. I'm glad multiple people contributed to the conversation so that some questions could be cleared up.3 likesReply

acilegna Io avevo chiesto per email ad abillion stesso se effettivamente le donazioni fossero state sbloccate e gli affiliati avessero iniziato quindi a ricevere i soldi. La risposta è stata super generica, affermativa e presa alla larga, parlando di questo favoloso programma del vincitore settimanale. Ho dovuto chiedere altre 2 volte per capire che effettivamente le donazioni di chi non vinceva la challenge fossero ancora bloccate. Con questa comunicazione poco diretta è alquanto improbabile che faranno un banner esplicativo della sospensione delle donazioni.
Io sto facendo molte meno recensioni infatti; uso l'app magari per trovare qualche consiglio e ispirazione vegan, ma avendo l'app perso totalmente lo scopo primario al momento, ( o almeno quello che interessa a me: donare) si è molto svalutata. Magari un giorno si sbloccherà il tutto, ma è più di un anno che è così e invero molti nemmeno ne sono a conoscenza. Chiaramente se lo dicessero, probabilmente ci sarebbero meno nuovi utenti4 likesReply

helena12345 I didn’t know this either! I do care about transparency indeed. But I don’t think or know transparency is the problem, I simply don’t put much time in reading those kinds of animals
I downloaded Abillion to see (exclusively vegan) food posts and make them myself 😅 But I understand this is an important issue for some!3 likesReply

auramala Ma non lo sapevo! Quindi non stiamo donando più nulla?!?1 likeReply

coloratantonella I am absolutely agree with you! I have lost a bit of enthusiasm and rush to post my reviews! Capra Libera told me it many many months ago but recently they said to continue to create credit because one day probably they finally get it. E speriamo bene, cavoletto!! 6 likesReply

coloratantonella And I want you to know your post is clear and easy to understand!!!!! 5 likesReply

calcabrina Spero davvero che in futuro i rifugi possano ricevere quello che non possono avere ora…sarebbe molto bello!!! 🌱🦇🌱1 likeReply

acilegna Ho appena fatto una recensione e praticamente di default 1 dollaro va al loro programma Equity per finanziare l'app e solo 40 centesimi da poi poter destinare a qualche santuario di mia scelta, (che non riceverà nulla a oggi per mancanza di fondi). Già il fato che su 1.40 più del doppio sia destinato al loro programma non mi piace, dovrebbe essere l'inverso! Quindi i santuari non prendono nulla, ma equity sì3 likesReply

kekolove72 È terribile questa cosa!! Non lo sapevo 🥺😒😒e ne sono venuta a conoscenza grazie a questo tuo post! Quindi tutte le ultime donazioni che pensavo di aver fatto al Miletta in realtà non esistevano! Ma dai 😭2 likesReply

allimac Oddio non lo sapevo!! Grazie per aver scritto questo post e condiviso la cosa 💚🌷2 likesReply

federicathewitch Grazie di cuore 🖤🐈‍⬛🖤2 likesReply

elisatosi grazie davvero caraaaaa, anche io non l’avrei saputo 😭😭😭😭 l’unione fa la forza 🦇🦇🦇🩵🩵🩵1 likeReply