How to use your Annual Report effectively for fundraising & Legal Compliance

Workshop for NGOs of Gujarat to learn how to create an Annual Report that serves as a powerful fundraising tool and to understand legal compliance issues, especially about changes in the recent Finance Bill. Sign up for the workshop on 7th August in Ahmedabad.

GuideStar India and Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy (CAP) are delighted to organise, in association with Blind Peoples’ Association, a one-day workshop on the important topics of:

How to use your Annual Report effectively for fundraising

&

Legal Compliances

About the workshop

Your annual report is a powerful tool to communicate, in your voice, the story of your non-profit organization's activities and accomplishments during the past year. An insightful annual report would help the reader understand the challenges faced by your organisation, your plans to accomplish your mission, and the support you require. A report on activities with summarised financial information and disclosures on compliances enhances your credibility and inspires confidence. Pushpa Aman Singh – Founder & CEO, Guidestar India will conduct a highly interactive session to help you think through the content of your Annual Report and prepare a concise template that is sure to provide users of your report, particularly donors, all the information they seek. She will explain the what, why and how of making your Annual Report a powerful fundraising tool. The session will include a step-by-step approach. Please bring you latest annual report and audited financial statements so that you can get answers to specific questions.

The legal requirements for NGOs in India are many under the Income Tax Act, FCRA and as per acts governing trusts, societies and nonprofit companies. Most donors look for organisations that are legally compliant and those that also disclose details of compliance with applicable laws of the land. Over the years, we have witnessed tighter requirements in the Income Tax Act. There are key changes impacting NGOs as introduced in the recent Finance Bill. Many NGOs are yet to fully comprehend and practice changes as per FCRA 2010. Mr Noshir Dadrawala, CEO of Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy will help you understand the implications for your NGO and the steps you need to take be legally compliant. He will explain in simple terms and use examples that will help you understand a complex subject. He will also address common questions.

Who should attend?

Chief Functionaries, Finance Heads, Fundraising & Communications Managers. We recommend that you nominate two persons (one from Programmes/ Fundraising/ Communications and one from Finance/ Accounts).

The workshop will be conducted in a mix of English, Hindi and Gujarati.

About the Speakers

Noshir Dadrawala:

Noshir H. Dadrawala has studied law and especially non-profit law and has been passionate about the philanthropy sector. Noshir has been the Chief Executive of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy (CAP) right since its inception in 1986. In his capacity as CEO, Noshir is consulted for advice on matters such as the choice of set-up of non-profit organizations, integrated legal and fiscal compliance, tax exemptions and deductions, Foreign Contributions Regulatory Act (FCRA) and good governance best practices and the Legal Aspects of Corporate Social Support & CSR. He has been invited as a guest speaker at many international conferences. He has also conducted seminars and workshops for the grant making and development sector across the country and is avisiting faculty member at leading business schools.

Recently with the mandatory CSR, he has been a speaker at many forums about the implications of

Section 135 of the new Indian Companies Act 2013 . This includes the Deutsche Bank, CII – Pune, CII- Mumbai among others and Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy. Even before CSR became

mandatory corporates such as Thermax, forbes Marshall, Atlas Copco, Tata Motors, Titan, HDFC

among others have availed of his expertise while forming their CSR units or corporate foundations.

His international affiliations include serving on the board of the International Centre for Nonprofit

Law (ICNL) and serving as a member of the Asian Philanthropy Advisory Network (APAN).

Pushpa Aman Singh:

As the Founder, CEO of GuideStar India (2009), Pushpa set up GuideStar India to systematically organise information of India’s vast and complex voluntary sector in a globally trusted and user-friendly fashion. She draws on her vast experience in the financial services industry to make the portal easy for NGOs to self-report and add great value for users through verification and due-  diligence.  Pushpa’s approach to NGOs and the philanthropic community is influenced by her long association with GiveIndia. She loves to create reporting tools and frameworks that capture verifiable facts and inspiring stories. She has been successful in establishing linkages across networks and sectors to build the philanthropy eco-system in India.

Pushpa has conducted numerous workshops for NGOs and corporates, and, is a popular speaker about the Indian NGO Sector. Pushpa is a member of the Learning Series Committee of the CredibilityAlliance and is on the Partnership Advisory Group of TechSoup Global. She is also a member of CII’s Industry-Civil Society Interface Committee and the Pro-bono Task Force of India@75.

Details of the Workshop:

Day & Date: Thursday 7^th August, 2014

Time:  The registrations will start at 9.30 am and the workshop will end at 5.30 pm.

Food and refreshments: Mid morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be served

Venue: - Blind People's Association, Porecha Auditorium, Arvind Narottam Lalbhai Research Centre (Building No.8), BPA Campus, Jagdish Patel Chowk, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015.

FEES:	For all those registered with CAP/ GuideStar India/ BPA partner	For all NOT registered with CAP/ GuideStar India/ BPA partner
	Rs. 1000 per participant	Rs. 1200 per participant

Registration Procedure

To register for the workshop, please fill the short online form at http://www.guidestarindia.org/workshop_registration.aspx

Payment Details:

FOR SECURITY PURPOSES & OTHER REASONS ALL PAYMENTS NEED TO BE MADE IN ADVANCE.

NO CASH/CHEQUES WILL BE COLLECTED ON THE WORKSHOP DAY.

Payment Option:

Cheque / DD payable in Mumbai in the name of - Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy

Send your payment ONLY to:

GuideStar India, 712 A wing, Corporate Avenue, Sonawala Road, Goregaon (E), Mumbai-400063, Tel +91-22-26856900/99. Write on the cover “ Ahmedabad Workshop”.  Please do not address your courier to any specific individual as some courier companies and postal authorities do not deliver.

Please send a mail to info@guidestarindia org once you courier your cheque.

Confirmation Message:

Once the payment is received, you will receive a confirmation mail from GuideStar India within 2 working days. If you do not hear from us, please send a mail to info@guidestarindia.org 

About the Organizations

Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy (CAP)	Since its founding in 1986, the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy (CAP) has helped philanthropic organisations comply with the complex web of legal issues governing charitable giving in India. CAP specialises in all legal matters concerning the Trusts/Societies Act, Income Tax Act, Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA), and a host of allied laws and good governance and management practices.
GuideStar India	www.guidestarindia.org is a globally trusted, fully searchable portal of reliable and comparable information of over 4500 NGOs. Its powerful search engine allows individuals, corporate, government and other institutions to access repository of NGO information within minutes. As outreach and due diligence partners for several institutions and corporates, GuideStar India connects NGOs to several opportunities for fundraising, capacity building, recognition, volunteering and donations. GuideStar India educates and equips NGOs to embrace best practices in transparency and public accountability for greater social impact.
Blind People's Association	Blind People's Association is a professional organization which believes in providing equal opportunities to all categories of people with disabilities. Consistent with the philosophy, it works for providing education, employment opportunities, equal rights and quality life for them. Since 1984, BPA has continuously strived to provide employment opportunities to people with disability. During the last five years, it has been successful in providing employment to as many as 1500 people with Usability who are presently employed in public as well as private sectors and are capable of handling important assignments in banks, railways, hospitals, restaurants, etc

For details/clarifications:  Please write an email to   info@guidestarindia.org.  You may also call and speak with Lathika/ Geeta at 022 26856900/98/99.

If you know other NGOs who could benefit from this opportunity, please forward this mail and encourage them to apply

CSR in India: from backroom to boardroom, our article reproduced from the Alliance magazine

The Companies Act 2013, which took effect from April this year, requires large and profitable companies[1] to spend 2 per cent of average net profits during the three immediately preceding financial years in pursuit of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. While the act does not make spending of the 2 per cent mandatory, it does require companies either to report spending or to explain their failure to spend. How are companies and NGOs responding?

The act makes company boards responsible for compliance, taking CSR discussions right into the boardroom. The CSR committee (comprising board members) must recommend a CSR policy, indicating activities to be undertaken and expenditure to be incurred, and monitor the policy. Having approved the CSR policy, the board must ensure it is made public; that agreed activities[2] are undertaken; and that spending is reported or failure to spend explained – an expend or explain approach.

The act encourages companies to work with lean CSR teams and maximize funds spent on projects by allowing them to collaborate among themselves (provided they can separately track and report company spending). CSR spending must be for poor and disadvantaged communities, not only for the benefit of employees and their families. It must be measurable in rupees. Advocacy and human rights spending is not included – these are causes that businesses generally do not support.

How are companies responding?
Based on financial information for the past three years, 16,358 companies would be required to spend US $2.5 billion to $3 billion in the current financial year, while a 2008 study of 1,000 of the largest Indian companies by Karmayog.org found that 49 per cent did no CSR. It therefore seems that for nearly 40-50 per cent of the companies, the next couple of years will involve learning CSR from scratch. Some are likely to make a donation to the Prime Minister’s Fund or other central government funds or contribute to well-known NGOs.

But a couple of hundred companies that are already doing CSR are working on aligning their current programmes with the requirements of the act. Multinational corporations that have been implementing CSR under global initiatives are engaging leading law firms to help them understand the implications. The remaining midsize to large companies will be much sought after by individual consultants and firms seeking to advise them.

Leading industry associations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry and FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) have been organizing seminars and workshops, while the Department of Public Enterprises has been running workshops for CSR managers. Several task forces have been set up by industry bodies for creating matchmaking portals, documenting case studies and organizing events to bring NGOs and corporate CSR face to face. The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs has been organizing outreach programmes for companies and NGOs, and has launched a CSR certification course.

How are NGOs responding?
Out of about 2 million NGOs in India, fewer than 5,000 have been attending workshops and conferences, responding to forms and surveys, etc. Of these, about 3,000 have been seriously engaging foundations, companies, high net worth individuals and India’s decade-old online philanthropy marketplaces. These NGOs are taking concrete steps to engage companies: understanding requirements of the new act, getting validated by organizations such as the Credibility Alliance and GuideStar India; participating in CSR events; strengthening their fundraising team, and so on. There is some nervousness about how to access CSR funds. While the CSR kitty is not trivial, it is likely that the incremental flow will be only about US $1.5 billion to $2 billion, almost the same as the US $1.9 billion received as foreign contributions by 13,193 NGOs during the year ended March 2012. Many government programmes implemented through NGOs have bigger budgets.

Challenges and opportunities
It would be a pity if companies overlooked the existing knowledge and infrastructure created by foundations and philanthropic intermediaries and started reinventing the wheel. Companies and NGOs need to learn about one another and build trust.

The act will bring greater transparency in corporate giving. By 2020, CSR is likely to be more evolved and generate more information to inform giving. The work of NGOs will gain more visibility and market forces will drive greater efficiency and effectiveness. In a few years, CSR rules could move towards giving greater flexibility and shift the accent on reporting from ‘spending’ to impact and outcomes.

1 Companies having a net worth of Rs 5 billion or more or a turnover of Rs 10 billion or more or a net profit of Rs 50 million or more. (Rs 60 = approx US $1.)
2 As per Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013.

This article by Pushpa Aman Singh appeared in the Alliance magazine, 2 June 2014. The article is reproduced here with permission from the Alliance magazine. The full article is available only to subscribers of the Alliance magazine. 

If you are based in a low or medium income country, you can sign up for a free electronic subscription to Alliance. Click here to find out more:

http://www.alliancemagazine.org/en/content/free-electronic-subscriptions-0

Pushpa Aman Singh is CEO of GuideStar India. Email pushpa@guidestarindia.org

NGO India 2012 - event to connect with 5000+ visitors

Register for the workshop in Mumbai (Dec 15)/ Delhi (Dec 19)/ Chennai (Jan10).

NGO India 2012 (www.india-ngo.org)  is a not-for-profit large scale exhibition and conference designed to bring together NGOs in India to share learning and best practices and engage with key stakeholders including local and international corporates, foundations, government and the general public. NGO India 2012, is being organised by UBM India, a global business media company that does over 50 exhibitions and conferences every year in India.

NGO India 2012 aims to:

• Raise awareness of NGOs and their work
• Create opportunities to showcase the good work of NGOs among the public, to facilitate volunteering, fundraising and other positive action
• Facilitate NGOs of different sizes serving varied communities to network with each other
• Connect NGOs with experts in good governance, PR & communications and fundraising
• Provide a platform that will allow NGOs to engage with government and corporate stakeholders

Why you should exhibit at NGO India 2012

Exhibiting at NGO India is FREE to all NGOs & Foundations that meet UBM India’s eligibility criteria which will be verified by GuideStar India. At this 3 day event, 150-200 NGOs would be showcasing their work to over 4000 visitors from corporates, grant makers & NGOs and 5000 visitors from the general public. There would be conferences on good governance, fundraising, PR & communications free of cost for NGOs to connect with experts in these areas.

Why you should register for the workshop

UBM India and GuideStar India are organising workshops for NGOs and Foundations across India. The workshops will be done in a mix of English, Hindi and Tamil (in Chennai).

The workshop will provide detailed information about the 3 day event NGO India 2012 to be held in Gurgaon from March 16-18, 2012. Registration is FREE.

Representatives from UBM India’s Operations & Marketing teams would conduct sessions on how to build up your stall and what kind of promotion & branding can be done within the stall so as to showcase your activities in the best possible manner. They will screen videos of similar events conducted by UBM for the NGO community in the UK & Brazil.

GuideStar India will explain the due diligence criteria and process for NGOs to qualify for participation in NGO India 2012.

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Where	When	Venue
Mumbai	Thursday, Dec 15, 2011	Hotel Kohinoor Corner, Kohinoor Hall 3rd floor, Opp. Siddhivinayak Mandir, Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 400 025. Tel: 022-24226743 / 24372441 / 24361282
Delhi	Monday, Dec 19, 2011	India International Centre, Annexe Building (please note that this is not the main IIC building), Next to World Bank Lecture Hall II, 40, Lodi Road, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi – 110 003 Phone : 011-24619431
Chennai	Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012	Will be declared in due course

Who should register for the workshop

Heads of Organisations, Heads of Fundraising/ Programmes/ Communications from NGOs & Foundations. A maximum of ONLY two participants per organisation

How to register for the Workshop

To register for the workshop, please fill the form at http://guidestarindia.org/NGOIndia2012.aspx   If you face any difficulty, please call Sangeeta at GuideStar India on 022-26856900/99.

How will you know if your Participation is Confirmed

You will receive a mail from GuideStar India within 2 days of receiving your registration form. If you do not receive a mail, please feel free to call Mercina at GuideStar India to verify your confirmation status. Confirmation is on first come first served basis. If you have any questions regarding participation, please write to info@guidestarindia.org.

If you would like to know more about NGO India 2012, please visit www.india-ngo.org or contact Harsha Advani on 022-66122630.

Please register for the workshop at http://guidestarindia.org/NGOIndia2012.aspx and await email confirmation of your registration.

 
If you would like to hear of more such opportunities, please complete your free registration with GuideStar India at http://www.guidestarindia.org/Registerorg.aspx.