GiveIndia.org - Spreading a giving culture

Introducing Feedback Report SMS Alerts

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 23 May 2012 05:13:00 +0000

We're happy to inform you that we have begun sending out SMSes to our Indian donors when the feedback report for their donation is mailed across to them. So, if you've made a donation on www.GiveIndia.org and your mobile number is available with us, you’ll get an SMS from “TD GIVEIN” informing you of the delivery of your feedback report.

In accordance with TRAI ( Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) regulations, the SMS alert is purely transactional; and helps us reach donors who may have changed email IDs or those who may have simply missed the email update about the same.

If you're an Indian donor with us and would like to avail of this feature, simply log into your GiveIndia account and update your profile with your mobile number.

Work meets Fun at our Annual Review

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:19:00 +0000

Our Annual Review for the financial year 2011-12 was held in mid-April. The entire GiveIndia family headed out to Khandala, a picturesque hill station nestled in the Sahayadri mountain range, located approximately 110 kilometres from Mumbai. We were hosted by the Duke’s retreat, which offered us a panoramic view of Khandala and the Bhor Ghat.

The review was a two day event comprising of various interactive sessions and multiple team building games. It started off with the CEO, Mr. Dhaval Udani’s, summarization of the year gone by, followed by presentations from the various SBUs. The SBU heads discussed their performance in the last financial year in terms of learnings, challenges faced, achievements and most importantly the steps taken by them to overcome problems and meet objectives.

This two day event was a perfect blend of work and fun. Work in terms of presentations by the SBUs followed by Q & A and brainstorming sessions and fun in terms of the exciting team building games. These games were a judicious mix of indoor and outdoor activities with a moral implication. Every game taught us something new, which, if implemented in our day to day life could lead to higher efficiency and greater output thus helping the organization achieve its goal. It taught us the power of thinking together and working as a team as opposed to thinking and working in isolation.

This review provided outstation employees with an excellent opportunity to mix around with other teams and build good relations with them. We also had a reward and recognition ceremony where the employees who successfully completed 3 years in GiveIndia were recognised by the management and awarded a certificate by our CEO. Also, the Employee of the Year award was given to Mr.Vivek Raghavapudi [Management choice] from Online and Retail Giving team and to Mr.Sambhaji Kesarker [Popular choice] from Back office team.

Finally this exciting and memorable event concluded with the CEO’s summarization and discussion on future plans for the new financial year. The highly enthusiastic and motivated GiveIndia family then drove back to Mumbai with unforgettable memories and the determination to do much better this year by creating a greater impact on society and making India a better place to live in.

Giving Matters at HDFC Life

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:51:00 +0000

HDFC Life, one of India's leading private life insurance companies, has been a partner for GiveIndia’s Payroll Giving programme since 2007. Much recently, we interacted with the company’s HR & CSR spokesperson, Ms. Gazala Shaikh on the various elements which shape up Giving at HDFC Life.

Here’s what we learnt...

Tell us about CSR at HDFC Life and your role as part of the team.
Gazala : Including myself, we are a two member team. My role is to develop the road map, framework, policies, and strategies for CSR in consultation with our senior management. I synchronize business goals with CSR objectives; identify opportunities, and monitor implementation. All in all, I serve as the custodian of all CSR initiatives.

How would you define the giving culture at HDFC Life ?
Gazala : Giving for us happens largely through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative – Swabhimaan. Swabhimaan’s objective is to contribute towards enhancing the quality of life of various communities. The CSR framework has been designed to fit our vision and brand values. Keeping with our motto "Sar Utha Ke Jiyo", we focus on ensuring that we are able to restore dignity and respect among the underprivileged. Employee volunteering and Swabhimaan activities run by CSR Champions create an internal ethical pride and amplify employee and stakeholder engagement. We measure our contribution to society with specific measurable targets, such as the number of volunteering hours and amount of payroll funds contributed. Hence, Giving for us is a commitment to continue being a responsible corporate citizen.

Given that employees at any insurance company are largely preoccupied with targets, sales and numbers, how easy or difficult does it become for you to get employees engaged at CSR initiatives?
Gazala: We plan our activities in tandem with the employee work cycle. For example, we keep minimal activities during January, February and March as those months are the busiest business months for an insurance company such as us. An internal survey revealed that 93% of our employees are interested in supporting a cause and 52% are already contributing to social causes in association with Non-profit organizations. So, the key is to understand behaviors and attitudes and plan activities in accordance to get maximum engagement.

Are there any specific 'must do' activities that Swabhimaan does every year ?
Gazala :We try to bring variety in the range of activities that we do. Having said that, we repeat activities based on past employee response and interest. Activities such as Blood Donation drive and the Joy of Giving week celebrations last year had earned us a lot of employee interest. So, we will continue with those this year too!

GiveIndia : Coming to Employee Payroll Giving, you currently have 456 employees actively contributing close to Rs.9.9 lacs a year. Do you think Payroll Giving adds a new dimension to the host of engagement activities ? If so, how is Payroll Giving working out for your employees?
Gazala : Payroll Giving is definitely one of the strong facets of employee engagement for us. Currently, about 15 % – 20% of our employees have been volunteering their time and skills. From the rest 75 % - 80 % of employees, approximately 50% of employees would like to contribute but don’t have the time and about 25 % - 30 % employees require to get familiarized with the concept of giving to ‘credible’ NGOs. So, while it’s heartening to know that at least 70% of our employees are the appropriate audience for payroll giving, challenge is to get the remaining 25% - 30% of employees to start giving. Also, employees like to participate in initiatives that can give them a ‘touch and feel’ of the impact they’ve created. Through payroll giving, they receive a firsthand feedback on that impact at their desks. So, yes, the concept suits our employees very well though the participation does need betterment.

You also participated in the India Giving Challenge in 2010 and 2011 and raised Rs.1.82 lacs over 3 weeks’ time. That is quite an achievement. What worked at those times?
Gazala : Fund raising was our primary goal but we thought about ways of aligning activities around that to gain maximum leverage. Alternately, we planned parallel activities region wise, keeping employee behavior in purview. So, along with the regular online fund raising campaign, we tried innovative campaigns such as Corporate Auction by senior management, Dance for a Cause and Food Grain Donation drives.

Last but not the least, what’s the future of giving at HDFC Life ?
Gazala : We started our structured CSR wing last year and received tremendous amount of support and participation from our leaders, employees and champions. This year we will gain more ground and set benchmarks for ourselves. I think that any impact is hard earned and we have a long way to go to really achieve that hard earned impact.

In FY 11-12, Swabhimaan have touched approximately 26,000 lives through projects & activities with help from 1856 Employee volunteers who dedicated 4070 Man hours of volunteering.

Which cause needs the most attention?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:14:00 +0000

We understand that there would be mixed responses but isn’t this a question you ask before donating? Based on our experience, education and instinct, we tend to prefer a particular cause over another. Some may choose to support education, others the elderly, or maybe even the disabled.

Every cause is important and they all need their due attention. However, to answer the question accurately, it is vital for donors to have all the required information. What exactly is the problem? How many people are affected by it? What can be done to help? What can one do to alleviate this problem?

To address these relevant issues, GiveIndia will launch a campaign every month dedicated to a particular cause. Every month, we will attempt to raise a predetermined amount of funds, for a particular cause and in the process spread awareness.
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In April 2012, our mission is to raise enough funds to support 200 cataract surgeries. Cataract as you may know, is common among the aged and in some cases also affects children. In India, over 7 million people suffer from this condition, some of whom are incapacitated labourers. Without their eyesight, many of them are rendered helpless.

Cataract, however, is a curable condition and the affected don’t need to suffer. A delicate but simple surgical procedure is all that’s required to cure it. So why is it still a problem for so many people? Well, there are plenty of reasons; distance, fear, lack of service awareness, lack of support etc. Some people are also completely oblivious to the fact that their diminishing vision could be a result of cataract.

But the prime reason why they are denied timely aid is lack of financial resources. The cost of a cataract surgery in India falls anywhere between Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 15.000, however, prices may get higher depending on the city and the hospital one chooses to get the surgery done. These costs are unaffordable to some unfortunate people, which forces them to live with their disability.

The good news is that some NGOs are able to offer these surgeries at subsidized rates that are under Rs. 2,500. This has made the treatment more accessible and goes a long way in alleviating the problem. However, as you are aware, some citizens of this country live on minimum wages and cannot afford the surgery even at these subsidized rates.

Our mission in April is to help at least 200 such people get their sight back and leave their disability behind. We plan to achieve this by educating donors and spreading awareness about this cause. All through the month we will update our progress on our website and we hope to hit our target well before 30th April, 2012. Wish us luck!

Click here to support us now: http://www.giveindia.org/t-cataract-surgeries.aspx

No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:24:00 +0000

Hunger is probably one of the primary causes of illiteracy in this country. If children attend school, they cannot earn which denies them their basic necessities. Their parents carry out menial jobs and are in no position to support them either. Recognising this issue, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, began their initiative with only one vision in mind, ‘No child in India should be deprived of education because of hunger.’

For the past 11 years, they have worked to transform this vision into reality by providing meals to children at school. This scheme ensures that these kids stay in school and give enough importance to their studies. Akshaya Patra have come a long way since their inception and currently reach out to 1.3 million children.

However, they still have a long way to go before they can achieve their dream and can use all the support they can get. To help them reach their goal, an anonymous donorhas decided to match every donation to The Akshaya Patra Foundation. This means forevery child you decide to feed, we’ll feed another.

Now, twice the number of children will go to school and twice the number won’t experience hunger. So if you wish to make the most of your donation, then donate now and double the number of children you help.

Is your NGO taking advantage of the India Tax Saving Challenge?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:37:00 +0000

The third edition of the India Tax Saving Challenge – an annual online fundraising event - has begun. This is a special opportunity for NGOs to make the most of their year-end donations; as they may receive additional funds for the donations that they receive as part of the challenge.

NGOs need to simply request their donors to make donations through their iGive page for the event. Leading NGOs of the day shall receive additional funds, as prizes for their fundraising. An NGO can win upto Rs. 3.3 lacs of the daily prizes (Rs. 15,000 daily X 22 days of the challenge) plus upto Rs. 5.25 lacs from the overall prizes, not to forget the surprise prizes that will be offered during the course of the event - helping you make March a very impactful month!

3 good reasons for an NGO to participate:
1. With the end of the financial year soon approaching, people are looking to make donations to save on their taxes. So, you can help them maximize the impact of their donation.
2. It is a smaller event than the India Giving Challenge, so there is a better chance of winning one of the many prizes and experiencing the thrill of the same.
3. To help you broaden or build upon a base of retail fundraisers. Even if your NGO does depend on retail donors for donation, the challenge is a good opportunity to use to build such a base. It will give you a good experience of retail fundraising.

Total Prizes to be Won: Rs. 30 lacs ( See point number 13 on http://www.giveindia.org/t-india-tax-saving-challenge-2012-terms.aspx for details)
Dates: Tuesday February 21st – Thursday March 22nd , 2012
Next Steps: GiveIndia Tier 1& 2 NGOs: Set up an iGive page by following these steps
India Giving Challenge 2011 registered NGOs who wish to renew:
(a) Send across a demand draft for Rs. 2,000
(b) Send an iGive Reimbursement Report for funds to be raised
(c) Sign this undertaking
Others: Get registered by filling up and sending across this form

Important Links: India Tax Saving Challenge Terms & Conditions
Contact: Allan (allan@giveindia.org) OR Tarika (tarika@giveindia.org)

A new kind of philanthropy - Rural hundis bankroll emigration dream

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

We came across a very interesting article in the Times of India on Jan 23, 2012 which we have reproduced below. So many times we hear about some rich industrialist or professional giving away crores of rupees or we read a lot about how little we give as a nation. We found this to be a powerful example of giving even if it was giving amongst the community. Giving indeed starts with feeling of "family" and the family always extends gradually- from self to direct, then relatives, then "kinsmen" and then state & eventually nation. The idea that a donor will give to anyone without any relationship is difficult and rarely practised except in Europe. For example, even today Americans donate >90% of their money within the country (these numbers may have changed with the large efforts of Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet), as compared to Europe which donates >70% overseas into Africa.

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Rural hundis bankroll emigration dream

When young people in Mehsana's Sarsav village dream of pursuing a post-graduate degree in the US, their parents don't have to put at stake their life's savings or approach a bank for an exorbitant loan. Help is available at the local Shiv temple, through which the entire Diaspora of Sarsav residents in the US takes care of the funding. This unique community network supporting migration has caught the eye of researchers who say it is rare to find such systems outside Gujarat. They have found a similar system in Nandasan, another village of Mehsana where each family living abroad makes a tiny donation - a 'chandlo' - to fund migration of other villagers.

Dr Neerja Arun, the director of Gujarat University's study abroad programme, said: "We are documenting this modern-day hundi system, which supports young graduates from rural areas."

Arun says when someone decides to go abroad, the entire village donates money to the temple. The temple in turn informs NRGs from the village who provide the same amount to an aspiring migrant in dollars when he arrives in the US. The temple then refunds the NRGs.

Among the migrants is Gopal Ramprasad, who gathered nearly Rs 12 lakh from villagers which was entrusted to the temple authorities. When he reached the US to study for a professional course he was given the same amount by NRGs living there.

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So tell us what you think about this form of giving. Should giving be done irrespective of who the beneficiary is? How do you give? Do you give more to people within your family, community? Do you prefer giving to your maid, driver or watchmen? Or do you prefer just giving to anyone as long as there is a beneficiary?

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Rural-hundis-bankroll-emigration-dream/articleshow/11594224.cms

Taste buds, follow them blindly

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

We came across this very interesting story in the Times of India which is trying to sensitize ordinary people to the world of the visually challenged in a very innovative manner. It is the story of a restaurant called "Dark" where one eats without any light experiencing for himself (or herself) what a visually impaired person goes through every day and every minute of his/her life. And while doing so it is also providing opportunities for employment for the visually challenged.

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This is no candlelight dinner, let alone a candle. In this restaurant shut off from light, you entrust yourself to those who've always known the dark, as well as an old friend - the visually-challenged.

True to its name, Dark is about letting the restaurant's blind waiters guide you as you subject yourself to a meal in the pitch black of its interiors.

One third of the place is unlit. "In these stressful times, we do not even enjoy the meals that we have. We gulp down the food in the morning before rushing to work, speak on the mobile during lunch and have dinner in front of the TV. When you have food in the dark, all such distractions are gone and you will focus only on the food. This ensures you really taste the food, allowing you to enjoy it," said Rabindranath Tagore, managing director, on Wednesday.

From the moment a customer steps into the room, he/she will be guided by a blind waiter. He will take him/her to the table, take orders, bring food, serve it and guide the customer back to the exit. The waiters have been trained by the National Association for the Blind (NAB).

"This is an employment opportunity for the blind as normally such profiles are not given to them. They may serve in the capacity of a receptionist or technician but never as waiters. This is a challenge -- they need to serve the right food at the right table. It is only their sense of hearing that will guide them," said M Srinivas, chief executive officer,

As of now, two persons have completed their training. NAB will offer manpower. Persons wearing night-vision goggles will assist them if the need arises.

C Chandrashekhar, one of the visually challenged employees, said, "I know the place like the back of my hand. There are six tables to the right and another six to the left. I know how many chairs are there with each table and where the cutlery is kept. This job is going to be interesting."

The restaurant will offer Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese food. The chef is from Vietnam. There will be combos on offer too for the unlit area of the restaurant. Dark has opened at Jeevan Bima Nagar.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-08/bangalore/30490099_1_taste-buds-food-waiters

Who will bell the cat?

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

There have always been concerns about charity. Donors are rightly concerned about whether their donation is reaching the truly deserving and if it is having the desired and expected impact. But they also need to ask themselves another question - To what extent is a charitable organisation responsible for ensuring the impact of a donation?

In a classroom, teachers can only teach to the best of their ability. Not all students benefit to the same extent, some a lot but few not at all. The failure is often for reasons beyond their control. Yet the student is punished for failing and the teacher pulled up for not ensuring cent per cent success though most of the students have done well. Charitable organisations too find themselves in the same position as the teacher. They do their best yet not all their efforts pay off. Here is a true case from our experience...

Recently, one of our donors, we shall call him Mr. R. K., visited a school to see the impact of his donation. He had paid a good amount of his hard earned money to help build rainwater harvesting tank. His anticipated visit turned into an unpleasant surprise and shock. The cement tank was broken with weeds growing inside it. The pipe connecting it to the water drum placed below the school roof was also missing. He wrote back to us with photos and concluded, “ … I am extremely disappointed and don't wish to waste hard earned money this way.”

Equally incensed, we shared this with the concerned NGO and demanded an explanation. This is what the NGO had to say - "The school had been forced to remain closed for one and a half months during a local political agitation for a separate state. In this time, some miscreants entered the premises and broke the tank. They stole the connecting water pipe along with some other school material."

Now it is clear that each of the involved parties had done what needed to be done. Yet, the desired impact was not achieved. This raises multiple questions:

To what extent is a charitable organisation responsible for ensuring the impact of a donation?
What benchmarks should be used to determine the success of an act of charity?
Should charitable organisation only take up safe projects where success is absolutely guaranteed?

Meanwhile, the school has since decided to raise funds and rebuild the tank at their own cost. It will now be housed within the hostel premises where it would be safer from acts of vandalism.

Tell us what you think about the 3 questions posed here. We would love to hear your thoughts on this matter

- Sanjyot Kamath

Sanjyot leads our Feedback reporting team and is responsible for ensuring that all our donors recieve their feedback within 4-6 months of making a donation. Along with her team of 1 more person she sends out between 25-30,000 feedback reports every year. Its due to dedicated people like her that we are able to function with skeletal staff at salaries which a corporate would really aspire for. :-)

Start Young, You have more time to do good | People who inspire us - Part 8

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

More than a year after we published our last post on inspirational people of our generation, we are back with another very inspiring story. This is the story of Shakira's philanthropy. Yes! Shakira - the famous Colombian singer best remembered for her single "Hips don't lie" and the grace with which she moves those hips. We are reproducing below an article that appeared in The Hindu Business Line on Nov 25, 2011. It talks about how Shakira has been doing philanthropy for the last 15 years. Considering that she is 34 today, she started really young at the age of 19 and that is the message we want to bring to today's youth. Start young, you have more time to effect change.

Shakira, the Barefoot do-gooder
by Tatiana Rodriguez

For 15 years, the Colombian singer has been promoting children's access to education. The name Shakira has several meanings, and one of them, in Lebanese Arabic, is “full of grace.” The popular Colombian singer by the same name has certainly tried to live up to that ideal. With her big eyes and long, blond tresses, Shakira, now 34, has spent the past 15 years promoting access to education for children and youth all over the world.

Her achievements go beyond the two Grammys and eight Latin Grammys she has been awarded over the years, or sharing the stage with famed musicians such as Bono, Alejandro Saenz, Gustavo Cerati, Beyonce and Mick Jagger, or even selling more than 70 million records worldwide.

That is because Shakira, through her “Pies Descalzos” (Barefoot Foundation), has helped more than 6,000 needy children, offering them free education, nutrition and healthcare. Born in Barranquilla, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (her full name) has not only been successful as an artist, but also as an agent for change in a society marked by inequality, violence and underdevelopment; perhaps because she herself has had firsthand experience of it all growing up in Colombia.

In October, US President Barack Obama appointed Shakira to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. This distinction came because of her sustained efforts to promote “the democratisation of education.” She was also recently named the 2011 Latin Recording Academy person of the year because of her commitment to social causes. She is the youngest artist to receive the award, presented during an event prior to the Latin Grammy celebration at which she also garnered yet another Latin Grammy — Album of the Year — for Sale el sol (The Sun Rises). Just a couple of days earlier, Shakira became the first Colombian to be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She set up the Barefoot Foundation in 1997 following the wave of success she had with her second album by the same name. The singer had chosen the name in an attempt to draw attention to the hunger and poverty children faced in Baranquilla. From then on, Shakira decided to allot a share of her earnings to nutrition and education projects in Colombia. She became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 2003, to promote the expansion and improvement of comprehensive early childhood care and education across the world. Her philanthropic work has covered countries such as Haiti, where, after the 2010 earthquake, she offered — through her foundation — to rebuild schools in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank.

The Barefoot Foundation has funded 20 educational projects in Colombia and built six schools there in the last seven years. These schools, supported by Shakira, provide food for the children, use the latest teaching methods, are bilingual and have sports facilities, orchards and plots for produce cultivation. All of these endeavours provide employment and activities to more than 30,000 people. The artist, with 11 musical productions behind her, funnels a million dollars into the construction of each project and 40 per cent of her earnings to maintain extra-curricular activities at the schools.

Bringing in the private sector has been indispensable for each educational project, because only a few backers can really continue to support school management. Shakira has forged alliances with powerful private donors, including Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim, also of Lebanese descent. Six years ago, she became a founding member of Latin America in Solidarity Action (ALAS, or WINGS, by its Spanish acronym), a coalition of artists and business leaders seeking to promote integrated early childhood public policies.

For her, engagements as an artist are no impediment to continue her charity work. Not long ago, after a concert at the Rock in Rio Festival, where she swayed her hips in her trademark style, Shakira launched a cooperation programme to protect early childhood. Also contributing to the project are Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, and Xuxa Meneghel, a well-known local singer and television host, through her own foundation.

The goodwill ambassador filled with the Caribbean spirit and endowed with sensual hips, a magical glance and a marvellous voice plans to continue to “fill with grace” not only the world's pop music stages, but also those places where the neediest are hurting.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-life/article2657442.ece

Visit to Sevalaya by employees of Cognizant Chennai

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Sevalaya is a GiveIndia listed NGO that provides education to over a 1,000 orphan and destitute children in and around Chennai. In addition, they also run an old age shelter, conduct medical camps for the community around them and conduct vocational training classes for young people in the summer.

Cognizant, as part of its employee engagement programme launched GiveIndia's Payroll Giving Programme (PRG) earlier this year. More than 3,000 employees have signed on to the programme , donating roughly Rs 7.5 lacs p.m. to different causes through various NGOs across the country. A visit for all employees of the company was organised by GiveIndia in an attempt to provide donors the opportunity to see for themselves the difference that they were and potentially could make to the lives of the less privileged.

We present to you here an account from Aarti one of our long-term volunteers who co-ordinated the visit from our end and gave us this lovely hands-on account of the trip

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At 8:30 AM a small group of 10 employees set off in a van to visit Sevalaya, which was about an hour from the city. Our drive to the NGO was not as uneventful as we thought it would be :-). For starters, Ramu who was the SPOC from CTS had not actually met any of the others that we were picking up enroute - so he had to coordinate the exact location where a person had to wait,describe the van, which had the name of another large IT company on it(!!!) and also ask for the colour of the person's apparel to ensure that we were indeed picking up the 'right person'. :-) Just like any project that is undertaken at Cognizant, all the hurdles were overcome as Ramu did an outstanding job and everyone was in the van by 9:30 AM, all set for the long drive to Sevalaya.

We arrived at Sevalaya at about 10:45 AM, to be warmly welcomed by Jayanti, Sevalaya's trustee who told us all the history of the organisation, its vision and values, its activities, achievements and plans for the future over a much needed nice hot cup of coffee and biscuits. We then were given a quick tour of the vast school, the computer lab, and the classrooms which were abuzz with the happy chatter of children. the group then split up into two - some of us proceeded to the primary section. It was their play time and it was simply wonderful to see the faces of many happy toddlers who ran upto us enthusiastically to show us their play things- balls of different sizes, coloured blocks , a rocking duck meant for two but a la desi style had 4 children on it trying to rock it back and forth and actually managing to do so too :-). We had a blast with the little ones while some others in the group had started on a game of cricket with a group of older boys.

Couple of the team decided that cricket was far too common place and played a short high energy game of volley ball - these were with the high school boys. The girls in our team thought up an interesting guessing game and taught it to a bunch of shy at first and giggly girls who had a barrage of questions for them on their job, where they were from, what they liked and didn't and soon it was hard to hear anything above the din being caused by the friendly and excited chatter of a bunch of 15 year old teenage girls.

It was nearly lunch time and we had to break up the party with much reluctance, to go and have lunch with the children in their hostel. It was a lovely homely meal, served by the children ...the bonus for all of us was an additional sweet from Sree Mithai, that some other donor had brought and served to all of us. The children who live in Sevalaya's hostel are orphans - they have absolutely no one in the world that they can call their own and I think that having lunch with them and chatting to them, hopefully gave them some solace, albeit briefly. As for us, it was pretty over whelming.

We then went on to meet the elderly in the residential care centre , just to say hello because it was nearly 1:45 PM and time for their siesta. As we trooped across to the centre from the school amid lush green paddy fields, all a result of the organic farming pioneered in the area by Sevalaya and some of the school students, we couldn't help admiring again the commitment of the Sevalaya family that was making all this change happen. Well, we went to meet some of the elderly- it was evident that they were taken very good care of . One of them complained that she wasn't allowed to watch the re run of the TV serials by the others but she needed to because she was unable to remember the episode details from the previous evening :-)!! The others of course shushed her quickly retorting that she was just being difficult amid great mirth. It was really heartening to see them all happy and cheerful and once again, we realised how much work the Sevalaya team would have put into making this happen.

We walked back to our van , after a wonderful 2 hours of interaction, overwhelmed by the experience but hopefully also returning with the resolve that we could try and participate in making the change happen by supporting efforts like that of Sevalaya and others. Here is what some of them had to say after the visit.

Aarti and Natasha go to Dindigul

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Continuing from our last post, this is one more in the tradition of guest posts. Natasha is the writer of this piece which describes her very interesting experience on her first really deep engagement with an NGO. She was accompanying one of our long-time volunteers, Aarti on a trip to an NGO in Dindigul.

The below experience tells a fascinating tale of a typical NGO which does not have people with skills and required competency but more than make up with sheer passion and a never-ending ability and enthusiasm to learn. It also shows us that while NGOs do have a lot to learn from corporate professionals, professionals are often humbled in how much they learn, especially on the softer skills, from NGOs. Also clearly shows that professionals can create greater impact by leveraging on their skills honed to perfection in the corporate sector rather than doing things which they neither have the experience for or are very simple in nature with lesser impact.

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My good friend Aarti Madhusudhan consults for NGOs on their governance policies, and she also volunteers a lot of her time creating various formats in which "regular folks" (read me) can work with NGOs. She believes strongly in this mission, and has succeeded in getting professionals to volunteer their skills, stay-at-home moms to return to paid and unpaid work in the NGO sector, people to work for free for NGOs and just about anything that she puts her mind to.

I had shared with Aarti my desire to volunteer my professional skills for an NGO’s benefit. I had evolved to this point after toying with the idea of doing things like teaching children English, and other such hands on activities that did not really harness my professional skills. Finally I realized that what I do every day – strategy, project planning, tactical execution, people management – are perhaps things that NGOs need as well. So, at Aarti’s urging, she and I set off for Dindigul, to work on a two day organizational strategy planning session for an NGO that I shall call Freedom. Freedom’s director, Horatio, had come to Chennai for a day to meet with me and Aarti. We sat down together and mapped out the overall goals of the organization over 3 years. They turned out to be very simple – the organization needed to become independent of their Indian partner in one year, and to become financially self sustaining in 3 years, so that no more funds would be needed from their UK donor.

We travelled on the Pandiyan Express, where Aarti was very worried about my sensibilities, since she firmly believes I lead an elite life in the corporate world. Not true, of course. On the train we dealt with one small rat, a fat man who jostled Aarti, sang along with his mobile, and then snored through the night finally reaching Dindigul early in the morning. There we were met by our auto driver Arokyasamy, a friendly soul sent by the NGO, and put up in the wonderfully comfortable and charmingly named Hotel Paarvathy. This again was for my benefit, because Aarti thought I would not be able to deal with the privations of the convent where we were going to hold the workshop.

Day 1: We got to the beautiful convent promptly at 10 am, and found the entire staff of Freedom of about 30 people assembled in a large room. 30% men and 70% women. The first thing I noticed was that there were no laptops, there was no projector, no flipcharts. All we had was a large blackboard and a box of chalk. There went our plan to take notes on our laptops. The next thing I noticed was the obvious and wide variance between the people in the room in terms of class. Horatio had been insistent that everyone in the organization (as he put it, even the cook in the crèche) needed to understand the overall goals and strategy of the organization. So we had the ladies who worked in the crèche with the children, as well the project leads who looked better dressed and were better educated, plus the administrative personnel who were familiar with computers. I realized I’d have to communicate in Tamil (which is what I would call serviceable but hardly up to explaining complex concepts) to reach this audience. So be it.

We started off with Horatio introducing us as these wonderful people who had arrived from the city to help the organization decide their 3 year plan and strategy and we did a round of introductions around the room. Then I started the session by standing up and explaining, as simply as I could, the two most important things: a) the need to become independent of the Chennai organization in one year and b) the need for financial sustainability in 3 years. Horatio told them that the annual budget was 80 lakhs. Blank looks all around….we were rapidly losing the crowd. Even the project leads looked baffled. Though I tried to use the simplest of terms, as did Aarti, even the words “donor” and “funds” made little sense to the overall group. The 80 lakhs and the concept of sustainability seemed to panic them. With much urging though, they slowly revealed that they actually do raise some funds in kind from the community – such items as carrots and potatoes and rice donated by the local farming community.

Then we made a further mistake. At Horatio’s urging, we referred to the project plan which had been submitted to the UK donor and began to try to explain the various areas it covered – governance, management and administration, capability building – before the organization could become independent. More blank looks. The group was undoubtedly wondering what the hell these MSWs and MBAs were talking about. So…..what to do? We regrouped. We gave them a 10 minute break, and Horatio, Aarti and I sat down together and decided instead of this top down approach, we’d ask them to split up into their real field teams and do a bottom up detailing of their very own project. We divided up the teams and asked some very basic questions:
•    Name of your project? For example, Vocational Training Centre.
•    Activities? For example, training in welding and tailoring.
•    How many beneficiaries? For example, 20 each for welding and tailoring.
•    How much do you spend per year on this project, including your salaries?
•    What is going well, and why? What is not going well, and why?

Suddenly, there was a great deal of enthusiasm. After all, each team knew exactly what they did in the field. They quickly assembled into groups, with much giggling and excitement all around, and began to write things down on large pink charts. Men and women worked together, and the organizational hierarchy broke down since we had said we would not allow the project leads to present.

Two hours later, it was time for each team to present (in Tamil). Each team did a very good job in describing the range of activities they performed. They also tried hard to accurately estimate their operating budget, down to the level of each activity, though they had no concept of formal financial reporting. But Aarti and I were very insistent on pushing on two themes: a) what is your target, and how many beneficiaries are you actually helping? b) what is the per child cost?

It turned out that, though there were dozens of programs, the dropout rates were high. Also, the field teams had little idea of current targets, let alone future targets. With respect to per child cost, no one had a clue, including the director of the organization. But the session proved wonderful. First of all, the pride and level of detail and ownership which each project team possessed was remarkable. Secondly, though they did not have clear targets, they understood the point quickly – and they also realized they could either raise targets, or raise efficiency (i.e., decrease dropout rate), or both. We had some hilarious moments when we questioned the need for something called a Cycle Rally (this remains mysterious to me), which cost Rs. 25,000 and had no clear benefit that anyone could see. Aarti often questioned details, such as why their printing costs were so high, and gently got them to realize that they could save money by, for example, giving all their printing to a single vendor and asking for a volume discount.

At the end of Day 1, therefore, we had some happy people. We had a very good idea of the current state of the organization. Every single program had been listed and described and its costs accounted for, though at an approximate level. Having had a wonderful lunch and tea, we had all developed a rapport with each other and there was much merriment all around. We had not yet approached the future state of the organization and the 3 year plan.…that was for the next day. But this was when Horatio decided to throw a curve ball at everyone. Now that everyone was 100% clear on their own projects, Horatio decided that in fact, there were only three overarching themes for the entire organization (for example, advocacy), that needed to be addressed for the future planning. Mass confusion! Suddenly we had gone from a project level plan to this theme based plan. None of us, including Aarti and I, had a clue what he meant. We went round and round, mixing up projects and themes. Our faces fell. Finally, Horatio decided that there would be 3 teams that would work on the future plans for these 3 “themes” and present them the next day. Aarti and I returned to our exciting hotel, somewhat crushed. What on earth would the poor teams make of these themes, we wondered? Weren’t we leaving out all the project details? What kind of theme based future plans would we get? Aarti muttered to herself darkly, but the excellent pooris in the Hotel Paarvathy cheered us up.

The next day, when we showed up, work was in progress. All the 3 teams were fully engaged, writing away on their themes. They were large teams (upto 10 people), and they were a mix of people from all the different projects. The informal feedback we got was that the first day was very good – people were very happy with the level of detail and planning. One of the trustees told me that this was the very first time he had ever thought about the actual number of beneficiaries, dropout rates, and targets!

The first team began presenting on the theme of advocacy. Within 2 minutes, they had launched into all sorts of methods – cycle rallies (!!), white papers, house visits, etc. This is when I jumped in, and firmly reiterated the point that there had to be some targets for all this advocacy work. WHAT WERE THEY TRYING TO ACHIEVE? IN ONE YEAR? IN THREE YEARS? All of this stuff about rallies were mere methods/tactics. The OUTCOMES had to be defined first!!

I drew a simple chart on the board:
ADVOCACY -> Various Areas of Advocacy (for e.g., school dropouts) -> Various methods and tactics (for e.g., house visits) -> OUTCOMES (for e.g., cutting dropout rates in half within one year). Then Aarti stood up and led a highly participatory session that listed all the areas in which they did or wanted to do advocacy work. These ranged from school dropouts, to early marriage prevention, to children with HIV, to runaway children. As a group, we then categorized these areas. Some were genuinely areas of advocacy; some could be addressed through on the ground projects; and some were out of scope (for e.g. HIV), and all that could be done was to refer to another NGO.

At this point, we created a 2x2 matrix (the dream of every management consultant :-)), where we mapped out all the areas the organization wanted to work in, what kind of work they would do in each area (advocacy, project, or referral), and how these mapped to their 3 ongoing on the ground projects. Just to make sure everyone understood, we made people come up to the chart and explain back to the group. Aarti and I then walked them through a working example of how they would need to do a one year plan and a three year draft for each work area. Taking the example of school dropouts, we worked with them to set targets on how much they could cut the dropout rate in each of their field projects, and what that would mean for their tactics (such as house visits, teacher counseling, etc). This proved to be a wonderful exercise, dragging down into the real world what they needed to do, down to calculating the number of house visits per week. At the end of this exercise, when everyone was feeling very happy that they knew what they needed to do for their specific little project plan, we then reintroduced the dreaded word sustainability. By now though, we had much more buy in, and we managed to bring out a lot of creative ideas on how a given project could start becoming sustainable.

We were approaching the end of the day….everyone knew what they needed to do next, which was to map out their project plan and their sustainability plan. Everyone was tired, but most looked happy. We asked for feedback, and by and large it was positive. Two negatives – one that I needed to speak more in Tamil (note to myself), and two that the introduction up front of the 80 lakhs had confused the entire group. We agreed on next steps – the project leads would come to Chennai with their draft plans and Aarti and I would tie them together – and then Horatio gave a little thank you speech. This had me in splits, since it specifically referred to the fact that I had a super posh office (true), that I apparently was a super important person (not true), and that Aarti had to accompany me because I was afraid to come alone to Dindigul (partly true). He thanked both of us enthusiastically and then that was it.

Overall it was a great experience. I learned a huge amount about how to apply basic planning concepts in an unstructured environment, and work with a large and diverse group. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about the real world and real targets (i.e. children) and was highly impressed by the dedication of the staff. I hope they too benefited. I would absolutely love to do this type of workshop again.

- Natasha Oza

Natasha has 19 years of strategy, marketing and project management experience, primarily in technology companies. She currently works for Accenture Management Consulting in Chennai, India.

Mohe phir se duniya dikha deen (You made me see this world again!)

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:45:00 +0000

This week we have a story from one our listed NGOs - Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital

The NGO has 3 surgical centers in UP and Rajasthan, where only cataract surgeries are undertaken. Through these centers they are able to cater to the old and poor patients of rural backgrounds, who would have otherwise lived a life of abject darkness.

The touching story below was sent by the Eye Consultant of Rampur, in Saharanpur district of UP

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Our Rampur surgical centre got an opportunity to operate on its oldest patient. A lady, by the name of Bundiya who turned 110 and hails from the Saharanpur region of UP.

The patient was brought on the back of one of the attendants and according to attendant the patient was not able to see and slowly she was losing interest in her life and waiting for death. Looking at her age and lack of anaesthetic backup during surgery we were bit reluctant to operate but later we decided to operate for cataract on her right eye.

After surgery patient regained a vision of 6/18 unaided (6/6 is complete vision) next day which remained as is on her first follow up after four days. According to the patient's attendant, she has now started eating well, taking interest in daily activities and planning for the future, even encouraging other elders to go to hospital and get operated. When I asked her how she is feeling after surgery, she replied "Mohe phir se duniya dikha deen" (you made me see this world again)". Now we are planning to operate on her other eye very soon..

Now we realize that a simple cataract surgery can make a BIG IMPACT in the life of people as well as in the community as whole. Feeling proud to be part of the Shroff family.
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For Rs. 1,200, you too can help a poor person regain sight through a cataract surgery

200+ NGOs raise over Rs. 3 crores in India’s largest online fundraising event

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:22:00 +0000

On November 10th, when the winners of India Giving Challenge 2011 (a Joy of Giving Week event) were announced, a new record in online fundraising was set in India. Over Rs.3 crores was raised from ~9,000 donors in the third edition of what has from its very beginning been India's largest online fundraising event and largest in terms of number of donors it engaged in the online medium. Larger than even the Mumbai Marathon! An interesting comparison can be drawn to the India Against Corruption movement of Anna Hazare that raised Rs. 2.94 crores. While this was one over 6 months, the above event accomplished this task in 45 days.

The Challenge, an online fundraising event, motivates NGOs, corporates and individuals to raise funds for their chosen cause and get rewarded for their efforts in turn; through a matching grant given in various categories during the course of the event.

A total of Rs. 96 lacs (compared to Rs. 65 lacs in 2010 and Rs. 56 lacs in 2011) was won as matching grants by 72 participating NGOs. For the first time this year a donor (who wishes to remain anonymous) contributed Rs. 21 lacs to the overall matching pool.

The NGO Challenge was won by Teach For India who raised Rs. 43 lacs, overtaking the reigning champion of 2 years Parivaar Education Society (Rs. 39 lacs) who came in second after a tough fight. It was a battle akin to David and Goliath that was fought between the two as Teach For India’s 1,868 donors contributing an average of Rs. 2,348 per person slowly but steadily took over Parivaar Education Society’s 113 donors who contributed an average of Rs. 34,641 per person. Teach For India got 150+ of its fellows involved in their fundraising and each fellow was raising money for his/her own class in a municipal school. Relatives and friends of these fellows, who have taken a 2 year sabbatical from work, gave generously to their wards who have made a remarkable and not so common break from career paths that are followed by others.
Down the leaderboard too some of the NGOs were really close together with third positions taken by Apna Janakalyan (Rs. 12 lacs) and Vidya & Child (Rs. 11 lacs) coming fourth.

Mridvika Mathur, Manager, Development of Teach For India says, "India Giving Challenge 2011 was an opportunity where Teach For India encouraged its Fellows to raise funds for their own classrooms and community projects. It was a chance for them to demonstrate their leadership skills and take complete ownership to gather resources for a cause that was so dear to their hearts. It was due to their conviction and sheer passion that Teach For India could ace this challenge.”

And it was sheer passion and conviction indeed that helped Fellows such as Aritra De to raise funds from family and friends. Aritra surprised himself by raising Rs. 1,48,000 - over a lakh more than what he had aimed for. Says De, “I did not expect to reach my target but managed to cross it. I realised early on in my fundraising that connecting donors with the cause was important. So I connected with people over phone/email about my work with Teach For India but did not ask for donations. Only when they were keen to know more about what I do, did I make a donation appeal. People were more than happy to donate then and even volunteered to spread the word amongst their own networks.” De, who raised money to build a library at and improve the infrastructure of the school at which he teaches, sent pictures of his classroom and school to further engage people to his cause.

It was the same for the team of the NGO Sahaara Mumbai too where all employees reached out to their friends and family. Infact the annual event has become a much awaited one at Sahaara Mumbai for both the team as well as donors because of the excitement that it generates.

This is the official press release of the India Giving Challenge 2011. It can also be found here.

A school where teachers don't teach but children learn...

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:43:00 +0000

Can you imagine a school where primary class children pour water on sand to build homes and ladoos instead of learning by rote from textbooks?

Welcome to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal School, one of seven municipal schools run by Muktangan, a GiveIndia listed NGOs. Located in the suburbs of Mumbai, this school is the perfect example of how even children coming from not so well to do families can have access to high-quality, affordable English Medium education and dream of a bright future!

All this has been made possible by a child-centered approach adopted by Muktangan teachers, which encourages these little minds to gain knowledge in a well-resourced, colorful environment. From the basics of ABC to complex mathematical problems - it's all taught here with the help of tools ensuring that theory is always supported with practicals. One plan-to-do session daily gives these children a space to explore any area of their choice be it painting, learning computers or even building castles with the sand.

Surprisingly most of the teachers were housewives before joining this school and underwent a rigorous training for nine months. The role of a teacher, here, is not to "teach" theory, but to make students "learn" by practicing. The student to teacher ratio is 15:1, which facilitates learning and one to one contact between teacher and child - quite a contrast to other municipal schools where children are cramped in classrooms in the name of imparting education.

Lucky are the 2,700 children who study at Muktangan's municipal schools. They surely have hope for a brighter future!

BREAKING NEWS! Retention on iGive donations reduced from 9.1% to 6.5%

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:03:00 +0000

Good News for Fundraisers!

Effective Oct 1st, 2011, we have reduced retention on iGive pages from 9.1% to 6.5% (a reduction of 28%). This means that even more of the money donated by your network of donors will now reach you.

Earlier for every Rs. 1000 donated to your favourite NGO, Rs. 909 would reach the NGO and Rs. 91 was retained by GiveIndia. Now for every Rs. 1000 donated, Rs. 935 will reach the NGO and Rs. 65 will be retained by GiveIndia to manage its expenses including transaction charges, providing e-Receipts to the donors, disbursing the amount to the NGO as well as providing the technology platform through which you can do your fundraising :-)

We know some of you have used iGive pages before and we hope that this reduction will help many more of you to try it out. We also hope as a result of this, your friends, family, colleagues & networks will give even more to your favourite NGOs.

Some links to get your started:
What is an iGive fundraising page?
Create an iGive page in 3 simple steps
Ideas to raise more funds

Footsteps 4 Good - Mumbai's First All-Charity Run/Walk

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:56:00 +0000

Jill Beckingham

The words "charity" and "good cause" have assumed paramount significance in today's world more than ever before. For a country with a burgeoning population of over a billion people; the need to reach out and lend a helping hand to the underprivileged has never been greater! Set in this background, the sterling initiatives and activities of individuals like Mrs. Jill Beckingham, are most praiseworthy. Being the wife of the British Deputy High Commissioner to India, she has effectively lent herself to many a noble cause during her stay in the country. The fact that she is an expat residing in India makes her charitable initiatives, actions and accomplishments even more creditable!

In Ahmedabad at the start of the India-UK Friendship Walk

Jill Beckingham is the brains behind the "Footsteps 4 Good" initiative. This initiative follows her 357 km India-UK Friendship Walk from Ahmedabad to Dandi, replicating Mahatma Gandhi's famous Dandi March in celebration of his birth anniversary last year. In fact, backed by her trusted clique of aides, support staff and thousands of individuals, Jill herself walked every step of the way. Her relentless drive, motivation and passion for the ultimate cause saw her and the many that joined her cover upto 25 km everyday. The tremendous support that she managed to garner coupled with her deeply ingrained belief in the initiative, saw them raise Rs. 75 lakhs that was distributed amongst six charitable organisations - three in Ahmedabad and three in Mumbai. This was an achievement of epic proportions!

If 2010 was anything to go by, the Footsteps 4 Good walk/run promises a lot more this year! Come October 2, celebrate the Birthday of the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi by joining the first Aditya Birla Mumbai 10 km run/walk fund raising event, supported by Tata with sponsorship from Glaxo SmithKline. This event is open to all, aged 12 and above, provided they have donated to their chosen charity. This is also Aamchi Mumbai’s first All-Charity walk/run event as all the money raised during this event goes to charity. There is NO REGISTRATION FEE towards this event.GiveIndia is the Charity Partner of this event.

The only pre-condition for anyone to participate is that they must make a donation of at least Rs.2000 to one of their chosen NGOs in Mumbai through GiveIndia. These NGOs are - Mumbai Mobile Creches, Apnalaya, Toybank, Muktangan, Prerena, Door Step Schools, Magic Bus, Lend-A-Hand India, Women’s India Trust and Habitat for Humanity.Register Now!

Running/Walking is a great way to do good for your own health and do good for society. Moreover, the track length of 10 km does perfect justice to one’s endurance levels if a dream run of 6 kms is too short and the half-marathon at 21 kms is too long a distance. For a nation that prides itself on non violence, October 2nd is no ordinary day and while the entire nation would soon be buzzing with news and views around the popular Joy of Giving week which commences from that day, let us Mumbaikars also put down our best foot forward towards philanthropy, quite literally!

If your favorite NGO is not taking part in the India Giving Challenge, it's missing out...

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:37:00 +0000

Because there is a total of Rs. 75 lakhs to be won by NGOs as prizes for fundraising in this online fundraising event.

The India Giving Challenge (IGC) is an online event held by GiveIndia as a part of the Joy of Giving Week when India celebrates its culture of giving. It encourages NGOs to raise funds online and get rewarded for their efforts in turn.

How so? Through a matching grant that is given, for fundraising in different categories, to winning NGOs, during the course of the event. Last year, 100+ NGOs raised over Rs. 2 crores from 9,000+ donors. This effort became even more rewarding with matching prizes of Rs. 65 lacs from GiveIndia. This year, not only are there more prizes but the overall prize amount, at Rs. 75 lakhs, is also bigger.

So, if your favorite NGO isn't taking part, it's certainly missing out!

NGOs already on GiveIndia may avail of these prizes on offer immediately by setting up an online fundraising page and reaching out.

NGOs not registered on GiveIndia would need to get registered specifically for the India Giving Challenge by completing this fairly simple process through GuideStar India - the NGO Outreach & Registration Partner for the event.

The dates for the event are September 6th - October 20th, 2011 and there are early bird prizes to be won too. So get started today!

100+ HNIs pledge their time and money once again at the second edition of the First Givers Summit

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:51:00 +0000

After the very successful First Givers Summit in July 2010, we are proud to be back with the second edition of this annual meet. It will once again host 100 HNIs who have each committed to give a minimum of Rs. 5 lacs each and at least 40 hours of their time p.a. towards philanthropy. The Summit is the beginning of a yearlong engagement that will educate these individuals on philanthropy and help them decide how to give and what to give for.javascript:;

The August 1st Summit will be a sit-down dinner which will bring members together with philanthropists and leading policy makers. Speakers include Mr. Azim Premji ( Chairman, Wipro), Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala ( Primary Investor & Visionary, CEO, Rare Enterprises), Mr. Abhijit Banerjee (Founder, MIT-JPAL), Mr. Ramji Raghavan (Founder, Agastya), Ms. Shaheen Mistri (CEO, Teach For India), ending with a panel discussion covered by CNBC. The focus for this year is “Impact” from both a philanthropist and development sector point of view.

More than 100 professionals have taken the pledge to set a new standard of giving - both time and treasure!

BNP Paribas India, as part of its commitment to Philanthropy and Social Responsibility in its 150th year in India, believes strongly in spreading the message of “giving” and is a proud co-sponsor of the summit.
GiveIndia would also like to acknowledge its other partners - CNBC & Forbes India.

Solution to our Philanthropic Conundrum

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:52:00 +0000

We had published a crossword puzzle about a month and a half back. Please find below the solution for the crossword.

We would like to congratulate Bekxy Kuriakose who got the maximum correct answers - 21 out of a possible 23. Congratulations Bekxy! Even though you have not qualified for prizes as a token of appreciation for the hard work you put in, we will be sending you a copy of the book The Power of Half.

We're on the look out for volunteers

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:26:00 +0000

Got some free time on your hands? Want to use your corporate skills for a good cause? Want to make a difference? Then get involved ... with us!

Because we're looking for volunteers; across a whole bunch of areas - from design-related assistance to helping people donate to helping NGOs get listed to creating Facebook applications and more.

Check out all our volunteer requirements.

Economic Times reports on the success of Giving Circles

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:41:00 +0000

In June last year, we had shared with you that our first giving circle had raised 3.7 lacs . We are happy to share with you that the Economic Times has recognised this success too in this article on how like minded donors are taking ownership of social projects.

Reproducing the article that appeared in the Mumbai Edition of the paper on July 5, 2011.

For years, it was Pandurang Mahadu Gond’s routine in the months from April to June, when the four leaking wells in his village in Maharashtra would run dry and await a refill from the rains. Gond would rise early, and walk a 10 km rocky stretch from his village, Dongarpada, located on a hillock, to Ramkhind, the nearest village. On his way back, the 45-year-old farm labourer would carry a 35-litre plastic can filled with water for daily use. He and his family would make the 20 km haul for water five to six times a day, logging about 12 hours between them. This year, in those dry months, they had to walk just 200 metres-—to the nearest well. As did others in Dongarpapda village, after 40 years.

No, the rains didn’t come early. What came was a grant of Rs 5.2 lakh from five upper middleclass corporate executives to an NGO, as well as their personal involvement, to build concrete platforms at the base of the wells to stop water from leaking out. The grant was the outcome of a process of match-making that allows like-minded donors—who may or may not know each other-—to come together on a project being executed by an NGO. The donors don’t just give their money to the project. They also give it their commitment, time, contacts and expertise.

It’s a win-win: donors feel a greater sense of attachment and purpose in their giving, the NGO gets funding stability for the project. Vikas Tandon, one of the five donors to NARAD (National Rural Research and Development Association ), the NGO fixing the Dongarpada wells, says he can see the impact first-hand . “Our circle of donors has visited the project a couple of times, says the 40-year-old who owns a consulting firm in Mumbai. “This type of giving connects us with the NGO directly, as opposed to donating online, where one is a few degrees removed.” Bringing donors together, and linking them up with NGOs, is done by facilitators like GiveIndia and Dasra; Samhita, another NGO, is expected to start in a few weeks. They call it a ‘giving circle’.

These giving circles or donor circles are like social investment clubs in that they attract people who want to give. Since they enable pooling of resources, they are tailored for every level of income or wealth. “These are working professionals who have time, and participating in a giving circle gives them the opportunity to engage directly with the NGO,” says Deepa Varadarajan, head of projects, GiveIndia. At a time when Indian philanthropy is picking pace, concepts like these can deliver greater impact.

STRATEGIC GIVING

Today, a host of giving options aligned to projects and NGOs are available. GiveIndia, for example, targets a large donor base. Its minimum donation requirement is Rs 50,000 a year. By comparison, Dasra targets high net-worth individuals (HNIs). Its minimum annual donation is Rs 10 lakh, with a minimum engagement period of three years. While GiveIndia and Dasra only do grants, Intellecap follows a social-investing model. This social sector advisory firm recently launched Intellecap Impact Investor Network, a platform for HNIs and companies to invest in social enterprises. The minimum commitment is $1-2 million for five to seven years; in return, the investor receives an equity stake in a social enterprise screened by Intellecap. Anurag Agrawal of Intellecap believes there is “both interest and appetite” among HNIs and companies to invest in sociallyrelevant businesses. “This platform will enable them to evaluate high-quality , pre-screened , earlystage companies for investments,” says Agrawal, who is the firm’s cofounder and also senior vicepresident-investment banking. Intellecap, he says, is currently signing MoUs with 10-15 HNIs like Nandan Maluste. “From an investment perspective, one can expect an IRR (internal rate of return ) of 25%,” says Maluste. “And it will make India better.”

Members of a giving circle tend to give more strategically. They are more likely to give to advance a vision for change, research which organisations to support and encourage impact studies. For example, Dasra spends six to nine months researching a sector. Publishing it costs Rs 10 lakh. It then sends out this research to members of its Indian Philanthropy Forum, a network of 120 HNIs who give regularly to NGOs and social enterprises. The report divides a sector into several segments. For example, in education, there could be teacher training, educating the girl child or improving the state of public schools. “Once they (donors) decide where to give, they call us and ask to engage at a group level ,” says Deval Sanghavi, cofounder and CEO, Dasra. Dasra then creates giving circles of like-minded donors and present them pre-screened NGOs working in the field. Each circle picks a beneficiary NGO. Each Dasra giving circle usually has 10 members. Each member commits Rs 30 lakh over three years, which makes Rs 3 crore available to a project. GiveIndia offered four projects to the five Dongarpada wellproject donors. Tandon says they chose NARAD because, as a grassroots NGO located in the hinterland of Maharashtra, raising funds would have been a challenge for it. “There were other savvier NGOs,” he says. “This was an opportunity to bridge, in a small way, the huge divide between urban and rural development.”

TIGHT KNIT :

After 15 years of working on grassroots projects in Ecuador, Mexico, Bolivia and South Africa, Safeena Husain returned to India to drive the agenda closest to her heart: educating the girl child. In 2007, she started Educate Girls, an NGO that aims to make government schools more girl-friendly . The NGO has signed an MoU with the Rajasthan government to work in 4,500 state schools. “These schools have high gender gaps, high dropout rates and low literacy levels,” says Husain. What helped Husain translate a thought into action was the funding she received from three donors , whom she found through Dasra, three years ago before the latter’s giving-circle strategy was formally established. Two USbased individuals and one Indian business family have given a total of . 90 lakh every year to Educate Girls for the last three years. Her NGO has used the funds to train the management committees of schools, and to set up a 13-member ‘sarpanch’ (a parent-–teacher body) and a balsabha (which appoints girls in leadership roles to highlight the benefits of attending school). It has scaled up the project from 500 schools, when it started out, to 4,500 schools now. Having a core group of donors means financial stability and fewer operational hassles. “We don’t have to do a due diligence for every grant-maker , which becomes a drain on an organisation ,” says Husain. One of the three donors is Michael Pollack, who runs Pollack Holdings, his family-office investment firm in New York. When he isn’t making big investment decisions, he teaches ethics and philosophy at the New York University. Pollack was a hostage at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai during the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. “I barely survived and that motivated me to engage in philanthropic work in India,” he says. Pollack credits Dasra with “finding” Educate Girls and making an investment. “Dasra has helped us in capacity building and technical support,” adds Husain. “It watches over us to make sure we don’t make any big mistakes.” Dasra spends 250 days during the three-year funding period to help the NGO scale up. “We help them restructure the management team and we act as a sounding board,” says Sanghavi of Dasra. For this, it charges a commission of Rs 10 lakh a year or 10% of the grant funding.

DONOR INVOLVEMENT:
Pollack’s engagement with Educate Girls is not just financial. He has had two US universities, Harvard and Michigan, evaluate the NGO’s results. He has also introduced Husain to new donors, helped in board recruitment and contributed to the NGO’s business plan. “I meet Safeena three times a year and speak to her twice a month on phone,” he says. Pollack also exchanges notes with the other US donor, a friend, on the progress Educate Girls is making. Of the three donors, Pollack is the most active as his work schedule is flexible and it lets him engage with Husain often. Intimate donor involvement has allowed effective corrective action to be taken in the Dongarpada well project. Wanting to provide technical support to NARAD, the NGO implementing the project, the five donors enlisted an engineering firm in Mumbai , instead of using local engineers . The firm estimated the project cost at Rs 5.2 lakh. But there was a problem. “They (the firm) has visited the site just twice in eight months since the work started,” says Sunil Bhat, founder of NARAD. “I had predicted that it would not be feasible to hire them, but the donors insisted .” The project was delayed, during which time cement prices and labour costs rose. NARAD revised the project cost to Rs 6.5 lakh. “The donors have agreed to fund the difference,” says GiveIndia’s Varadarajan. Close involvement made such a call possible. “I am not one of the more active members, but this is the advantage of a giving circle,” says Tandon. “If one of us is short on time, others can step in and help the NGO sort out issues.” Maluste agrees. “A collaborative investment model helps spread the risk of a project over 8-10 people,” he says. The satisfaction comes from seeing the impact of projects like Dongarpada. “I used to spend five hours walking up and down everyday for water,” says Gond, a dark, wiry man. He now puts that time in paddy fields. “I used to earn Rs 40 a day. Now, it’s . 50,” he says. Priya Dinkar Bhave, the 23–yearold housewife of a paddy farmer, used to ration water between April and June. “I have enough for all household activities as well as for the cattle,” she says. “With greater access to water, their (people of Dongarpada) hygiene standards have improved,” says Bhat of NARAD.

GREATER IMPACT:
The impact that giving circles can deliver is typified by what happened at the Ananya Trust in Bangalore after it opened a funding association with GiveIndia in 2004. Ananya Trust runs a school for first-generation learners, children of migrant labourers and economically backward groups. “Children of migrant labourers drop out of school as they move from one place to another,” says Dr Shashi Rao, founder and managing trustee of the Trust. “Or, they need to stay home to look after their siblings, as both parents work. Some have never been to school.” A classroom in Ananya can have children of different age groups. That’s because, say, a 10-year-old could have been to school only for a couple of years and would still be in first grade. “Ours is not a traditional school,” says Rao. “We use kinesthetic to teach logic and use what children are good at to build their other intelligence faculties.” There’s even a boarding facility. It costs Ananya Rs 2,000 per child per month to cover transport, food, medical and school supplies. In its 13 years, Ananya has helped 250 kids. Before GiveIndia, it was educating 20-25 children a year. For the past six years, this number has been 50-60 . This April, 20 donors from GiveIndia came together to sponsor 20 girls for a year. “They have committed Rs 4.8 lakh for a year,” says Rao. Ananya received 80% of the money in April and the remaining 20% will come in December. Rao prefers this mode of funding to institutional grants, which comes monthly and with a lingering uncertainty. “We feel more secure this way,” says Rao. Bhat of NARAD agrees. “I had a grant from a foundation once, but they decided not to work in this area,” he recounts. “So, I had to go chasing funds again.” Rajeev Goswami, CEO of Viastay, a travel portal, is one of the members of GiveIndia’s giving circle for Ananya. “This is the first experience for all of us,” he says. “We are discovering how to leverage our businessbuilding skills and networks to help the NGO.” Goswami says that by bringing a sense of ownership, the givingcircle approach makes it “more sustainable” . “The idea is to get the donors actively engaged so that they feel responsible for the progress being made,” adds Pollack . When individuals join forces and use their resources collectively , they can do more.

GiveIndia partners with Times of India for the Times Social Impact Awards

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:47:00 +0000

We at GiveIndia are extremely pleased and proud to partner with India’s largest selling news paper The Times of India and JP Morgan, the esteemed financial firm, as they roll out their first Times Social Impact Awards.

Times of India recognizes the wide disparity which permeates the fabric of Indian society, and wishes to applaud and encourage those people and organizations who have pulled up their sleeves and are actively participating to erase the blemishes that blot the face of our nation.

Awards are going to be given in 5 spheres: Education, Healthcare, Livelihood, Environment and Advocacy/Empowerment.

There are 3 awards in each sphere:
•    a non-governmental organization (NGO);
•    a corporate-backed organization; and
•    a government body at the state or district level.

In addition a Lifetime Achievement Award and Global Impact Award will also be conferred. You can apply/nominate any of the above at http://timessocialawards.com

In short there are problems. Problems of various kinds; big and small relating to poverty, inequity women’s issues, illiteracy, disease, unemployment and a thousand other more problems.   And then there are two types of people a) Who sit, watch and whine. b) Who assess, act and address the issue. So which group of people would be more beneficial to society? From which it follows, which group should be recognized, applauded and encouraged to perpetuate the work they do? At GiveIndia the obvious answer to us is (as we are guessing it would be for you) group b. And the Times group does not just pick the right answer; but they are also going to recognize, applaud, and encourage the foot soldiers of change through the Times of India Social Impact Awards.

The Times of India Social Impact Awards will be handed over to those organizations that have been creating long term impact in India. GiveIndia, Dasra and Guidestar India are process partners who are helping TOI in the initial shortlisting process. We feel that these awards will surely encourage and generate more interest in the work of “nation changing” which these people and organizations have taken upon themselves to do.

If you know of any NGO, corporate body or govt agency doing great work do go ahead and nominate them for these awards.

A Philanthropic Conundrum!

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:06:00 +0000

Today we bring to you an interesting conundrum. Thanks to one of our regular blog contributors, Sriram Hariharan, we bring to you a philanthropic crossword to tease your brain cells this upcoming weekend. The first 3 all-correct entries will receive donation vouchers of Rs. 1,000 each to use on the GiveIndia site. In addition the first 10 all-correct entries will also receive a book (The Power of Half) about a family who have given away 50% of their wealth towards charitable causes in a joint decision. Please send in your answers to rakhee@giveindia.org.

Across
   1   Did he beat a MBA to work for leprosy affected people in Maharashtra? (4,4)
   5   Anu, businesswoman & philanthropist from Pune, also a Board member of GiveIndia (3)
   8    Eminent Historian, Lord Rama's friend (4)
   9    This family has setup one of India's largest charitable trusts (4)
   11   Pakistani cricketer who built the nation's first cancer hospital (5,4)
   13   Government law supposed to provide free and compulsory school education (1,1,1)
   14    He has pledged to give 99% of his wealth (6,7)
   16    Organization trying to save a central Indian river (1,1,1)
   17    Co-founder of "The Giving Pledge" (4,5)
   20    "Be the change you want to see in the world." Who said this? (6)
   21   When it comes to giving this, rich and poor are equal (6)
   23   Candles for a cause (5)
   24    Early to bed, Early to rise makes a person, _______(y), Wealthy and Wise? (6)
   25   If you are organizing a dinner for fund raiser, make sure you have a great .... (4)
   26    From vegetable oils to IT to Education (4,6)

Down
   2   Chennai based foundation working to extend life beyond death (5)
   3    Some NGOs are about Advocacy, some are about Implementation, others create ......... (9)
   4   Can someone distribute the rotten wheat in FCI warehouse to reduce this? (10)
   5   Dark Continent that deserves social support (6)
   6    "One who dies rich dies disgraced." Who said this? (6, 8)
   7   You (5)
   10   NGOs don't exist for the purpose of ...… (6)
   12   Food Goddess restaurant in Singapore - Pay as much as you want (11)
   15   Easy way to know what the government is doing (1,1,1)
   18   Organization behind Eureka schools (3)
   19   What you can give can only be given by your family (3)
   22   Their 108 vehicles have a right of way on the road (1,1,1,1)

Do let us know if you found this tough, easy or just about right? Would you like to see more such games and trivia featured on the GiveIndia blog?

We are listening to you...

dhavaludani@gmail.com — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:04:00 +0000

As part of an exercise to review our Listing criteria, we conducted a donor survey in April 2010. One key result of the survey was that many of you said that you would like us to visit an NGO as part of our listing due diligence process.

We have therefore decided to make a visit mandatory for our listed as well as pipeline NGOs from this year onwards. To cover the increased cost of making visits we are now increasing the listing donation from Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 14,000. The additional cost of Rs. 6,500 is intended to cover the average cost of travel, stay and honorarium of the assessors.

We have incorporated two more changes in our Listing criteria as a result of the findings from our survey:

Earlier no religious or political organization could list with us. However we observed many such organizations working for the benefit of poor without bias of religion/caste/race/tribe. Hence we have now decided that religious and political organizations can apply for listing as long as funds raised through GiveIndia are used by those NGOs for non-religious/non-political purposes.
Earlier organizations had to demonstrate that 50% of the beneficiaries in their programmes came from the poorest of poor segments of society. However this was found to be too restrictive and did not allow organizations with less than 50% poor beneficiaries to be listed with GiveIndia. So we have changed this criteria so that organizations applying for listing must ensure that 100% beneficiaries of donations received through GiveIndia are poor - irrespective of its total beneficiary pool