There is some similarity between the Eurovision and the Armenia pan-Armenian fund in terms of perception. The similarity is that in both cases we are making efforts to guess how much we will receive from different countries basing on the statistical information about the number of Armenians in those countries.
In one case they give money and in the other case they give votes but the meaning does not change. The meaning is not the quality of the songs in the Eurovision or the projects implemented by the Armenia pan-Armenian fund but the number of Armenians and a number of other factors.
After every competition of the Eurovision or the fundraising event of the Armenia fund we are making conclusions to see how the moods have changed and how much others like us.
The difference is that during the song competition the result depends on concrete number of votes, and during the fundraising the result depends on not only donations but promises of donations as well (a part of which may not come true). We have tried to make a rating list of generosity based on this information.
In order to make an index of generosity we are taking the total amount donated form one country and dividing into the number of Armenians in that country. It helps to calculate how much money comes out for per person living in that country. We took the number of Armenians in different countries from the web site of the Armenia pan-Armenian fund and as a result of calculations received the following:
This chart does not reflect the correct picture and it may stray from the reality as the information on the number of Armenians is not very correct either. It is a calculation only for the purpose of thinking and without prejudice to anything.
This calculation shows that every Armenian overseas has donated about 2 dollars for Shushi. The number of Armenians (7,485,000) concerns the Armenians in countries from where the Armenia All Armenian Fund has received donations. For example, according to different sources of information, there are about 300,000 Armenians in Georgia and if we take the sum of their donations, it turns out that Shushi is not a priority for them. The same thing concerns the Armenians from Iran, Syria or Bulgaria as we did not find their names in the list of donators.
As a result of comparing this information we found out that the most generous Armenians are the ones living in the Great Britain. The donated sum per person is more by 30 times than the median rate of donations. Armenians from Canada, Brazil and European countries were active compared to other countries. The tight-fisted ones are the Armenians from Armenia and Karabakh.
Some people say the reason is the fact that the local Armenians have less money, and others believe the reason is that the local Armenians can see how “efficiently” this money is being spent. The richest people in Armenia are either in the government or very close to the government. By saying government we associate this understanding with the Republican Party of Armenia (especially after the recent congress). According to the members of this party, the RPA has around 130,000 members. This party has donated about $9,100 for the reconstruction of Shushi. If we divide this number into the number of the members of the RPA, we will see that each member of this party, including the new ones, has donated 7 cents. This calculation has been done only for the purpose of statistics and there is no other purpose.