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Celebrate Children's Day!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Across the country Children's Day is being celebrated today. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur met with children at their residence while the Dalai Lama blessed children in Arunachal Pradesh.

GiveIndia sent out a special Children's Day email to all our supporters and friends. We'd like to thank Sudhir Singrakhia and his team at ZWA! for helping design the mailer.

We have dozens of ways to reach out and change a child's life on our website starting from just a few hundred rupees.

How did you celebrate Children's Day? Please do leave a comment telling us how you made this day special.

Tomorrow is Children's Day

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:48:00 +0000

Tomorrow, Saturday November 14 is when we celebrate Children's Day here in India.

We'd like to share this poem with you because we each have the power to positively influence the life of child, not only as a parent but as a teacher, uncle, aunt, grandparent, or friend.

When you thought I wasn't looking

by Mary Rita Schilke Korzan

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately

wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a

stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my

favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little

things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a

prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a

meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I

learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of

your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't

feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come

from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared,

and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say, Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.'

An update from Payroll Giving

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Our Head of Payroll Giving, Mathan Varkey, shares the latest news from the programme:

" These 6 months have seen the programme being implemented at the Aditya Birla Group, Deloitte, Eclipsys, HSBC Investdirect, Lintas, Onmobile, Religare and Vodafone.

The response from the employees has been most positive, thanks partly to some inspiring launch mails sent out by CEOs like Martin Peter of Vodafone, Balki of Lintas, Udayan Sen of Deloitte, Ravishankar of Geometric and Salil Parekh of Capgemini. At each of these companies we had approximately 40-50% of employees met signing up for the programme. And they signed up for a good monthly contribution of Rs 200.

My sincere thanks to the strong support from co-ordinators Prema, Jyotsna, Shivani and Priya of Vodafone, Nutan from Onmobile, Sandeep from Deloitte, and Sunil from Lintas. The sign up drive at Geometric and Capgemini has just commenced, and I am sure we will get a similar response from there as well with the support of Rajesh and Namita of Capgemini and Deepak and Harsha from Geometric.

We now have over 30,000 employees contributing an average of Rs170 every month.

We are shortly expecting Tech Mahindra, Cognizant, BBC, Blue Dart, DHL, Escorts, Fortis, Fidelity, Tata Capital, CMC, UB Group and some others to launch as well ."

Feedback report from Apnalaya

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:34:00 +0000

As you probably know, our NGOs are required to give donors feedback on how exactly their funds were utilized. Copied below is a feedback report from Mumbai based Apnalaya for the donation option to provide additional nutrition for malnourished children.

"The ten children to benefit from your donation to the Nutrition Scheme attend a study class organized by Apnalaya for 8th standard students attending Dnyansadhana School.

Situated in a very congested area of Baiganwadi very near to the dumping ground,
Dnyansadhana School has a very good team of dedicated teachers who really want to help their students.

Malnutrition is an issue with many of these children. Most of their parents are daily wage labourers or earn their living through rag picking and the recycling of waste, and are amongst the poorest of poor in Mumbai. They earn between Rs.100 to 150 a day, but even this is not regular. Because of this there is pressure on the children if they do not perform well in school to drop out and start earning.

As drop out in the 8th standard is high, Apnalaya offered to run study classes for these children after school. But during these classes the children were very restless; the teachers soon realized that this was due to hunger. Meetings were held with teachers and parents to see what could be done. Initially snacks were provided, but this was not enough. The parents agreed to partner with Apnalaya to see that they got a full meal, by agreeing to provide chapattis to children if Apnalaya would provide vegetables or pulses.

As a result:
- Restlessness has decreased
- Attention level has improved
- Level of concentration has also increased
- Children sit through the entire class, whereas earlier some would go away in the middle
- Both their physical health and mental attitude have improved
- Failures and dropouts have reduced and many children have reached 10th standard

This donation was used during July-September 2009"

Apnalaya also provided the names and ages of the ten children.

How do you want to make a difference in November?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:43:00 +0000

There are so many special days in November and so many ways to make a difference. Which of these days has special meaning for you?

November 7 -- National Cancer Awareness Day

For Rs4000, sponsor a health camp that will help villagers by detecting cancer in its early stages

November 17 -- International Day of students

Help a disabled student by paying their college fees for one month for Rs1500

Billionaire aids charity that aided him

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:21:00 +0000

An article by Stephanie Strom in the New York Times on October 24, 2009 talks about how were it not for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, there might be no Google.

"Thirty years ago today, Sergey Brin, a 6-year-old Soviet boy facing an uncertain future, arrived in the United States with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Now Mr. Brin, the billionaire co-founder of Google, is giving $1 million to the society, widely known as HIAS, which helped his family escape anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and establish itself here.

“I would have never had the kinds of opportunities I’ve had here in the Soviet Union, or even in Russia today,” Mr. Brin said in an interview. “I would like to see anyone be able to achieve their dreams, and that’s what this organization does.”

The gift is small, given Mr. Brin’s estimated $16 billion in personal wealth, but he said it signaled a growing commitment by him and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, to engage more substantially in philanthropy.

“We’ve given away over $30 million so far, which isn’t so tiny but obviously small in terms of our, um, theoretical wealth,” Mr. Brin said. “Our philanthropy is something I want to take my time with and develop and systematize.”

Mr. Brin noted that Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, was widely criticized for not giving away enough money but is now known as one of the world’s leading philanthropists. “While everyone was criticizing him, he was generating a whole lot more money for his foundation, and ultimately, when he got serious about philanthropy, he did it really well,” Mr. Brin said. “I’d like to learn from that example.”

The bulk of the money the Brins have given away has gone to the Michael J. Fox Foundation and other research organizations devoted to Parkinson’s disease. But this year, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Brin family’s immigration to the United States, they have given gifts to several Jewish organizations that aided along the way. HIAS, which helped the family navigate the cumbersome process of leaving the Soviet Union for the United States, paid for tickets, gave them money and helped them apply for visas, received the largest amount.

Gideon Aronoff, chief executive of HIAS, said the gift would be put to a variety of uses, like increasing the organization’s use of technology and supporting advocacy on immigration policy."

This article has been taken from the New York Times.

And the winners are...

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0000

All the monies have been counted, all the cheques are in the bank and now we can bring you the winners of the India Giving Challenge.

WNS is the Corporate Champion and Parivaar Education Society is the NGO Champion for India Giving Challenge 2009. NGOs supported by WNS will earn a total matching grant of Rs10lac while Parivaar Education Society receives a matching grant of Rs8lac.

In the other categories, ICICI Securities emerged as the corporate winner with the most number of unique donors and Svechha Foundation emerged as the NGO winner with the most number of unique donors. Here we would like to especially recognize the efforts of WNS who had the most number of unique donors with 3,100+ donors and Vidyarambam who had 400+ donors. The limitation of one prize per NGO meant that they could not be considered again as they had already won prizes in other categories.

In terms of overall numbers this is what was achieved:

160 iGive pages
100 NGOs
14 corporates
5,127 unique donors
Rs. 91,41,541 raised

and 33 NGOs have won matching grants amounting to Rs. 56,57,777!

Our sincere thanks to everyone who supported their favorite NGO in this event. The GiveIndia team looks forward to 2010 and the second edition of the India Giving Challenge.

First Bengaluru Cyclothon was a hit!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:37:00 +0000

The first BSA Hercules Bengaluru Cyclothon, for which GiveIndia was the Charity partner, took place nearly ten days ago but with all the flood news and updates, we haven't had a chance to tell you about it yet.

The event took place on Sunday, October 11 with thousands of participants gathered in a large hangar awaiting the start of the race. GiveIndia had 10 Corporate Challenge teams of 20 riders each take part as well as several individuals who had decided to raise money for a good cause. We're still tallying the funds raised and will let you know the figure soon.

The ride went off smoothly with young and old enjoying cycling down the course. After the event there were music and bicycle stunts that kept the crowd entertained.

The photos of the event that you see below are courtesy of Vijay R and his Convergence blog. Vijay decided to support Sevalaya and raised more than Rs6000 for this NGO! Imagine the impact if every rider adopted a NGO and raised funds for them.

Thank you Bengaluru for your enthusiastic support! We look forward to riding with you next year and to helping lots of NGOs through this event.

Happy Diwali!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:41:00 +0000

The entire team at GiveIndia would like to wish you joy, peace and prosperity this Diwali and in the New Year.

Karnataka NGO has appealed for funds

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:21:00 +0000

Spurthi, a Bijapur based GiveIndia listed NGO has set up an iGive page to raise funds for flood relief in northern Karnataka. Here is what their page says:

"As you might be aware of the fact that the floods in north Karnataka leave 2.5 million homeless and more than 250 dead. The worst affected by the downpour and floods were parts of Bijapur, Gulbarga and Raichur districts through which flow the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra along with their tributaries. Please help Spurthi to help victims of floods. As we are a small NGO, we lack funds for such relief work.

Rescue operations are progressing - but are inadequate. The displaced are facing considerable hardships due to unavailability of food items, shelter, safe drinking water, medicine, in most flooded areas, it is not easy to reach the marooned. The area is in urgent need of relief camps, provision of cooked food by running of mess, clothing, medicine, tarpaulin & safe shelter. Your donation will help us to carry out this work ."

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on these projects. These NGOs have met the Credibility Alliance norms.

Flood relief work underway in Andhra Pradesh

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Our Andhra Pradesh based NGOs have been very responsive, sending us lots of pictures and information about the work they are doing for the flood affected.

Currently, seven GiveIndia listed NGOs are raising funds in Andhra Pradesh. If you know of any good NGO doing relief work in Karnataka, please ask them to contact us as soon as possible.

We have posted several pictures below. They represent just a fraction of the massive human suffering taking place. Please help us by sending the flood relief page link to all your friends and family.

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on these projects. These NGOs have met the Credibility Alliance norms.

These pictures were sent to us by SERUDS. On Monday, they distributed 50 food packets consisting of 5kg of rice and 1kg of daal to 50 families including single woman, destitute, disabled, homeless, very poor woman. Some of these people had been hungry for 9 days.

NGO HELP sent us their field report after visiting 6 mandals & 10 villages in Guntur District and 4 mandals, 15 villages and 10 slums in the Krishna District. Here are some excerpts from it.

"Majority of the affected are from marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society, who earn their living from agricultural on a daily wage basis, small entrepreneurs or from fishing (average family income per day is approx. between Rs. 80 to 125). Fishing crafts and gear have been damaged. There is no option for livelihood at present for farmers whose lands are under water.

Flooding and stagnant water is likely to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes and heightens the risk of waterborne diseases. The inundated area is endemic for malaria and viral fever. While the government and the local Philanthropists are taking necessary precautions with supply of medicines on emergency basis at the relief camps, these may be insufficient."

The India Giving Challenge has ended

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Midnight of Sunday, October 11 is the time that the India Giving Challenge officially drew to a close. It's been a wonderful experience for all of us and we're so pleased with the outcome. NGOs, companies and individuals came together and raised nearly Rs. 75 lacs from more than 5,000 donors. And this number will grow in the days to come as all remaining cheques get credited. This makes the India Giving Challenge, the largest online fundraising event ever done in India.

Currently, the leaders for the top matching grants are

WNS Rs12,32,635
HDFC Bank Rs3,28,456
Make My Trip Rs2,90,034
in the Corporate category and

Parivaar Education Society Rs15,98,798
Vidyarambam Rs7,40,924
Psycho Educational Society Rs7,04,528

in the NGO category

The final results will be announced in just a few days.

Another update from Andhra Pradesh

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:40:00 +0000

The response to our call to help victims of the floods in Andhra Pradesh has been positive. More than 900 donors have contributed a total of Rs9.25lac in the last few days. On behalf of the NGOs, we want to thank you for thinking of people who have lost everything and now have to depend on the kindness of others to survive.

The road to rebuilding lives in Andhra Pradesh will be a long and hard one and support will be needed to get back to normal life there. Please help by posting the link to GiveIndia's flood relief page on your blog, or on Facebook or send a Tweet with it. We need to get the word out!

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on these projects. These NGOs have met the Credibility Alliance norms.

G.Mallikarjuna of NGO SERUDS in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh sent us this update today.

"My volunteers and I are doing as much as we can to help. We gave immediate shelter to the 18 families in our office on Oct 1st at midnight, and cooked food for them. Victims lost every thing in one night, and they stood on the footpaths with only the clothes on them.

We rescued families to shift to the local govt. schools. In each small street/area that was next to the river at least 200 - 250 huts were washed away. On the nights of Oct 1st, 2nd and 3rd the Kurnool District was completely in the dark with no communication with the outside world.

Now there is 1.5 feet of black mud in the houses that were not washed away. The municipal workers are not able to take immediate action in the interior areas, where very poor people live. Still, everyday people are cleaning their homes and in the night the whole family go to sleep in public buildings like colleges. Power is still not available and the stench of rotting garbage is bad. There is a danger of communicable diseases spreading in the affected areas.

Children have lost their education material, clothes etc. If any donor come to Kurnool to give clothes, and food there are long lines and sometimes the situation cannot be brought under control by the police. I am sending some pictures of the crowds waiting for handouts"

Andhra Pradesh floods - an update from Guntur District

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:49:00 +0000

The situation is Andhra Pradesh remains dire with concerns about sanitation and spread of disease rising. Currently, four GiveIndia listed NGOs are raising funds for those affected. Help them out by posting the link on your blog, send an email to your friends, urge everyone to open their heart and donate today!

Mr Ramamohan NVS, Secretary of HELP sent in a report on Tuesday regarding floods in Krishna and Guntur dist of AP for us to read. He says "10 villages in Guntur District have been submerged due to the heavy floods of River Krishna. Around 40 Lanka villages are still at the risk of being submerged. The outflow of waters form Prakasam barrage is around 9 lackh cusecs. If the bunds are breached due to such swiftly flowing waters, another 40 villages will face a heavy loss.

The sluice gate at Vallabhapuram village of Kollipara Mandal has been washed off today, and as a result Atthalurivari Palem and Kammavari palem villages are flooded. Likewise, at least 6 villages of Bhattiprolu Mandal are submerged following breaches to the bunds along the banks of the river, while the officials fear that Repalle town will also be affected.

So far, 74 villages are completely sub merged, while 46 villages are badly affected and have no links with other villages. The dist officials have estimated that another 124 villages are likely
to be affected by the floods."

Here are some photos he has sent. The quality of the photos isn't great but one can still see the destruction caused by the water.

First update and pictures from Andhra Pradesh floods

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Mr Suneel Kumar.R, the Executive Secretary of NGO SARDS sent us an update this morning along with some photos. There is an urgent need for aid for this area and two GiveIndia NGOs are accepting funds for the flood affected.

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on these projects. Both these NGOs have met the Credibility Alliance norms.

Here is Mr Kumar's report about the Kurnool District:

"Over 42,000 houses were damaged in Kurnool district followed by 11,680 in Mahabubnagar and reported 15 deaths in Kurnool. The flood situation in Kurnool town was danger of being submerged in the flood water of Tungabhadra River and also due to unprecedented inflows from Srisailam dam. Thousands of people in Kurnool and Mantralayam towns and dozens of adjoining villages were already trapped in flood water.

A large portion of the railway track near the town was washed away, disrupting train services. Water entered all residential colonies. Floodwaters encircled the house of Congress MP Kotla Suryaprakasa Reddy at River View Colony. The water touched the roof of ground floor. On several streets, water flowed to a level of four to eight feet. Residents said they had hardly any time to collect the valuables and provisions. The flood was so furious that even heavy stuff was washed away, leave alone lighter things like clothes and utensils. The property loss is likely to run into hundreds of crores of rupees as shops, houses and godowns were inundated.

Thousands of tons of black cotton soil, carried from the fields in Pathikonda and Kodumur area, were deposited on the streets and in numerous homes and it may take several days to clear the mess.According to an estimate, 30,000 families, constituting nearly one-third of the city’s population, were affected by the flash flood."

Floods in Andhra Pradesh

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:12:00 +0000

Just a year after the massive floods in Bihar, it is the turn of another part of India to suffer the wrath of the late monsoon rains. This time parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have been hit hard and once again, it is our turn to step up and do what we can to helps those whose lives have been disrupted by the forces of nature.

Two GiveIndia listed NGOs are raising funds for the flood affected. You can

Donate to relief efforts by SERUDS
Donate to relief efforts by SARDS

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on these projects. Both these NGOs have met the Credibility Alliance norms.

SERUDS has sent us some pictures of the devastation in the Kurnool District, AP which we show below. The blog will keep giving you updates as soon as we receive them.

The India Giving Challenge enters the home stretch!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:24:00 +0000

The India Giving Challenge ends on October 10, 2009 so just 7 days are left for corporates and NGOs to raise funds.

The Challenge has really picked up with more than Rs15lac in donations just in the past week. The total since the event started on October 1 is Rs32.5lac with 969 unique donors contributing to different NGOs.

The daily prizes proved to be a big hit and several NGOs have already won lots of matching funds.

Currently, two corporates - HDFC Bank and MakeMyTrip.com are neck in neck for the top spot on the company leader board while Parivaar has a solid lead in the NGO category.

However, lots may change in the coming day so watch this space closely!

How do you want to make a difference in October?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:06:00 +0000

There are so many special days in October and so many ways to make a difference. Which of these days has special meaning for you?

October 1 -- International Day of Ageing

GiveIndia offers several ways to help the elderly from sponsoring their stay in a home to covering the costs of their medicines.

October 8 -- World Sight Day

Support a blind child's effort to be educated by giving them school supplies for one year for just Rs1443 (appx US$32).

October 10 -- World Mental Health Day

Help a child who is mildly mentally challenged, for one month for just Rs1000 (appx US$23)

Recommend our blog

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Dear readers, we need a bit of help from each one of you. If you like what read on our blog, then we would like you to recommend us to DesiPundit - a gateway to the rich variety of opinions and observations posted daily in the Indian blogosphere. DesiPundit is offered in three sections - Community, New & Upcoming, and Featured.

Community features posts from bloggers selected by the DesiPundit team for their consistent and quality writing. The DesiPundit team is looking to add new blogs to their Community bloggers list.

The blog is eligible ONLY IF it has been around for at least 6 months and posts at least once a week, which we have been and we do. Being added to the DesiPundit list will give us access to thousands more readers who can learn about the work GiveIndia does.

So, PLEASE take a minute to visit the DesiPundit site and fill out a very brief form. For your information:

the name of our blog: The GiveIndia blog

the URL of our blog: http://blog.giveindia.org

email address: amita@giveindia.org

topic: philanthropy in India

It will take you just two minutes and will give us a big boost!!

The Joy of Giving is everywhere!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:57:00 +0000

The Joy of Giving is sweeping the nation!! Today is the mid-point of the week so we thought we'd give you a run down on what's been happening.

On eBay India, there are already more than 50 bids for a private coaching camp with cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar.

The students at Kolkata's XLRI School of Business and Human Resources have been a busy bunch. They have been serving meals to the less privileged, gathering old clothes, visiting residents of an old age home and much more. They have 27 programs planned to celebrate the week according to The Telegraph.

In Chennai, a group of auto rickshaw drivers fed 500 people. Many were pleasantly surprised and touched by the gesture of this community that's often accused of fleecing passengers.

In Chandigarh, several organisations got together and hosted a party for more than 200 children living together in a home run by Snehalya. The icing on the cake was a library donated by Bharat Prakarsh Foundation which has 250 Hindi story books, folk and fairy tales, among others.

Rajkot, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Pune are just a few of the places that are holding events.

Have you been missing out on the action? Visit the Joy of Giving website to get involved today!

The Joy of Giving Week starts tomorrow!!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Yes, that's right! The event we've been planning for last few months starts tomorrow! And we hope you're all ready to experience the Joy of Giving.

There's so much going on, so we'll just give you a snapshot here, and you can visit the Joy of Giving website for all the news.

* Watch a live interview with Sachin Tendulkar talking about the Joy of Giving on Cricket Extra before India Pak match at 545pm IST today, on the Star Cricket channel!

* One of the leading current event blogs in the world, The Huffington Post has featured the Joy of Giving week.

* Loved the movie Love Aaj Kal? You can bid for genuine items used by Deepika and Saif in the movie on eBay. The proceeds go to charity.

* There are dozens of events planned all around India in the coming days. Visit this page to see what you can do in your city. Just click on your location on the top, right side of the page.

Do you want to follow the action minute to minute? Then follow the Joy of Giving on Twitter.

And the winners are.....

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:55:00 +0000

The winners of the weekly prizes in the India Giving Challenge for Sept 14 - 20 are

Parivaar Education Society who raised Rs2,13,500 and won the top prize of Rs30,000
Parikrma Humanity Foundation who raised Rs38,668 and won the second prize of Rs20,000

and the following five NGOs who each won Rs10,000

VIDYA Integrated Development for Youth and Adults
Samrita Trust
Bhagini Nivedita Pratishthan Pune
Door Step School
The Akanksha Foundation

The India Giving Challenge has crossed the half-way mark and enters the fourth week now. We have 10 corporates and more than 75 NGOs who have in total set up 100+ iGive pages and raised Rs. 8.5lacs till date from over 200 donors. We hope to see this number increase substantially over the remainder of the challenge leading up to the mega prize.

The Joy of Giving Week is only seven days away

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:01:00 +0000

The Joy of Giving Week is only seven days away and you must be thinking "what can I do to help?"

The Joy of Giving Week—Sept 27 to Oct 3—is a nation-wide outreach by GiveIndia that appeals to Indians from every village, town and city to participate in different ways. The theme of the week is giving—it could be a glass of water, a hug, a hot meal. Hundreds of schools, colleges and corporates are on board, but the building block remains the individual. Here are some ways you can reach out:

* Spend time at an elderly home or orphanage. Or just spend time with your family for a change.

* If you’re looking to contact an NGO in your city you can also find a list on the Joy of Giving Week website.

* Sign up for the 7 days 7 gifts challenge. All that will be asked of you is an act of kindness, say, giving a gift to, your maid, driver, bus conductor, colleague, in-laws.

* Donate a day’s wage. Sounds cliched? Well, a day’s salary could help restore eyesight or educate a child for a year.

* Organise a fundraiser in your office, school or college. Be creative. Go beyond housie, but even housie is fine. Participants can donate prizes like a spare cellphone.

* If you are a doctor, lawyer or accountant, offer your services free during the Joy of Giving Week.

* Celebrate Green Consumer Day on September 28. Walk to work or use public transport and donate the cost of fuel saved. A bus ride after all these years might do you good too.

* Clear your home of all the stuff that has piled up over the years. Do you really need 20 pairs of shoes? Donate it all to Goonj Vastrasamman.

These are just a few ideas. Have you got something else planned? Then please do leave a comment telling us how you're going to celebrating the Joy of Giving.

Another fan of Payroll Giving

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:56:00 +0000

We recently got some great feedback from P Murleedharan, a Payroll Giver who works with the Aditya Birla Group. We love hearing from our donors - positive as well as negative feedback is welcome - so please do write in.

Mr Murleedharan wrote "I am new to the Payroll Giving Programme as our Group got associated with GiveIndia only recently.

I see the Payroll Giving programme as a noble & innovative way to help the needy. Many of us like to donate & contribute to social causes, but are clueless as to how to do it. We are not sure if donating to an NGO would reach the destined beneficiary and how to find the right NGO.

I used to donate to NGOs or movements who approached me though they did not work for my favourites causes like old-age support or orphanages. GiveIndia provides us with a number of causes, and different NGOs certified by GiveIndia for their credibility to select from.

Sitting in Mumbai, I can help a tribal girl or orphan living in a remote village of Bihar or Kerala. Automatic deduction from salary ensures that there are no hassles in making the donation.

Having associated with NGOs like Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia (FEDINA) in south India, I have always been a person committed to charity & social service. My experience as a journalist helps me raising my voice against any discrimination or injustice. I use online discussion forums and readers’ columns to highlight various issues.

I am happy that I am part of the GiveIndia donor family and can extend my small contributions for social causes of my choice. I wish more and more NGOs get themselves registered with GiveIndia so that donors will have a still wider choice of causes to choose from."

Rs1lac prize won by Masoom!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:56:00 +0000

The India Giving Challenge is off to a good start and we've already given away the first weekly prize. The NGO Masoom with the support of Firstsource has received Rs1lac for being the winners of the weekly prize for Sep 6 - Sep 13. Firstsource promoted Masoom and raised Rs. 1.2 lacs last week to make Masoom the winner.

In just two weeks, the India Giving Challenge has raised nearly Rs3lac with close to 150 donors taking part in the competition.

The India Giving Challenge now enters its third week. Over the last week we've seen even more corporates and NGOs enter the fray. Now it's the turn of NGOs to take it upon themselves to promote their iGive pages amongst their donors, corporate sponsors, friends and family.

The prizes for September 14 - 20 are:

* The NGO which raises the most amount of money will receive a matching grant upto Rs30,000
* The second-highest NGO in terms of money raised will receive a matching grant upto Rs20,000
* The next 5 highest fundraising NGOs will each receive a matching grant of upto Rs10,000

(*Corporates and NGOs winning weekly/daily surprise prizes will continue to be in contention for the overall prizes. The limitation of 1 prize per NGO only holds for the overall prize category.)

So good luck to all participants and stay tuned for the results!