Russian entrepreneur Vasily Klyukin is no stranger to charitable giving. While living a life that sounds just like an adventure story, he still manages to donate considerable funds to charity.
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He’s flown into space with movie star Leonardo DiCaprio at the cost of $1.5M, and completed other incredible adventures while supporting AIDS research, World Wildlife Fund and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
Klyukin, a self-made creative visionary, made his money in real estate and banking before moving to architecture and science fiction. He is now a designer of incredible architectural concepts for buildings all over the world. A stunning new skyscraper in Monte Carlo is on the cards, but he’s also a published novelist. Klyukin has written a sci-fi thriller called Collective Mind, and is now working on his second novel.
He is a businessman, a writer, a designer but also a philanthropist. Klyukin has donated millions to incredible causes, and his most recent donation is via CharityStars.com.
He spent £100,000 on a business meeting with advertising titan Charles Saatchi, who kindly chose to donate the funds to Great Ormond Street Hospital and a Russian Orphanage close to Klyukin’s heart. The pair met at Gallery Mess in London to discuss all things business, with Klyukin also interested in hearing about Saatchi’s love of art. “Mr Saatchi is really an incredible man. It was more than interesting talking with him” said Klyukin.
This isn’t the first business lunch auctioned by CharityStars.com. The online fundraising platform has also organised lunches with Silvio Berlusconi, raising €70,000, and Candy Crush founder Riccardo Zaconi, raising €25,500.
The principle is very straightforward: business influencers donate their time for a lunch, which is put up for auction, and the proceeds are donated to a charity of their choice. It costs the giver just a lunch’s worth of time, yet has proved to be incredibly effective in terms of fundraising, thanks to the generosity of bidders such as Vasily Klyukin.
CharityStars.com was founded in 2014 with a passion and aim to change the non-profit sector and continue its mission to help charities raise money. Since launching, more than 1000 global celebrities and brands have chosen to work with CharityStars.com including Andy Murray, Lionel Messi, Jessie J, Joss Stone, David Coulthard and Sir Bobby Charlton, plus over 400 non-for-profit organisations, such as Save the Children and Oxfam. Last year Berkeley University named the company as one of the most “impacting Social Enterprises globally”.
