Samhita

Tag: CSR

  • Indian NGO Fundraising “Bright Spots” Report: Lifting Up What Works in Raising Money from Individuals in India

    Indian NGO Fundraising “Bright Spots” Report: Lifting Up What Works in Raising Money from Individuals in India

    This report is Part II of a research project by UC Berkeley Director of Philanthropy and Fulbright Scholar Morry Rao Hermón, in collaboration with Samhita Social Ventures and the Collective Good Foundation, to help fill a gap in the knowledge base about what nonprofits are doing, and what is working, in the individual donor fundraising space in India.

    In Part I, we conducted an in-depth survey of Samhita GoodCSR’s extensive network of over 4,000 NGOs from across India’s social sector about their funding sources, resource development methods, and donor engagement strategies. The findings from that 40-question assessment tool were shared in the “Indian Giving Benchmarking Report: Results of Indian NGO Survey on Fundraising from Individuals” (Samhita Social Ventures December 2019). As the first biennial ‘benchmarking’ study, we hope that Indian nonprofits will use this comprehensive data set as a practical tool for comparing their performance against the averages in the field.

    In this new report, we lift up examples of fundraising “bright spots” — organizations that are having unparalleled success raising money from India’s burgeoning middle class.  We selected three nonprofits to profile including:

    1. Light of Life Trust
    2. SNEHA
    3. Teach for India

    These case studies provide a roadmap that other Indian nonprofits can follow in their own resource mobilization efforts. Through a series of ‘system’ interviews, we unpacked the reasons behind their success, drawing out Ten Guiding Principles shared by the ‘bright spots’. This top ten list can be boiled down into five core competencies that Indian NGOs should keep in mind when building a base of life-long donors:

    1. Be unapologetic about asking for money

         2.  Focus on your outcomes and the money will follow

         3.   Find ways to engage your donors in the mission

         4.   Invest in professional fundraising staff

         5.   Foster a “Culture of Philanthropy” within your organization

    At the end of this 30-page report we provide practical tips on how NGOs can go about adopting these principles in their own organizations so that they can diversify their revenues, grow their programs, and sustain their operations over time.

    Download the Report

    A note to our readers:

    We are looking for other stories of success in the individual fundraising arena, so if you know of examples worth lifting up we would love to hear about them!  We are especially interested in identifying fundraising ‘bright spots’ that represent smaller nonprofits, and those in rural areas (including remote regions of India). Please email me your thoughts about this or other topics at morryhermon@berkeley.edu. Happy to answer any questions about my research, what we are learning, and support you on your journey!

  • Creating a Truly “Social” Stock Exchange

    Creating a Truly “Social” Stock Exchange

    India is gearing up to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) on the recommendation of India’s Finance Minister in 2019. After the initial suggestions by the Working Group in 2020, a new Technical Committee constituted by SEBI is expected to release more granular recommendations soon. SSEs are still in a nascent stage of development, having come into existence less than two decades ago. Only three out of seven SSEs are still active across the globe.

    At this critical inflection point, the International Centre for Not-For-Profit Law (ICNL) and Samhita Social Ventures have undertaken an extensive research study to review seven SSEs (in Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, Jamaica, the UK, Singapore and Canada) to provide the most comprehensive analysis so far and offer suggestions for India’s SSE.

    This report also analyses the recommendations of the first Working Group in relation to setting up India’s SSE.

    Click here to download the report

  • No real cause for concern, says Noshir Dadrawala of CAP on the Finance Minister’s statement on CSR Consultants

    No real cause for concern, says Noshir Dadrawala of CAP on the Finance Minister’s statement on CSR Consultants

    While responding to a query in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs stated that there is no provision of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant in Section 135 of the Companies (CSR Policy) Act, 2014.

    As the statement unnerved companies, firms and practitioners, Noshir Dadrawala of the ‘Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy’ compiled a detailed response that explains and interprets the FM’s statement, pointing out that there is no real cause for concern.

    Click here to read Noshir’s response

    Overview:

    • From the inception of the law, neither Section 135 of the Indian Companies Act nor the Rules had any specific provision for “CSR Consultants”
    • “CSR consultants” cannot be considered as CSR “implementing agencies” nor can “CSR consultants” carry out CSR Activities as implementing agencies
    • The FM has said that CSR is a Board driven process and the Board of the company is empowered to plan, decide, execute and monitor the CSR activities of the company based on the recommendation of its CSR Committee
    • If a company decides to undertake CSR on its own, it may engage the professional services of an expert “CSR consultant” or “consulting agency” to help the company decide, execute and monitor the chosen CSR activities of the company based on the recommendation of its CSR Committee
    • The expenses directly incurred by the company (including paying professional fees to an agency specializing in a certain discipline), for the designing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a particular CSR project or programme would not fall under “administrative overheads” and neither would the cap of five per cent be applicable. The fees would be treated as professional fees for expert services rendered by the agency.

    CSR Journal | No provision of CSR consultant in Companies Act, Nirmala Sitharaman confirms in Parliament

  • Bringing the focus back on mask wearing With #PehnoSahi

    Bringing the focus back on mask wearing With #PehnoSahi

    To re-emphasise the importance of wearing masks in the fight against COVID-19, the India Protectors Alliance (IPA), is bringing together Samhita Social Ventures, RBL Bank, Crompton Greaves, IKEA India, Pernod Ricard India Foundation, Kimberly-Clark Professional and other companies and foundations, to initiate India’s first cross-brand mask engagement – #PehnoSahi.

    Click here to read

  • Corporate Social Responsibility Rules Amendments 2021

    On 22nd January 2021, the Ministry Of Corporate Affairs brought significant changes to the existing CSR rules.

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  • Need of a stimulus package for NGOs

    Need of a stimulus package for NGOs

    The year 2020 has been a difficult year for NGOs in India (not just because of the pandemic) and the next year also potentially appears to be a difficult one. “Most NGOs are heavily reliant on their funders and with institutional funding drying up this year, several NGOs, especially the smaller ones, have suffered a lot”, said Priya Naik

    ETIG-Analysis_-Need-of-a-stimulus-package-for-NGOs-The-Economic-Times-1Download
  • Reimagining philanthropy: From control to agency

    Reimagining philanthropy: From control to agency

    More often than not, in our discussions about systemic change, we overlook discussions about our personal contributions in those changes. We expect civil society organisations and political leaders to dare greatly, but usually ignore the role of funders in collaboration, risk-taking, and trust building. 

    At Samhita, we have always believed that “big bets” require collaboration between samaj, sarkar, and bazar. To enable these daring transformations, funders must choose courage over comfort and embrace the power of collective strength.

    Gautam John of Nilekani Philanthropies makes a case to take philanthropy from control based funding to agency based funding in his article for India Development Review.

    Click here to read the article

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  • Beyond Business – Contributions to Social Initiatives

    Beyond Business – Contributions to Social Initiatives

    Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) & Samhita have launched the report Beyond Business – Contributions to Social Initiatives.

    Member companies of the @Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance have been at the forefront of CSR activities in India with remarkable contributions in the fields of public health, education, and environment. Even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, IPA companies have been quick to respond to the needs of the hour through provision of equipment and capacity building.

    This report maps the role of and impact created by Indian pharmaceutical companies through their social initiatives while simultaneously charting out the future of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the sector.

    Click here to download the report
  • Mahindra Logistics joins the India Workers’ Alliance

    Mahindra Logistics joins the India Workers’ Alliance

    Samhita Social Ventures welcomes Mahindra Logistics Ltd. as a pillar of the India Workers Alliance to provide immediate relief to its driver community by transferring Rs 3,000 to their bank accounts to enable them to buy essential commodities.

    Born out of the Samhita Model, the India Workers Alliance propogates a collective CSR fund for economic support and recovery of India’s workers. Through instant digital cash transfers the Alliance is providing immediate relief and at the same time building resilience of workers to ensure an easier segue into normalcy post the pandemic. The Alliance ensures quick funding to replace lost incomes to take care of basic necessities, facilitates access to government social schemes, micro loans and health insurance products.

    These aid solutions are recommended by senior experts like Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Dr. Nachiket Mor to reach aid to the COVID-19 affected – the ones dispossessed and at risk.

    Click here to read the article
  • Clean energy taps limited CSR funding, report says – Live Mint

    Clean energy taps limited CSR funding, report says – Live Mint

    “Companies may not be implementing CSR in clean energy because of various reasons. Many companies perceive energy access interventions to be highly technical. This could’ve discouraged some companies that did not have capacities and capabilities to implement such projects. Companies also find it difficult to source qualified and technically competent implementation partners in geographic areas of interest” – Priya Naik, Founder & CEO, Samhita Social Ventures.

    This article features Samhita’s clean energy report, created in association with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and International Finance Corporation. The report is titled ‘Energising Development – CSR in Clean Energy: What are India’s top companies up to?’.

    Click here to read the article