July 2003

Editorial

Faith based philanthropy - boon or bane

Faith based philanthropy in India, as in other parts of the world has been linked to religion and has played an important part in providing succour to those in distress. Throughout history, religious organisations and places of worship such as churches, temples and mosques have been among the richest in society, owning land and other assets as well as cash donated by the devout. To date donations and contributions to religious organisations far exceed that contributed to secular organisations.

Religious groups such as the Swaminarayan movement,the Sathya Sai Organisation, the Chinmaya Mission and the Ramakrishna Mission have been responsive to the social, developmental and psychological needs of society. In addition to subscribing to traditional modes of charity (schools, hospitals etc.) they have moved to areas like rural development, women's empowerment and income generation which usually are the forte of secular nonprofits. These organisations have their representative bodies in other parts of the world, and mainly raise and channelise funds from the diaspora. Indians abroad donated in large amounts especially after national emergencies like the Kargil war, Orissa cyclone and the Gujarat earthquake.

However, we are well aware of the flip side to this. Donations in the name of religion have been used to fund the terrorist bombings in New York. More recently the spotlight was on IDRF, a nonprofit organisation based in the US, that was accused of utilising diaspora contributions to fund right wing Hindu fundamentalists.

Irrespective of how one views religious philanthropy, there is no doubt that their impact on addressing social needs in India has been tremendous. Now, more than ever faith based organisations have to become transparent and accountable to the public, link with secular voluntary organisations and respond to immediate issues in development like caste and gender discrimination, environmental degradation and drug addiction.

Editor

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FR Snapshot

Cabbages and condoms...

A curious combination, wouldn't you think? Well, it may seem down right casual in Thailand, where restaurants and resorts by the name are common. The logic? Cabbages are a staple diet in Thailand, used by everyone and found everywhere. So the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a voluntary organisation, philosophised that for successful family planning, contraceptives need to be as common as cabbages!

Health and safety are promoted amusingly through a theme of condoms in the restaurants, from the world's largest collection of national brand condoms to bowls of condoms replacing after dinner mints. Plus, the food is delicious.

So, instead of directly asking people for funds, PDA encourages them to go out and have a good time in the spirit of philanthropy. Who can refuse?

Money spent by visitors contributes to Thailand's rural development, education, HIV and AIDS awareness and environment protection. Nearly US $ 75,000 is raised per month.

And that’s not everything. Mechai Viravaidya, the founder, believes strongly in the self-sustenance of voluntary organisations. PDA generates most income through the Population Development Company Limited (PDC), the affiliate that donates all profits to PDA. Cabbages and Condoms is only one of its enterprises.

For a voluntary organisation, a commercial venture requires diversion of time and energy from its mission. But PDA teaches you to,
Reduce dependency on donors,
Remember that you have the ability to create something out of nothing. That's an entrepreneurial skill.
Use your ability to acquire specialised and technical knowledge,
Find partners with shared goals and expertise that you lack,
Focus on businesses that take 'leverage off' your mission, skills, staff and facilities,
Do adequate research, planning and proper implementation to catapult a good idea.

PDA is now 70 per cent self reliant, primarily through the willingness to experiment.

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News in Brief

What's happening in communication & fundraising?

Dine for a cause

Working on the same lines of PDA’s fun for Philanthropy, Dream A Dream has initiated a partnership with 93 - A Restaurant on Residency Road. They have set up the Dream Table at 93. This is a table for four, wherein anyone who dines at the Dream Table after 7 pm from the 20th June 2003 to the 19th June 2004 is directly contributing to the lives of children at Dream A Dream. A part of your bill amount will contribute to fulfill these childrens' dreams. So go out and have a good time! You may call 93 @ 5550477 to reserve the Dream Table in advance. They are located at 93, Residency Road,
Bangalore - 25. For more details you may call Vishal Talreja @ 2247745 / 51145413.

SICHREM holds human rights workshops for target groups

South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) held an introductory workshop in Coorg last month on human rights and fact finding skills. It was conducted to create awareness in the tribal community, and was attended by some lawyers as well. The education included concepts, history, conventions, laws and constitutional provisions of Human Rights; international standards and mechanisms for the protection of rights were also dealt with. The Fact Finding aspect of the program emphasized the importance of researching previous instances of rights violation before acting against the violator.

Oxfam India holds conference on water resource management

A research organisation studying the US$ 500 million World Bank-assisted water resources project in Karnataka has noted that some of the most water-scarce districts have been left out. The organisation, while making its recommendations, revealed the contents of this study at a conference on community control of water resources hosted by Oxfam India in Bangalore.

The National Water Policy was criticised as lacking direction towards community management and ownership of water resources. "We can not delay striving for a rational approach towards water usage. This can be done only by the people themselves, and not the government or anyone else," said Mr Sriramappa, Oxfam India Director. There were many interesting case studies to illustrate this.

The final day of the conference witnessed a rich discussion among lawyers, academicians and social activists from South India. The Conference closed with social activists resolving to get greater rights for the people in managing their own resources, especially water.

If you have any news or announcements pertaining to communication and fundraising, do write in to us. Thank you.

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Tip of the month

Train your frontline warriors!

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Special feature

My fellowship in New York...

In January 2003, I received an email from the Center for the Study of Philanthropy (CSP) based in New York saying that I was selected for a three month fellowship to study community foundations and Diaspora Philanthropy. I was excited. New York is home to some of the largest foundations like Ford and Rockafeller Foundation.

I arrived in New York on a Saturday evening in late February exhausted and apprehensive about the months ahead. International House ( a dorm which houses 700 international students) was my home away from home for the next three months. That evening I met the other fellows from Bosnia, Canada, China, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Taiwan. There was instant bonding between us, even though we came from different countries and cultures.

The next few days saw me (and the other fellows) take our first ride on the subway, open a bank account, read a street map to find our way around Manhattan and do laundry. As a part of the fellowship we had to attend seminars which were conducted by key senior personnel from various foundations such as the New York Community Trust, the Ford Foundation, Rockafeller Foundation, Mott Foundation, the Getty Trust and other smaller foundations. We visited the Foundation Center which is the leading authority on Philanthropy in the US and houses vast resources on US and International grantmakers. We also had the privilege of attending the Council of Foundations Conference in Dallas, Texas. We got the opportunity to interact with senior staff of US foundations and attend sessions on various aspects of philanthropy. I also had to do a two week internship with the American India Foundation, which raises funds from the Indian diaspora to fund development projects on education and income generation in India.

As a part of my fellowship I had to do a research paper on Hindu Daspora and Religious Philanthropy. Hindu temples in the US with the exception of a few large ones like the Pittsburg Venkateswara temple and the Maryland Siva Vishnu temples were primarily concerned with sustaining Hindu identity and culture among the diaspora. Hindu religious groups such as the Chinmaya Mission, Sathya Sai organisation, AIM for Seva (started by Swami Dayanand Saraswati) on the other hand were able to raise significant amount of funds to help in a wide variety of causes – ranging from relief and rehabilitation to activities such as rural development, income generation and empowerment of women. Organisations like the Swaminarayan movement were able to raise significant amounts after the Gujarat earthquake and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There were disturbing issues as well. There were some organizations that served as a respectable front to Hindu right wing organizations and raisied funds from unwitting donors who did not know that their contributions were being used to foment communal hatred. But these were isolated cases.

The findings showed that there is a vast reservoir of goodwill and resources available among the Hindu diaspora in the US. However religious organisations in general were not able to tap these resources in an effective manner due to lack of transparency in reporting and public distrust about how funds were being utilised. Hindu religious organisations in the US need to adopt transparent accountablity mechanisms to negate public mistrust, approach fundraising in a strategic and professional fashion and extend their sphere of activities to areas which are currently the forte of nonprofits.

Our last month in the US was hectic - finishing reports, making presentations and receiving feedback from a panel of experts. Three months had gone by so quickly and it was time for me to return to India. I came home with the satisfaction that I received exposure to the international world of philanthropy, networked with key representatives of the US Philanthropy sector and made new friends from around the world.

Priya Anand
Head of Research and Publications

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Announcements

Short term workshop on media relations coming up!

mcas will hold it's short term training workshop on media relations from 27-29 August 2003. The workshop is designed to help organisations use media effectively to support their fundrasing strategy. The workshop will look at how the media works, making friends with the media, developing a press kit and release, planning a media campaign, and also the television, radio and Internet. For more information contact training@fundraising-india.org

Subscribe to @lliance through mcas

mcas is the official partner in India marketing @lliance, a leading quarterly development journal on the funding of civil society worldwide. Published in the UK, @lliance strives to provide a forum for discussion and communication on the challenges faced by voluntary organisations and their funders. It also seeks to stimulate seminal thinking on how these challenges can be addressed. Each issue includes a major feature on a theme e.g. community philanthropy or accreditation of NGOs, along with other features like conference reports, interviews, profiles, book reviews, columns, legislation, tax updates and a conference calendar. For more information about @lliance, visit www.allavida.org/alliance

Subscriptions to @lliance have been specially discounted for Indian subscribers starting as low as Rs 750.
For more details contact priya@fundraising-india.org

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Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates and anyone who might be interested. And do send in your queries and suggestions to training@fundraising-india.org

mcas -- MURRAY CULSHAW ADVISORY SERVICES -- Bangalore, serves the voluntary sector in India. We offer training on communication and fundraising, undertake research on related issues, publish books and maintain a database of about 8,000 organisations in India. Contact us at: 2nd Floor Vijay Kiran Building 314/1 7^th Cross Domlur Layout Bangalore 560 071 India Tel: 91-80-535 2003/ 5115 0580 email training@fundraising-india.org website: www.fundraising-india.org