GiveIndia - Donate online to 200+ accountable NGOs all across India

It's easier than ever to try GiveIndia

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Did you know that GiveIndia has reduced the minimum donation amount from Rs500 to Rs250? Yes, that's right -- you can choose from over 200 NGOs screened for credibility and transparency for just Rs250 and donate to their Corpus Fund or General Fund.

This is a great time to recommend GiveIndia to friends and family; we believe people will welcome the chance to try us out when the amount is as small as Rs250.

Has the recession affected charitable giving?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:49:00 +0000

We found a very interesting article in Business Today called "Charity in crisis" by K.R. Balasubramanyam and Anamika Butalia taling about how the recession has impacted the donations received by NGOs.

Here is an abbreviated version of the article.

Charity in crisis

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is in the midst of a crisis it never imagined possible a few years ago. The Bangalore-based non-profit outfit was a star in the sector, running what is now the world’s largest non-government school meal programme. The NGO feeds 10.08 lakh children, every day, for a mere Rs 1,200 per child per year, across seven states and 5,700 schools. This is a mammoth achievement, considering the organisation started providing meals for just 1,500 children eight years ago. It is also a vital undertaking in a country that sends millions of undernourished children to school on empty stomachs.

Today, Akshaya Patra is scrambling to continue feeding all the schoolchildren it does. Out of its Rs 80-crore-a-year programme, Rs 40 crore comes from donations— a chunk of money that is in danger of going up in smoke, thanks to the global recession. “Three metal and mining companies, which together had committed Rs 6 crore to build kitchens in two states, have deferred their contribution,” says Akshaya’s Vice Chairman Chanchalapathi Das.
“Eight IT companies that had promised 12 vehicles (of Rs 9 lakh each), in all, to transport food and fund feeding of 6,000 students have also put off their plans. Four automobile and ancillary units, who had offered to give about Rs 40 lakh, have backed off for now,” he adds. The global recession—as well as the slowdown in India—has begun to have disturbing consequences for non-profits like Akshaya Patra, which undertake programmes across India’s most neglected social sectors. India’s vast population of NGOs relies on either foreign aid or the domestic corporate sector for its survival. Declining corporate profits in the last year, bleak revenue forecast and cash-strapped foreign governments have left agencies in deep distress.
“This means a collapse of the services NGOs have been providing to communities as well as the livelihoods of a million of development workers in the country,’’ says Hari Krishna, a disaster management expert who was associated with Oxfam America’s India operations. Oxfam itself has cut $1 million in grants for the next year.
Like Akshaya Patra, the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) was flying high on a legacy of robust aid, mostly from Indian corporates, such as Godrej, HUL, Citibank and the Union Bank of India. The programme required Rs 20 lakh a month for its operations but routinely ended up with more. On its annual fund-raising day for cancer patients last year—dubbed “World No Tobacco Day”, held on May 31—the organisation’s initial target was Rs 22 lakh, but it effortlessly netted twice that amount.
Today, the organisation is struggling to stay above water, unable to attract even Rs 10 lakh a month for its operations. Plus, as of the second week of May, the agency had mobilised a paltry Rs 1 lakh to date for this year’s fund-raiser. “We have lost 50 per cent of donations as compared to last year,’’ says a worried Anita Peter, Director, CPAA.
Ultimately, it is the poor who suffer the most during recessions, warns P.V. Unnikrishnan, Emergencies & Conflicts Advisor (Asia & Americas), Action Aid International. “Both types of support available for poor people—government spending and charities—are getting negatively impacted. Since the poor are affected, a bailout process should focus on supporting them and their small businesses,’’ suggests Unnikrishnan.
While these are tough times for NGOs, many experts feel that this is precisely the kind of opportunity that NGOs need to revamp themselves for the future. “This is a good chance for NGOs and civil society groups to see carefully how they function and work smarter and leaner,’’ says Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson of Arghyam Foundation— an organisation that promotes access to water for the poor.
“We have to be realistic and know that the future beyond our current grants is uncertain and we have to plan for this contingency,’’ adds Ashok Kamath, Chairman of Akshara Foundation, which spearheads a primary education movement in Karnataka.
Infosys Director, T.V. Mohandas Pai—who is on the boards of both Akshaya Patra and Akshara— has a plan for NGOs: they need to expand their base for funds as well as curtail administrative expenses, he says. An NGO should limit its administrative spend to around 8-10 per cent of its overall budget and spend the rest on direct activity, he says. The Nasscom Foundation, too, believes this is the right time to test more innovative ways of doing things. “We are exploring some ideas that may not necessarily need loads of money,” says Fernandes.
Once the global economy climbs out of its recessionary hole and companies begin to post improved results, the NGO sector is sure to bounce back. Till then, however, they would do well to take a page from corporate India’s handbook and hunker down for the lean times ahead.

NGO in-depth | Magic Bus

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:41:00 +0000

This NGO in-depth post is about Magic Bus, the Mumbai based NGO that uses sport as a way to connect with underprivileged children bringing discipline, teamwork and sportsmanship into their lives.

The GiveIndia blog is reproducing below an article in the Telegraph newspaper written by Simon Hart in 2007.

"Magic Bus" rides towards a brighter future

Until two years ago Mohammed Shah had not even seen a football, let alone kicked one. Even now, he has never heard of David Beckham or Wayne Rooney and is unable to name a single international player.

But for the 14-year-old, who lives in one of the world's poorest neighbourhoods, the Bombay Port Trust slum in Mumbai, football has become such a passion that he recently scraped together enough rupees to buy his own pair of goalkeeping gloves.

"He's one of our most talented players," said Vijay Dange, his coach. "He's just like all the kids here. They didn't know anything about football before. A lot of them couldn't have told you whether a football was round or square. All they knew about was cricket. But now they all love football and they just want to play it more and more."

Shah is one of 18,000 boys and girls living in the slums and on the streets of Mumbai to have benefited from the Magic Bus programme - an extraordinary charity initiative set up by an English former public schoolboy and backed by the Premier League that uses football to transform the lives of youngsters untouched by the growth in the Indian economy.

Each week, thousands of deprived children, some of them institutionalised orphans and rescued sex workers, are offered two-hour football sessions which, while emphasising fun and recreation, use the game to impart life lessons such as discipline, communication skills, teamwork and health. Kit, boots and shin-pads are provided free of charge.

In the slums of Bombay Port, the results have gone far beyond the football pitch, a private club ground that used to be off-limits to slum children until the charity did a deal with the owners.

Before the arrival of Magic Bus, only 40 per cent of the children attended school, the rest earning money by selling vegetables or diving in the filthy local river in search of scrap metal. Now the figure is 85 per cent.

A month ago, after parents were invited to experience the game for themselves in a community tournament, residents got together to clear a huge, insect-infested rubbish dump from the centre of the slum. It is now an open space where the local children can practise.

The Magic Bus programme has won high praise from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who visited it in January, and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, who spent three days working for it as a volunteer this year. It has also formed a partnership with UK Sport and Unicef to expand into Delhi and Hyderabad next year to reach as many as 40,000 children.

For Magic Bus founder Matthew Spacie, a former Felsted School pupil who came to India in the mid-Nineties as chief operating officer of the travel company Cox and Kings, the success of the project has highlighted the power of sport to harness potential. He came up with the idea while playing rugby at a private Mumbai club and noticed how street kids would gather outside to watch. He negotiated with the club to be allowed to bring them inside and offer them coaching and was stunned by their transformation.

"The epiphany for me was seeing all the clichéd stuff you hear about with sport — the self-esteem, the discipline, the focus — coming true," he said. "These kids were changing before my eyes. That really stirred me and I realised we were building something quite powerful."

Spacie, who was made an MBE in the last New Year's Honours List, has also set up an outdoor pursuit centre for deprived children a 90-minute drive from Mumbai - the bus trips there spawned the name 'Magic Bus' - but his main goal is a self-sustaining football programme with the most talented children graduating to become mentors.

"In the early days, sport as a development tool was not really accepted and people would laugh at it and say it was trivial," Spacie said. "Now organisations like Unicef are saying, 'Wow, this really does work'. The absolute end-game is millions of children benefiting from this. That's what we're building towards."

If you would like to support the work Magic Bus does, you could contribute an amount of your choice (minimum Rs500/appx US$10) to their General Fund.

Introducing the Joy of Giving Week

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:03:00 +0000

GiveIndia is proud to be the co-ordinator of the Joy of Giving Week to be held from September 27 through October 2, 2009.

The Joy of Giving Week is the beginning of a national movement. The first of its kind for India, and for every single Indian.

It is a platform for all across the country to celebrate the joy of giving. Whether you are a paan wala in Lucknow, a traffic cop in Mumbai, an idli seller in Madurai, a millionaire in Delhi, a multinational company in Bengaluru, a saree shop owner in Kolkata, a teenager in a school or a college goer in Vadodara….

This is your opportunity to reach out to someone less privileged – by donating money, volunteering time, providing your skills and even just saying a kind word to someone who may not have expected it from you.

All you need to be part of the Joy of Giving Week is to do one simple conscious act of giving. So join the movement, now!

The Joy of Giving Week is a volunteer driven initiative hosted in GiveIndia. Please share your ideas, suggestions, questions and comments with us at jgw@giveindia.org.

Interesting video about development

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:10:00 +0000

GiveIndia's Director Venkat Krishnan found this very interesting video of a talk by Researcher Hans Rosling who uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide.

The video is about twenty minutes long but we recommend you watch it till the end!

Tweet, tweet!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:43:00 +0000

GiveIndia is now on Twitter! Here's a very simple way to use Twitter to donate Rs250 to GiveIndia.

Step 1 : Create a twitter account for yourself at twitter.com

Step 2 : Write a message which says @giveindia 50 Twollars to support you

Thats it. You've just donated Rs. 250. Thank you very much :-)

Visit the Giving in a Digital World blog to learn more.

We're on the List of Change

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:28:00 +0000

The GiveIndia blog is happy to be ranked #60 out of more than 150 blogs on the List of Change which is a ranking of the top English-language change and cause-related blogs in the world. The ranking provides a glimpse into the change and cause bloggers who are trying to positively affect our lives throughout the world.

The List of Change only uses open APIs to weigh statistical performance, and does not include any subjective measures. Any blogger can participate by submitting their URL for inclusion in the List of Change.

NGO number 200!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:58:00 +0000

GiveIndia now offers donors the choice of more than 200 listed NGOs to support.

Number 200 is Akhanda Seva for International Shanti (Operation Shanti), a Mysore, Tamil Nadu based organisation. Operation Shanti's Mission is to directly improve the lives of exploited, at-risk, destitute children and the forgotten, suffering elderly, enabling them to become "beacons of light" and share the same gifts of peace, goodwill, and generosity with others for the rest of their lifetimes.

One of the donation options they offer is to provide a care package with one month's supplies to a orphan living with HIV/AIDS. The package contains basic groceries and toiletries. Read a true story of hope about how this small Rs1200 gift (appx US$25) can make a difference.

"Anita and her sister, Ambika lost both their mom and dad to HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Anita tested positive for HIV, and now she and her sister live with their uncle in his small house. It is a burden for the uncle to care for the girls, but there is nobody else to care for them, so he diligently does so, taking Anita to monthly checkups and making sure she takes medicines.

We provide a monthly care package to Anita and her uncle which provides him with some support in taking care of his niece. The care package includes a small amount of cash, to help ease his financial burden, as well as nutritional items and soap to help them stay clean which is very important for HIV+ children.

This new program was started in September 2008. It has been received well both by our recipients and the medical clinics that refer their poorest patients to us. The care package eases the financial burden of uncle Mahesh by about 30% - 50%, and he expresses his gratitude each time we see him."

Welcome Operation Shanti, our 200th NGO! May they continue to serve those in need with the support of GiveIndia.

Vote for the GiveIndia blog today!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:39:00 +0000

The GiveIndia blog is in the running for IndiBlogger Blog of the Month. This month's theme is Social Causes so of course, we submitted our blog for nomination. And now it's voting time.

Here's the catch -- you have to be a member of IndiBlogger to vote for us and only people with blogs that are approved by IndiBlogger can become members.

Soooo, if you are a blog owner/writer who is already part of the IndiBlogger network, then please do cast a vote for GiveIndia.

When you go to the nominees page, you will have to scroll and find the GiveIndia blog among a long list that is no order and is thrown up randomly each time a person visits the page to give everyone a fair chance.

Thank you for your support!!

How do you want to make a difference in June

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:48:00 +0000

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

June 5 - World Environment Day
Visit our special page full of ways to help make the earth a safer and better place to live.

June 12 - World Day Against Child Labour
Help end the scourge of child labour by educating 25 former child labourers for one month for Rs2000 (appx US$40)

June 14 - World Blood Donor Day
Sponsor one unit of safe blood for a patient for just Rs500 (appx US$10)

June 26 - International Day against Drug Abuse
Support recovering drug addicts by providing a meal for the residents of the Turning Point Foundation for Rs3500 (appx US$71)

First update and pictures from ground zero Aila

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Kakoli Dey from CINI in Kolkata sends us this very recent information from the scene of devastation caused by Aila.

She asks everyone to tell their friends and family about the situation and asks for your generous donations.

Please keep in mind, as with all iGive projects, GiveIndia has not done any diligence on this project. CINI has met the Credibility Alliance norms.

Here is the report:

"Due to depression in the Bay of Bengal, a strong cyclone blew from south east. It created a massive surge of tidal waves rushing from the sea. In some places the waves breached the mud embankments and over other stretches destroyed the embankment of ‘Maipith Island’ in Kultali Block of South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal bordering Bangladesh. It is inhabitated by 65,000 people. The saline water washed away the mud walls and foundation of the cottages of the poor.

Agriculture land mostly growing rice, vegetables and betel leaves are under 3 to 5 feet of ocean water. This will result in poor or no production of monsoon paddy crop and cash crop of vegetables and betel leaf. Almost all the ponds in the villages are flooded with salt water, which will lead to the fish being cultivated as being lost, and no possibility of reviving sweet water fish cultivation in future.

Four people have already died in the island, where CINI is directly working with more than 100 people injured. As the cyclone with tidal waves struck during daytime, villagers could run to the nearest safe and high ground such as local schools to take shelter. Livestock of cattle, goats, sheep and chicken were washed away by floodwater.

There is a strong possibility of outbreak of health hazards such as gastrointestinal diseases, respiratory illnesses in near future due to inadequate shelter and protection of the displaced population. About 20,000 homeless people have taken shelter in school buildings, 2 flood centres of Panchayat. CINI has already provided some dry food for flood victims along with local Panchayat and state government.

Details of damages where we work:
Deaths : 04
Injuries : Above 100
Houses fully damaged : 1500 (approx)
Houses partly damaged : 6000 (approx)
Ponds flooded : 8000 (approx)
Betel leaf cultivation destroyed : 600 units (approx)
Agricultural land under saline water : 8000 acres (approx)
Details of requirement for temporary relief and rehabilitation:
Dry food, food grains, baby food for 20,000 people (approx)
Medicines, ORS, Bleaching powder, Halogen tabs etc. for 20,000 people (approx)
Polythene sheets : 2500 pcs (approx)
Clothing,specially for children & women for 20,000 people (approx)
Beddings (including mosquito net) for 20,000 people (approx)
Permanent shelter arrangement for 2500 families (approx)"

Once again, this is the link to make a donation for the people affected by Cyclone Aila

Cyclone Aila causes devastation in West Bengal

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:36:00 +0000

According to a report in the Times of India, the death toll from Cyclone Aila has crossed 80 and the number of people affected is 4lac.

Of course, GiveIndia and our partner NGOs have been quick to respond. Child in Need Institute (CINI), a Kolkatta based NGO, has already set up an iGive page to raise funds for people affected by this disaster.

As we have done in the past, we will try to bring you news and photos from the field as soon as CINI sends us updates.

Women's health = Family's health

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:40:00 +0000

We forgot one day in our regular monthly post "How do you want to make a difference?" so thought we would talk about it now.

May 28 is the International Day for Women's Health and Reproductive Rights. Every women deserves access to medical care and deserves the right to make choices about her health, but so few women in India actually have that opportunity.

Moreover, a woman's health equals the health of her family. When a woman is sick, her entire family ends up paying the price, especially the youngest children who depend on her the most.

We have done a post in the past about the terrible statistics of maternal health in India. If you want to learn more about the state of women's health in India, then read this article from Infochange India.

And if you want to do something to help a woman with little or no access to healthcare, here are some ideas.

* You could provide basic health and hygiene training for 100 women for Rs1500 (appx US$30)

* You could sponsor a safe childbirth for a woman for just Rs625 (appx US$13)

* You could sponsor a family planning operation for a poor woman for Rs2700 (appx US$54)

Oh, to be a fly on the wall...

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Yes, that's exactly what we wished we were so that we could have buzzed into a top secret meeting of the world's top capitalists who are also leading philanthropists.

As the New York Times reports in its May 20, 2009 article "A Quiet Meeting of America’s Very Richest" the group included Bill Gates; Warren E. Buffett; Mayor Bloomberg; George Soros; the real estate developer Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe; Oprah Winfrey; David Rockefeller Sr. and his son David Rockefeller Jr.; Ted Turner; and Peter G. Peterson the co-founder of the Blackstone Group, the private equity firm.

The meeting took place on May 5, 2009 at Rockefeller University, but it took weeks before anyone noticed.

The New York Times said "Participants steadfastly refused to reveal details about the meeting, citing an agreement to protect the confidentiality of the discussion.

The participants have reputations as outsize philanthropists, and many have teamed up on causes. Mr. Buffet, for example, recently pledged to donate the bulk of his fortune, currently estimated at $37 billion, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, the men and women at the meeting had donated more than $72.5 billion to charitable causes since 1996, according to an estimate by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

On Wednesday afternoon, the silence was finally broken when one of the participants, Patricia Q. Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Gates Foundation and current chairwoman of the Smithsonian Institution, said the others had been concerned about privacy, not secrecy.

“Various members of the group have been talking about philanthropy,” she said. “This is a time when the needs are great. So it seemed like a really good time to get together.”

The event was jointly conceived by Mr. Buffett, Mr. Gates and the elder Mr. Rockefeller, Ms. Stonesifer said. “This was the first time this particular group had come together and shared a table,” she said, but added that with their charitable activities and general prominence, “the degrees of separation were few.”

The discussions centered on charitable giving, and participants talked about their personal causes, told of lessons they had learned, and suggested ways to improve and increase philanthropic efforts, Ms. Stonesifer said."

Fundraising facts, Part 2

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:44:00 +0000

So here's the second part of our post from earlier this week. Again, to give credit where it is due, the article "Easier Said Than Done : 25 Random Things About Fundraising" is by Jeff Brooks, who is the creative director at Merkle and keeper of the Donor Power blog. The article appeared on the Fundraising Success website.

Most of the demographic and sociographic facts given here are from the book, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism,” by Arthur Brooks.)

Read on.....

"17. Donors are all-around excellent people. They are significantly more likely than nondonors to give blood, help the homeless with food or money, give up their seats to others, give directions to strangers, or return mistaken excess change to cashiers.

18. Donors also are more tolerant and open-minded than nondonors. They are less likely to be prejudiced against members of other races and religions. Compared to nondonors, they have a more favorable opinion of all kinds of groups, including labor unions, big business, environmentalists, feminists, welfare recipients, Congress and the military.

20. The return on investment for charitable giving is $3.75 to the dollar. That is, for every dollar a donor gives to charity, she eventually becomes $3.75 wealthier. It’s not clear whether the dollar given directly causes the $3.75 return, but the correlation between the two is so strong and consistent that it’s obvious they are connected.

21. A dollar given to charity doesn’t just enrich the donor; it also adds more than $19 to the gross domestic product. That’s an almost unbeatable level of economic stimulus. Giving is patriotic!

22. Givers are more happy than nongivers. They’re 43 percent more likely to say they are “very happy.” Nongivers, on the other hand, are three and a half times as likely to say they’re “not happy at all.”

23. Givers are more healthy than nongivers. They are 25 percent more likely to say their health is excellent or very good than are nongivers."

Fundraising facts, Part 1

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:16:00 +0000

We wanted to share some interesting facts about fundraising with you that we got from "Easier Said Than Done : 25 Random Things About Fundraising" by Jeff Brooks, who is the creative director at Merkle and keeper of the Donor Power blog. The article appeared on the Fundraising Success website.

Most of the demographic and sociographic facts given here are from the book, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism,” by Arthur Brooks.)

The entire article is too long for our blog so we've edited it a bit. We'll bring you some more facts later this week in Part 2 of this post.

"1. The oldest recorded fundraising appeal was written by St. Paul around A.D. 55. It’s an appeal to a group of church members in Greece to help impoverished church members in Jerusalem. The appeal is a masterpiece of donor-centered fundraising, spending most of its words describing the benefits of giving.

2. Race and ethnicity are not good predictors of charitable giving. Age and sex, however, are strong predictors: Women give more than men, and older people give more than younger people.

3. Someone who regularly attends a house of worship is twice as likely to give to charitable causes as someone who seldom or never does. The churchgoer gives 100 times as much to charity per year — including 50 times as much to nonreligious causes.

4. Measuring by percentage of gross domestic product, the United States gives more to private charity than do any of the world’s nations. The U.S. is followed by Israel, Canada and Argentina. The most generous European nations — Spain, Ireland and the U.K. — give less than half of what the U.S. gives on a percentage basis.

14. The working poor are the most generous Americans, giving the greatest portion of their incomes to charity of all U.S. economic groups.

15. Wealthy Americans follow in generosity, giving slightly less than the poor do on a proportional basis.

16. The rest of us? We’re way behind. But there are so many of us that the bulk of charitable giving comes from middle-class donors."

Amazing words from the Bogeyman

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Stephen King describes himself as "America's Bogeyman" which is a pretty apt title. As the 63 year old, prolific author of fictional horror novels that have sold more than 100 million copies across the world, he is a rather scary guy.

But as we recently discovered, he's a pretty philanthropic guy too. The following are excerpts from his 2001 Commencement speech to the graduating class of Vassar College.

"Of all the power which will shortly come into your hands—gradually at first, but then with a speed that will take your breath away—the greatest is undoubtedly the power of compassion, the ability to give. We have enormous resources in this country—resources you yourselves will soon command—but they are only yours on loan. Only yours to give for a short while. You'll die broke. In the end, it's the blink of an eye. I came here to talk about charity, and I want you to think about it on a large scale.

Should you give away what you have? Of course you should. I want you to consider making your lives one long gift to others, and why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All you want to get at the getting place, from the Maserati you may dream about to the retirement fund some broker will try to sell you on, none of that is real. All that lasts is what you pass on. The rest is smoke and mirrors.

Don't I think wealth—and some of you are going to finish up very wealthy, although you may not think it now—should be kept in the family? Some, yes—charity begins at home. Those of you who have been able to pay for the college educations of your sons and daughters—their Vassar educations—have done a wonderful thing. It's a great gift. If you're able to go on and give them a further start in life—a place in business, possibly help with a home—so much the better.

But think about this picture. Imagine a nice little back yard, surrounded by a board fence. Dad—a pleasant fellow, a little plump, is tending the barbecue. Mom and the kids are setting the picnic table by the backyard pool: fried chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, a chocolate cake for dessert. And standing around that fence, looking in, are emaciated men and women, starving children. They are silent. They only watch. That family at the picnic is us, ladies and gentlemen; that back yard is America, and those hungry people on the other side of the fence, watching us sit down to eat, include far too much of the rest of the world. It's Asia and the subcontinent; it's countries in Central Europe where people live on the edge from one harvest to the next; it's South America; most of all it's Africa, where AIDS is pandemic—not epidemic but pandemic—and starvation is a fact of life.

Am I overstating? Well, America contains five percent of the world's population and uses up seventy-five percent of the world's resources, so you tell me. What we scrape down the kitchen disposal after Thanksgiving dinner for a family of eight would feed a Liberian village for a week, so you tell me. And the Woodstock Generation, which set out to change the world, has, by and large, subsided into a TV-driven existence of quiet and unobtrusive selfishness. While our national worth has tripled over the last quarter-century, the help we give the world's poor has sunk back to 1973 levels, so you tell me, you dare to tell me I'm overstating the case." In West Africa, the average lifespan is thirty-nine years. Infant mortality in the first year is fifteen percent. It's not a pretty picture, but we have the power to help, the power to change. And why should we refuse? Because we're going to take it with us? Please.

We may be dressed when we go out, but we're just as broke. Warren Buffet? Going to go out broke. Bill Gates? Going to go out broke. Tom Hanks? Going out broke. President Fergusson? Broke. Steve King? Broke. You guys? Broke. Not a crying dime.

Giving isn't about the receiver or the gift but the giver. It's for the giver. One doesn't open one's wallet to improve the world, although it's nice when that happens; one does it to improve one's self. I give because it's the only concrete way I have of saying that I'm glad to be alive and that I can earn my daily bread doing what I love. I hope that you will be similarly grateful to be alive and that you will also be glad to do whatever it is you wind up doing. Giving is a way of taking the focus off the money we make and putting it back where it belongs—on the lives we lead, the families we raise, the communities which nurture us.

When you go somewhere and sit down to break bread with your families, as most of you will, I want you to remember that image of the hungry and the dispossessed standing on the other side of the backyard fence. For the most part, they do not want to harm you, or take away your joy in this day; they only want what you want and we all want: food for themselves and their children, clothes for the body, a roof to keep the rain off at night. There are people who need these things right here in Poughkeepsie, as well as in India and Sierra Leone.

Right now we have the power to do great good for others and for ourselves. So I ask you to begin the next great phase of your life by giving, and to continue as you begin. I think you'll find in the end that you got far more than you ever had, and did more good than you ever dreamed."

Stephen King and his wife Tabitha support a range of causes and have their own Foundation that supports community based initiatives in their native State of Maine.

What will make your mother happy?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:57:00 +0000

As Mother's Day approaches, you're probably wondering "What can I do to make my mom happy?" Well, the answer is simple -- call her, meet her, spend time with her if you can. That is usually what delights mothers.

What else can you do? You could honour your mother by making a donation to a less fortunate family whose mother is no different from yours. Yes, this mother may live in rural India or in an urban slum but when it comes to her children, she still has the same dreams, hopes and aspirations that your mother has for you.

GiveIndia has put together five ways to help a mother help her family; all are under Rs1250 (appx US$25).

So, go for it! We know your mama will be proud of you.

How do you want to make a difference in May?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:24:00 +0000

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

May 1 - International Labour Day

On this day when we honour the workers of the world, let us also spare a thought for the unemployed. GiveIndia offers plenty of ways for adults to learn vocational skills that can help them find employment which leads to a steady income and improved quality of life for themselves and their families.

May 4 - 10 - Deaf Awareness Week

You can sponsor the education of a hearing impaired child, for one month, for Rs2200 (appx US$44) or

You could provide a hearing impaired child with a hearing aid for Rs6500 (appx US$130)

Search GiveIndia's donation options on any website now!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:40:00 +0000

Today's post is courtesy Dhaval Udani, GiveIndia's CIO and tech wizard. Dhaval has developed a cool tool which will allow you to search for GiveIndia donation options on any website. Here's what he has to say:

You read an article about a poor girl child in a village in the hinterlands of India. You felt immediately for her and at that moment decided you wanted to do your bit to help a girl child somewhere in India educate herself and earn her own livelihood but you don't know how to go about it.

Now with a browser extension called Ubiquity (definition: the state of being everywhere at once), available on the Firefox browser and a GiveIndia "command", you will soon be able to realize and act immediately without even needing to go to the GiveIndia search page.

Ubiquity is a flexible Firefox Extension that lets you do all sorts of things to give you more control of your browsing experience, including the ability to add specific Ubiquity "commands" (or tools for enhacing your Firefox browser).

Steps are (all in Firefox):
1. First, download Ubiquity to your Firefox browser. (Check out the video on the page to be fascinated by the capabilities of Ubiquity - allows you to create mashups seamlessly)
2. Restart browser
3. Again open Firefox and go to http://www.giveindia.org/ubiq_giveindia.html
4. It will ask you to subscribe with a button in the top-right corner. Click the button and you will get a scary looking screen which says "Untrusted source etc etc". Accept it (since all the "commands" written on the Ubiquity platform today are untrusted and you would have installed the GiveIndia command.

In short, if you are going through an article on timesofindia.com related to the girl child like this one and you decide you want to donate to a girl child:

1. Select the word "girl child" from the article
2. Hit the space bar and Ctrl at the same time
3. Type "giveindia" (without the quotes) and then press Enter.
4. And voila - You will be taken to all donation options of GiveIndia relating to the "girl child". :-)
You can also do this without selecting any word but just invoking Ubiquity through Ctrl+Space and then typing "giveindia girl child" (without the quotes to give you the same effect)

Ubiquity has helped us to create a tool which allows us to make a difference anywhere and everywhere very easily. It's up to us now to make that difference.

In case any of you use this tool, please do send us your feedback!

It's Earth Day today!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:20:00 +0000

It's Earth Day today but you wouldn't know it. Normally a day that generates huge media coverage, this year Earth Day has been left behind by the coverage of Indian elections and the IPL cricket matches.

We found an interesting article examining the relationship between the environment and poverty on the Global Issues website. The InfoChange India website features many positive Stories of Change about how Indians have worked to help the environment.

And last but not least, GiveIndia offers you several ways to take action, to help a struggling rural community while at the same time doing a little bit of good for the environment.

The cashless couple

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Ujwal Thakar, our CEO, was forwarded this amazing news story and now we'd like to share it with all of you. The story first appeared in Down to Earth, India’s only science and environment fortnightly. The magazine informs and inspires people about environmental threats facing India and the world.

The article was written by Aparna Pallavi and appeared in March. Here we feature sections of the article.

Living on love and fresh air
A family that has little use for cash
by Aparna Pallavi

The morning I went to meet her Anusuyabai Meshram did something she does not usually do—milk one of her cows. It was a special day: the Meshrams were having guests. “We do not need milk on a daily basis,” she explained cheerfully as she served us tea, “Because we drink our tea black.”

There are many other things that Anusuyabai, 44, and her 47-year-old husband Pandurang Meshram do not need: electricity, piped water, security, a weather-proof house, regular social contact, and for the most part, even money.

For the past eight years, this couple has been living by choice on their seven acre (2.8 hectare) ancestral farm outside village Wasriphode in Maharashra’s Yavatmal district without these facilities. Their joy in living a simple life shows on their faces. “We live like this because we like to,” Pandurang said. “Two years ago our only daughter, Manisha, was married. Now we are free of parental responsibilities,” he added.

Before moving to Wasriphode, Pandurang had worked as a mechanic and driver and also in a fishery for a few years, but the couple was never happy. “We were always anxious about something or the other, especially money and rising prices. Finally we decided to move away here and grow our own food so that we could live without worries,” he said.

Over the past eight years, the Meshrams have evolved a lifestyle that requires minimal money. They plant cotton on three of their seven acres, and food crops—jowar millets, a variety of legumes, vegetables, oilseeds and spices on the rest.

The cotton—an indigenious variety—earns them around Rs 40,000 annually, which is enough to buy wheat, rice, the occasional set of clothing and a few necessities; perform their duties on social occasions like weddings in the family, and save a little.

For transport they have a bicycle, which, they claim is enough, because apart from a monthly pilgrimage to Mahur about 75 km away, they never need to travel more than 25-30 km. They get enough fuelwood from the trees on their land. They harvest food items according to their requirements, leaving the rest on the field for whoever needs them. The couple says that they have never run short of food, and hardly ever harvest more than half of the crops they grow.

“This year we had an excellent okra crop,” Pandurang said, pointing to a plant still standing amid a festoon of dried pods, “Each plant yielded more than 100 pods. I gathered baskets of them and heaped them on the roadside for whoever wanted them.”

Has he never considered selling his excess produce for money? “Yes, but loche wadteel (it will only create complications),” he replied without missing a beat. This sentence appears to be a refrain with the couple. Why don’t they get an electric connection that they can very well afford? Why don’t they add to their income by selling the milk from their nine cows? Why don’t they avail of government subsidies? Why don’t they put their money in a bank? The answer is the same always.

It took some coaxing to get Pandurang to explain the nature of the complications: “See, if we get electricity, we will have to earn extra to pay bills, and will be frustrated over power cuts. If we sell our extra produce, I will have to spend more time in the market than with my land and animals. Subsidy means bribing officials.”

So why do they bother to grow more than they need? “So we have something to give,” he said with touching humility, “Villagers regularly take vegetables and lentils from our farm. Everyone trusts us and we trust everyone.”

Love and trust. That appears to be the dominant philosophy of the couple.

Here is where you can read the entire article.

More volunteers, more locations! GiveIndia needs you!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:34:00 +0000

A few months ago, GiveIndia called for volunteers in 10 Indian cities to help with verification visits. We had a great response that time and now we're looking for your help again. This time we need volunteers in smaller towns. Please look at the list below and foward this to anyone you think may be interested. If you want to volunteer then send an email to feedback@giveindia.org with the name of the place that you can do the visit in the subject line of the mail.

Andhra Pradesh Maharashtra
Guntur      Nagpur
Hindupur    Nanded
Ongole    Pune
Rajamundhry    Orissa
Vishakapatnam    Bhubaneshwar

Assam Rajasthan
Guwahati    Jaipur
Bihar Jodhpur
Kishanganj    Udaipur
Lakhisarai Tamil Nadu
Patna    Coimbatore
Gujarat      Dindigul
Amreli    Erode
Godhra    Madurai
Navsari    Nagapattinam
Surat    Nagercoil
Karnataka Pudukkottai
Bijapur    Tirunelveli
Koppal    Trichy
Mysore    Uttar Pradesh
Raichur    Lucknow
Mathura
         West Bengal
       Kolkata

ngpay lets you donate via cellphone!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:30:00 +0000

GiveIndia has made it easier than ever for you to reach out and make a difference. Now, you can make a donation anytime, anywhere on your mobile phone using ngpay! Yes, GiveIndia has partnered with ngpay -- India's fastest growing mall which is located entirely on a user's mobile handset. This innovative service already has two lac customers and is growing fast.

GiveIndians can make donations to the general fund of their favorite NGOs in a fast, simple and secure fashion.

In addition to donating through GiveIndia, you can use ngpay to buy air & rail tickets, bank, pay your bills, buy movie tickets, shop for books & gifts, transfer funds, and make payments. It’s free and takes just minutes to download and register.

ngpay transactions offer security levels similar to ATM transactions. Once you become a ngpay user, for your security you will need to enter your unique 6-digit PIN every time you make a payment transaction. This PIN number is NOT stored on your handset, so hacking your stolen handset will not put you at risk.

ngpay answers all your questions about their service on this FAQs page.

If any of our readers are already ngpay users we'd love for you to try and make a donation on GiveIndia and give us your feedback.

Buddha's disciple

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:37:00 +0000

Our Director, Venkat Krishnan, was sent this simple story and he shared it with all of his colleagues at GiveIndia. We, in turn, are sharing it with you.

One day, Buddha was in deep thought about the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. One of his disciples approached him and said humbly "Oh my teacher! While you are so concerned about the world and others, why don't you look into the welfare and needs of your own disciples as well?"

Buddha said "Alright, tell me how I can help you". The disciple replied "Master, my attire is worn out and is not decent. Can I have a new one, please?"

Buddha found that the robe was in a bad condition and needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room.

A while later, Buddha went to his disciple and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more?" His disciple answered "Thank you Master. The attire is very comfortable. I need nothing more."

Buddha then asked him "Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?" The disciple said "I am using it as my bed spread." Buddha wondered "Then I hope you have disposed of your old bed spread?" but the disciple replied "No, Master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain."

Buddha naturally asked "What about your old curtain?" to which the disciple answered "It is being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen.". Buddha's questions continued. "Then, can you tell me what happened to the old cloth used in kitchen?" The disciple said "It is being used to wash the floor."

Buddha asked "So then where's the old rag being used to wash the floor?" The disciple humbly replied "Master, since it was totally torn, I could not think of any better use for it, but as the wick in the oil lamp, which lights your study room after sunset."

Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.