Developing a Fundraising Strategy for the Dalit Foundation

INTERNAL DOCUMENT – FOR COMMENTS ONLY

Accelerating Change for equality…….

FUNDRAISING STRATEGY FOR THE DALIT FOUNDATION

APRIL 2009 – MARCH 2012

C- 58, 2nd floor,

South Extension part – II

New Delhi – 110049

India

Tel: 011-41640929

Fax: 011-41643459

LIST OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION3
2. BACKGROUND ON PHILANTHROPY

2A. Overview of Philanthropy in India5

2B.Estimated flow of funds 7

1. FUNDRAISING BY THE DALIT FOUNDATION TILL DATE9
2. OVERALL OBJECTIVES 12
3. ASSESSMENT OF SUCCESSES AND LEARNING’S 13
4. STRATEGIC OPTIONS AVAILABLE14
5. SOURCES

7A. CORPORATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS15

7B. STATUTORY SOURCES17

7C. INSTITUTIONAL DONORS19

7D. INDIVIDUALS/ MAJOR GRANT GIVERS 21

1. KEY FUNDING DRIVERS23

9. THE INDIAN ECONOMY AND THE CURRENT GLOBAL

ECONOMIC CRISIS24

10. COMMUNICATIONS25

11. IT STARTS WITH A CASE 27

12. CAMPAIGNS & MESSAGES28

13. INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS

13A. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES 29

13B. MONITORING & EVALUATION29

13C. HUMAN RESOURCES / ORGANOGRAM 29

13D. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL REPORTS 30

13E. STAFF DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING30

13F. PARTNER SUPPORT 30

1. INTRODUCTION

Dalit is a self designation for group of people of South Asian descent who were traditionally regarded as untouchables or low caste. Dalits are a mixed population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia and speak number of languages. It is impossible to differentiate between Dalits and the various caste groups on the basis of phenotypes or genetics alone. The caste system is regarded by many as a social construct between South Asian people. India has a total population of around 250 million Dalits. The word 'Dalit(a)' comes from the Hindi root dal, and means 'held under check', 'suppressed', or 'crushed', or, in a looser sense, 'oppressed'. The term was used in the 1930s as a Hindi and Marathi translation of "depressed classes", a term the British used for what are now called the scheduled castes. In 1930 there was a newspaper published for the depressed classes in Pune called "Dalit Bandu" (friends of dalits). The word was also used by B R Ambedkar in his Marathi speeches.In the context of traditional Hindu society, Dalit status has often been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any occupation involving butchering, removal of dead animals, removal of night soil (human feces) and leather work. One million Dalits work as manual scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and clearing away dead animals. Engaging in these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual who performed them, and this pollution was considered to be 'contagious'. As a result, Dalits were commonly banned and segregated from full participation in Hindu social life (they could not enter the premises of a temple or a school and stayed outside the village), while elaborate precautions were sometimes observed to prevent incidental contact between Dalits and other castes. Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural areas (where two-thirds of India's people live) in the private sphere, in common, every-day matters such as access to eating places, schools, temples and water sources. It has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere.

Most of the Dalits are bonded workers and many work in slave-like conditions to pay off debts that were incurred generations ago. The majority of Dalits live in segregation and experience violence, murder, rape and atrocities to the scale of 110,000 registered cases a year according to 2005 statistics. Common belief is these numbers are nowhere close to the real total of crimes committed against Dalits. Most crimes go unreported, and few registered cases ever get to trial.

Many Dalits who have converted to other religions in the past few centuries continue to retain their Dalit heritage. In the 1991 census, Dalits numbered just over 130 million and constituted more than 16% ofIndia's population. Discrimination against Dalits is limited to the Hindu community. Some Dalits have successfully integrated into urban Indian society, where caste origins are less obvious and less important in public life. In rural India, caste origins are more readily apparent and Dalits remain excluded from local religious life, though some qualitative evidence suggests that its severity is in fact fast diminishing.

Quick Facts

• There are more than 250 million Dalits in India.
• The Dalits are also known as the “untouchables”.
• Even though untouchability is outlawed by the Indian constitution, its practice still exists within society and Dalits suffer as a result.
• Most Dalit children have no access to education.
• The historical hero of the Dalit people is Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who sought their freedom 50 years ago.

1. BACKGROUND ON PHILANTHROPY

2A. Overview of Philanthropy in India

Philanthropy in India is guided by religion and the demands of caste, clan, family and community. Giving is primarily directed towards religious organizations like temples and churches. However, philanthropy has also extended to corporate involvement and the rise of non-profit organizations working towards the country’s development.

Indian philanthropy has always been strongly linked to religion since ancient times. Concepts such as daana (giving) and dakshina (giving to a teacher or priest) in Hinduism and bhiksha (giving to a monk) in Buddhism are rooted in the idea of philanthropy.

In India, philanthropy also evolved into volunteerism. Individual volunteering has had a tremendous potential in India, with most volunteers serving religious organizations.

A 2001 survey by Sampradaan, Indian Centre for Philanthropy covering around 28% of urban India concluded that 96% of upper and middle class households in urban India donate to a charitable cause (ICP, 2001). This charity amount is reported to be around Rs. 16billion (US$34 million) annually. Other major findings of the survey are:

• In terms of average annual donation, Christians in India take the lead, followed by Hindus/Jains; Sikhs; and Muslims. The Christians also give the highest average annual donations to other (non-religious) organizations
• The most popular purpose for which money is donated is to relieve distress of victims of calamity, 21% donating for this purpose.

The most important reason given for donating was a feeling of compassion (68%). The second most important reason was that the giver feels good (48%). Religious beliefs and practices (46%) are the third most important reason. Twenty-nine percent respondents donated because they believed in the cause of the organization. The survey shows that for the donors reduction of taxes as the least important reason (Dadrawala, 2001).

Another study on individual giving in five southern cities (Dongre, 2003) has also recorded a high incidence of giving, both in terms of size and frequency, among particular income groups. The study shows that the sample of 200 individuals donated an amount of Rs. 0.5 million in one year. The study indicates that in urban high salaried class giving has become more rationalized and people are willing to give to big foundations that can channel the funds more effectively rather than to governmental and religious institutions.

In the 2001 APPC study, Investing In Ourselves, noted giving behavior by Indians include:

• In India, while there is a natural capacity to philanthropy, this is more informal and ad hoc. Thus informal charity takes precedence over giving for long term change and development. The new wealth created by Information Technology and other new industries, coupled with a large overseas connection through relations and friends overseas, but who continue to maintain links with the home state, has more for a more dynamic gift market in Southern India.
• On the giving rate, India’s is lower than the other three countries, while Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, the giving rate is as high or even higher than in northern countries.
• India has the lowest numbers of those who gave to relatives and friends. These figures suggest that high income Indians have few ties with poorer people, whether relatives or friends. This is perhaps because the growth of a large middle class happened earlier in India than in the Southeast Asian countries, or perhaps because the financial crisis, which India avoided, impoverished many of the new middle class.

The role of NPOs in addressing the social service issues and empowerment related advocacy efforts has been increasing. The study conducted by PRIA also supports this fact when it notes that every fifth NPO in India works on the issues of community and social service (PRIA: 2002). The favourable disposition of the governments and the political will to involve NPOs is more pronounced in implementation of the welfare schemes addressing to the women and child development.

2B.Estimated flow of funds

There are mainly six sources of raising funds in India; Government, Corporate Houses, Individuals, Trust/Foundations, International agencies and self earned income of the organization (consulting, trading, endowments). Unfortunately, large numbers of NGOs are dependent on international funds or the government grants in India. Involving people in the mission of getting money from common people is not very common. While in India, there are millions of voluntary organisations, but less than half percentage of them are into fund raising. In India, existing potential is 10 billion $ & actual funds raised are mere 500 million $. Out of this, almost half goes to rural areas, one quarter goes to religious institutions & only one quarter goes to all the NGOs put together.

Foreign donors seem to be in a generous mood when it comes to funding non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India. Foreigners loosened their purse strings to the extent of Rs 4,871.9 crore in ’01-02, up 7.4% from Rs 4,535.5 crore in ’00-01. There has also been a change in the list of the top receivers of foreign funds in the country.

The little-known Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushotam Sanstha (BAPS), a Gujarat-based organisation, tops the receivers list with foreign donations of Rs 107.5 crore. BAPS has seen a 280% jump in foreign funding over two years, rising from 26th place in ’00 with receipts of Rs 28.3 crore to the top of the list of receivers in ’01-02. Gospel for Asia with Rs 98.9 crore is the second highest recipient, while the World Vision of India with Rs 88.4 crore is in third place, according to data collated from the home ministry’s latest annual report.

BAPS is also the first time a voluntary organisation to have received over Rs 100 crore in foreign funds, the previous high being Rs 88.2 crore by the Sathya Sai Trust in ’00-01. For ’00-01, the top three beneficiaries were the Sri Sathya Sai Trust, World Vision India and the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society. It is also interesting to note that two of the top three receivers (BAPS and Gospel for Asia) of funds in ’01-02 are religious organisations.

In ’00-01, Rs 284 crore was received for religious activities by Indian organisations. This has risen by 37.6% to Rs 391 crore in ’01-02. On an average, Indian religious organisations have received around 10% of total FCRA (Foreign Contributions Regulations Act) regulated foreign fund inflows since 1991.

Thirteen of the top 25 receivers of foreign funds in India are religious organisations, both Hindu and Christian. Several of these organisations are involved in social causes; the building of schools, housing for the poor, literacy and so on, besides religious activities.

Delhi continues to top the list of receiving states with Rs 794.4 crore going to 839 organisations. Tamil Nadu, where World Vision India is headquartered, comes second with Rs 695.5 crore, and Andhra Pradesh follows with Rs 559.6 crore. In terms of cities, Bangalore topped the receivers list with Rs 362.2 crore, followed by Chennai with Rs 311.6 crore and Mumbai with Rs 298.3 crore.

The top three donors are all based in the US. The bulk of the funding for Gospel for Asia in India comes from its parent organisation in the US, which heads the foreign donors list with Rs 111.2 crore. World Vision International and Foster Parents Plan International follow with Rs 78.3 crore and Rs 72.4 crore, respectively. Actionaid UK donated Rs 71.2 crore, and the Spain-based Foundation Vincent Ferrer Rs 63.1 crore. The total number of associations receiving foreign funds in India has also gone up in ’01-02 to 15,618 from 14,598 in ’00-01.

1. FUNDRAISING BY THE DALIT FOUNDATION TILL DATE

Fundraising started in Dalit Foundation in a very natural and an internal process. This included references and leads provided or initiated by its Board members and like minded individuals.

A glance on the figures:

• Amounts for the first round of six grants and nine fellowships were raised through contributions received through various individuals and NGOs. This was done through personal contacts of the board members.

• Almost 98% of DF donors are institutional donors.

• Ford Foundation was the first institutional donorto support the activities of the organisation. Since the organisation did not have FCRA in the beginning, the money was routed through TIDES Foundation. This was followed by Sir Dhorabji Tata Trust, Christian Aid, Holdeen India Programme and ICCO Netherlands.

• In June 2007, Mr. Mathew Cherian carried out a feasibility study of the organisation in terms of fundraising and communications.

• In 2007-08, Ford sanctioned an amount of $2 million toward Dalit Foundations Endowment fund.

• In 2007-08, Dalit Foundation organised its first fundraising event – UTSAVA – Celebration of struggle against oppression. Around twenty five thousand rupees in cash and a few contributions in-kind were raised from the event.

• Paintings which were exhibited during UTSAVA are being used for fundraising. Money received is shown as contribution and the donor is given an 80G certificate along with a receipt and a thank you letter. The money raised from the paintings is deposited in the endowment fund of the organisation.

Observations:

• As the above graphs demonstrate, Dalit Foundation has historically been most successful in raising funds from institutional sources.

• Given that grants and major donations are made over a number of years, there is considerable pressure to maintain levels of income when significant grants end. We will however be working hard to replace the institutional grant income with other sources so that the risk is spread across.

• In the next few years we need to increase the level of income raised. Ideally this income would be unrestricted allowing us to allocate this against any areas of our expenditure. Without any unrestricted reserves to use to invest and with the pressure for fundraising activities to guarantee break even within a reasonable time period, we have identified that the main potential for growth rests with major donors and company fundraising.

1. OVERALL OBJECTIVES

• To raise 1,000 lakhs (215 lakhs, 325 lakhs and 460 lakhs in 2009/10, 10/11 and 11/12 respectively)

• This is against a fundraising expenditure of 205 lakhs in a three year period. This represents a income to cost 1:4

• To diversify sources of income across a greater number of funders to minimise risk.

• To continue to manage relationships with major grant-givers and statutory organisations but to seek alternative sources for additional unrestricted income.

• Initiate fundraising across India backed with needs based communication

• A well defined system of collation and documentation of achievements through an in-house designed process

• Uniform communication style and philosophy across the organisation and partner organisations.

1. ASSESSMENT OF SUCCESSES AND LEARNING’S

The major successes in fundraising till date are:

• Increased confidence of the team of raising funds locally
• Positive relationships with donors
• Support of the Board members leading to a sustained culture for fundraising
• Staff committed and dedicated towards the work
• First round of money raised from Dalit community and like minded individuals
• Flexibility in theprogram strategy to tailor them to an individual client/family/ community needs leading to donors being positive about supporting the cause
• Adaptability to the needs of the service-users
• Low administrative v/s programme costs
• Image of a social justice organisation within the sector
• Donor constituency suited to major charitable giving
• A South Asian approach and presence
• Replicable model in place for others to learn and adapt from
• Peer group Monitoring and Evaluation processes in place
• Practice of ‘equality’ practiced throughout the organisation

The major learning’s in fundraising till date are:

• Need for a dedicated and a professional fundraising team in place
• Need for a updated and interactive web site
• Inability of donors to donate on line
• Not able to reach out to the past donors / no such donor care system in place
• Need for organizational infrastructure - standardized policies, staff assignments, procedures, systems, and methods to support fundraising initiatives

1. STRATEGIC OPTIONS AVAILABLE

There are five fundamental strategies available to fundraising programs. They are growth, involvement, visibility, efficiency, and stability. Each has it’s own costs and benefits – and is appropriate to a stage in the life of the organization. Often a not-for-profit will find itself in a position where it is unable to meet the demand for its program or service. In order to meet the demand it will have to expand its donor base and revenues. This is the time for a growth strategy. In this situation the organization invests in attracting new donors who will expand revenues in future years.

Other organizations may place an emphasis on delivering their program with volunteers instead of cash. This is an involvement strategy. An organisation for example through with its volunteer letter writing campaigns is a classic example of an involvement strategy at work.

New organizations and movements often choose a visibility strategy where their prime objective is to be noticed. They try to achieve visibility in hopes of attracting future supporters and donors.