Join the 2014 Summit on Social Media & Online Giving in Delhi using your GuideStar India discount code

GuideStar India is pleased to invite you to the 2-day Summit on Social Media & Online Giving presented by GlobalGiving and Social Media for Nonprofits on July 1 & 2, 2014 in Delhi. If you are already into online fundraising, you will learn more about using the online medium effectively, and if you are yet to make a beginning, the summit is the right place to get started!

About GlobalGiving: GlobalGiving is a unique online fundraising platform
that connects non-profit organizations with a vast network of individual donors
and corporate partners, including Microsoft, Dell, HP, and more.
GlobalGiving works closely with their partners to offer online fundraising
tools and campaigns, training opportunities, and one-on-one strategic support. Read
more at https://www.globalgiving.org/     

Outside the
United States, GlobalGiving has more partners in India than any other country
in the world. More than 120 Indian organizations are actively fundraising on
the website and more and more organizations are joining GlobalGiving every
year.

About Social Media for
Nonprofits: Social Media for Nonprofits is a nonprofit committed to
providing nonprofits quality and accessible education on leveraging the power
of social media for social good. They are the only series in the world dedicated
to Social Media for Social Change. They provide capacity building training to
nonprofits in this area with programs focused on fundraising, awareness, and
advocacy.

About the programme: This 2-day event from GlobalGiving is designed to equip
organizations with knowledge, skills and resources to engage supporters and
raise funds online. This event is produced in partnership with Social
Media for Nonprofits, the premiere global event series on social media for
social good.

What are the benefits for the participant/ your organization:
The 2014 Summit
on Social Media & Online Giving will bring together fundraising
practitioners from India and South Asia to learn how other organizations are
using online tools and social media like email, Facebook,
and GlobalGiving to tackle their funding needs and collaborate to
find ways to further their causes online.



Also
through panel discussions and hands-on workshops, you will
explore:

-  The latest trends in online giving;


-  The future of corporate social responsibility in
India;
-  Best practices in storytelling, donor engagement, campaign planning;
-  Valuable techniques for online measurement and analysis;
-  and much more! 

Read more about the summit at http://www.globalgiving.org/summit-2014/

Who can apply: This two-day event will
bring together social media & fundraising practitioners from India and
South Asia. Those handling marketing, fundraising and communications would find
the summit greatly useful. We encourage heads of organisations also to join.
Organisations with FCRA are encouraged to apply as you could better leverage
the global online giving community.



How to Apply and
Programme Fee Details :  The Registration fee is Rs.4500 but for GuideStar India registered NGOs
there is a waiver of 10 %  on the
registration fees.  Organisations registered with GuideStar India, need to pay only Rs 4050 by using their discount code [you would have received an email with your discount code. If you need it, please write a mail to info@guidestarindia.org with your organization name and GuideStar Number (GSN)]. NGOs not yet registered with GuideStar India, can immediately get registered with us at http://www.guidestarindia.org/Register.aspx and send a request to mail@guidestarindia.org for the discount code.

You need to
click this link http://summit2014.doattend.com/, enter the number of persons and type the discount
code obtained from GuideStar India and click on apply discount and further fill the
registration form and make the payment online using your debit or credit card.
This will ensure quick registration and confirmation. If you have any
difficulty in registering online, please write an email to mgale@globalgiving.org with a copy to info@guidestarindia.org.

Date and Duration of the
programme – On 1^st and 2^nd
July from 9am to 5pm each day 

Where the programme will be conducted –

Jacaranda

Habitat World, at IHC,

Lodhi Road

New Delhi-110003

(Entry from gate number 3 on Vardhman Marg)

How you will know about the status of
your application:   You
will receive an email immediately from system after registration payment is
received online

Closing date for application: This is on first come
first served basis. So please register at the earliest.

For details/clarifications:  Please write an email
to Alexis Nadin at projecthelp@globalgiving.org and copy 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

Did you make a difference this Diwali?

Shefali Anand of Wall Street Journal says "GuideStar India's website is a one-stop-shop to look up financial statements, annual reports and in some cases tax returns of more than 1,000 non-profits", in her article urging people to use online tools that are now available to make it easier for you to donate.

We are happy to share the WSJ article with you.

This Diwali, Stop Hesitating and Donate

By SHEFALI ANAND

Don't let laziness or ignorance hold you back from making this Diwali a day of giving to those less fortunate than you.

Gifts for your maid and driver or office boys are all good, but you can afford to be more generous. We are in a country where nearly 400 million people live on less than what it costs you to buy a can of Coca-Cola, or popcorn at a multiplex.

Recent studies have shown that we give away a much smaller percentage of our wealth than our counterparts in Western countries.

Don't be a part of this statistic. What's more, you can get tax breaks for your charitable giving.

Charitable experts in India say that individuals often hesitate in giving because they are not confident if a particular organization is legitimate and if their money will be put to good use. Also, while individuals sometimes have a cause in mind that they would like to support, they don't know how to find a legitimate organization which works in that sphere.

With more than a million non-profit organizations in India, that can be a tough task. But several online tools are now available to make it easier for you to share goodness.

To begin with, several large non-profit organizations like Child Rights and You (CRY), Smile Foundation, and HelpAge India allow you to donate money online using your debit or credit card, or through online banking.

If you want to help the smaller guys, websites of non-profit organizations like Mumbai-based GiveIndia and Samhita, and Delhi-based Charities Aid Foundation India, provide a range of options of charities that work in various fields.

These sites allow you to search by a cause – say education or children or the environment – and, based on your budget, you'll get a list of specific programs that you can fund. You can also narrow down options by region or by the tax benefits of the donation.

For instance, a search on GiveIndia.org for donation options under the broad umbrella of "Health" throws up choices like funding a month-long tuberculosis treatment center for poor patients in a slum by donating 7,000 rupees ($140) to Operation Asha, or paying 1,300 rupees ($26) for the cataract surgery of a poor person, administered by a non-profit named Jan Manas Vikas Sansthan.

GiveIndia currently has around 200 non-profits listed on its site. Chief Executive Officer Dhaval Udani says that charitable giving through their site has grown 30% to 40% over the last five years. "It's still very low compared to the potential," says Mr. Udani.

Samhita.org, launched in 2010, follows a model similar to GiveIndia and currently has around 100 non-profits on its website.

All these aggregators -- GiveIndia, Samhita and Charities Aid Foundation India -- do some basic due diligence into the legitimacy of the non-profits listed on their sites, primarily by assessing their financial and legal documents.

GiveIndia and Samhita also take care of a common question donors have: "Hey I gave the money – whatever happened to it?" says Priya Naik, chief executive officer at Samhita. Donors are provided a progress report on the specific project or non-profit they are funding.

Such feedback gives donors the security that "the money is being utilized well," says Mr. Udani of GiveIndia.

If you want to look for other non-profit options or want to donate on a larger scale, look up the websites of Credibility Alliance and GuideStar India, which work toward increasing accountability and transparency in the non-profit world.

Credibility Alliance, set up in 2004, gives accreditation to non-profits which meet certain financial, governance and transparency standards. Credibility Alliance verifies these standards based on the non-profit's financial statements, annual reports and other documents, as well as on-site visits. Non-profits either meet "minimum" norms or go a level higher of meeting "desirable" norms, by having a more independent board of directors and by publicly sharing details about staff salaries.

If a non-profit is accredited by Credibility Alliance, donors can have "a basic assurance that their money is not going to any wrong hands," says S. P. Selvi, executive director. See here the list of 250 accredited members. Ms. Selvi says 140 more are under review.

Meanwhile, GuideStar India's website is a one-stop-shop to look up financial statements, annual reports and in some cases tax returns of more than 1,000 non-profits. This is all self-reported data and GuideStar doesn't do detailed due diligence on the listed non-profits. For now, GuideStar is meant to "act as a repository of information," says Chief Executive Pushpa Aman Singh.

Ms. Singh and her team often work with large donors and companies, connecting them with specific non-profits and charitable programs.

Ms. Singh says that in recent years the option of "payroll giving" – in which some money is deducted every month from an employee's paycheck – has become popular. If your company provides such an option, sign up for it.

If you would rather help a charitable organization in your neighborhood and want to get some comfort about its activities, you can do your own due diligence by asking to see the organization's audited accounts, financial statements, and annual report detailing their activities. You might not understand all the financial stuff but if they are open to sharing the information, it should give you some confidence that they are willing to be transparent.

Whichever route you take to giving, it's more important you take action now.

I'm betting Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, whom we invite into our homes on Diwali, will be more generous if we share her bounty with others.

Happy Diwali to all!

Are you late for India's biggest online fundraising opportunity? NO

India Giving Challenge 2011: the prizes just got bigger. Register for almost a month of exciting online fundraising!

India Giving Challenge 2011 (IGC 2011) started on Sep 6 and within 2 weeks, NGOs raised more than Rs. 30 lakhs! 42 NGOs registered specifically for IGC 2011 and an equal number are at various stages, hurrying up to complete the registration process.

Though IGC 2011 is in its 4th week, there is still plenty of time to fundraise and win prizes. The contest is open till Oct 20, 2011!

What is India Giving Challenge

India Giving Challenge (IGC) is an online event held by GiveIndia as a part of the Joy of Giving Week 2011, when India celebrates its culture of giving. This event is to encourage NGOs and companies to raise funds online and get rewarded for their efforts in turn.

This is the perfect opportunity to go out and ASK people to donate to your organisation. It does not matter who they are. It does not matter if they have supported your organisation in the past or not. It does not matter if they have ever donated in the past or not.

The basic idea behind the India Giving Challenge is to build a community approach to fundraising. The event encourages you to reach out to all your networks for donations, and get rewarded with additional funds, for the donations that you receive (if you qualify). So please use this opportunity to reach out to
- donors - both old and new
- supporters
- Board Members’ networks
- Employees' networks
- Your personal networks - spouse, in-laws, spouse’s friends, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins and neighbours.

Please remember that there are daily prizes to the tune of Rs. 50,000 to be won EVERYDAY. There are well-wisher prizes to be won during the Joy of Giving Week (Oct 2-8) only. A well-wisher of GiveIndia, who has been following the challenge closely for the past 3 years, has decided that he too wants to be a part of the event. He has been impressed by the efforts of participating NGOs over the years and so to motivate NGOs to reach out all the more, has decided to sponsor the following set of prizes:

Matching prizes to the top 50 NGOs that raise the most money during Joy of Giving Week (i.e. Sun, Oct 2nd- Sat, Oct 8th) as follows:

NGO Position	Matching Grant Limit (Rs.)	Minimum Funds to be Raised to Qualify (Rs.)
1-10	35,000 each	35,000
11-20	30,000 each	30,000
21-30	25,000 each	25,000
31-40	15,000 each	15,000
41-50	10,000 each	10,000

This gives 50 NGOs a chance to win a prize from Oct 2-8! And these are in addition to the already announced Rs. 75 lacs (http://www.giveindia.org/t-india-giving-challenge-2011-matching-grant.aspx ). And all of this will count towards your overall prizes!

So, put this opportunity right on the top of your “to-do” list and apply today!

Depending on how ready your documents are, you may take 2 to 5 days to complete your registration. The sooner you register, the bigger your chance of raising donations and matching funds. [You can see below, the list of top 10 NGOs as of now and feedback from an organisation that participated in IGC).

To apply, visit: http://www.guidestarindia.org/IGC2011.aspx and read the eligibility criteria, process and fill the simple form today.

If you are already raising funds through GiveIndia, you need not register specifically for IGC. You may simply write to tarika@giveindia.org for details about creating your iGive (fundraising) page.

What is GuideStar India's role

As the NGO Outreach & Registration Partner for the India Giving Challenge 2011, GuideStar India creates awareness about IGC among NGOs and helps NGOs complete the necessary process required to get registered with GiveIndia, specifically for IGC 2011. We carry out due diligence of NGOs as per criteria set by GiveIndia.

All NGOs featured on GuideStar India need to upload only additional documents and complete the processes unique to IGC 2011. NGOs that apply for IGC 2011 get automatically featured on GuideStar India, on submission of the basic information required for GuideStar India registration.

If you have any questions, please call us on 022-26856900/ 99.

Register and enjoy the online fundraising experience of IGC 2011!