This site gets US funds to Indian NGOs
An online portal providing information of more than 500 Indian non-profit organisations will be launched in 2012 to help donors in the US channelise their funds to India.
An online portal providing information of more than 500 Indian non-profit organisations will be launched in 2012 to help donors in the US channelise their funds to India.
Guidestar, an international non-profit organisation, will launch the website with the help of the US government, said Mitul Desai, senior advisor for strategic partnerships, US State Department.
On Wednesday, Desai attended the ‘Philanthropy in India Roundtable’ where 45 delegates from Indian non-profit organisations and private companies met to take the plan forward.
“There is a lot of untapped potential in the US donor market. Many donors in the US want to give more to India but don’t know how to go about it. This online portal will provide a one stop source to empower donors to make informed choices and greater exposure for the Indian NGOs,” said Desai.
Guidestar will be responsible for the strategy and execution behind the online portal. The portal would collate information on Indian NGOs certified by intermediaries such as Dasra, Credibility Alliance, Samhita, Asia Foundation and Give India.
The project was initiated by Robert Blake, US assistant secretary, seven months ago. It is estimated that India has around 1.5 million non-profit organisations working in sectors such as health, environment and education. Desai said that the US government was interested in the project to further US-India people-to-people ties, and to leverage the innovative know-how of private and non-governmental actors in promoting economic development.