NGOs realize the importance of reaching out to a wider audience with their work and appeal for donation
GLOBALLY, online crowdfunding has seen a revolution of sorts in the last two decades. The nonprofits working in the social sector increasingly realise that they cannot afford to miss the fundraising opportunities to support their programmes, services, and causes through this effective platform.
For several years, NGO fundraising online has been largely limited to asking visitors to their website or followers on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to contribute to various causes. As social media involves interacting directly with people, there is a certain element of personal touch and this can be used for their fundraising activities too. But most NGO fundraising activities online are limited to their subscribers and followers. Hence, NGO fundraising outreach online has not been an enriching experience for many of them.
But crowdfunding platforms can make an enormous difference for the social sector entrepreneurs and their poverty alleviation, healthcare, and other activities on the ground. In fact, it has been proven globally that NGO fundraising gets a huge shot when it is done through crowdfunding platforms.
And GiveIndia is one case study one can look at when it comes to fundraising in India for the social sector. Ever since its founding in 2000, GiveIndia has been bridging the trust gap between donors and the nonprofits that are doing exemplary work at grassroots level and changing the lives of people.
GiveIndia enables donors and partners to support various causes like hunger, education, children, women empowerment, elderly care, livelihoods, animal welfare, environment, etc. As all the 2500 NGOs on the GiveIndia platform have gone through various levels of due diligence processes, there is an extra layer of affirmation.
When donors get so many credible NGOs on a platform like GiveIndia, they can exercise control over how their money is spent by choosing to donate to a cause close to their heart, and they can also pick a region or demography.
What makes fundraising in India for NGOs a breeze through a crowdfunding site like GiveIndia is that donations are accepted in all currencies and donors in India, USA and UK can also avail tax benefits for every donation.
The voluntary sector is under increasing pressure because of a reduction in government support and various regulations that have limited funds from foreign sources. So, fundraising through online crowdfunding platforms is one of continuing their social work at the grassroots level.
Moreover, crowdfunding platforms have a larger capacity to develop innovative programmes for NGO fundraising. For instance, GiveIndia, India has a range of activities around a national event like DaanUtsav where the act of giving towards charitable causes is promoted among people.
Its ‘100 Heroes’ carnival that starts as part of DaanUtsav is solely focused on rewarding NGOs for their fundraising efforts. At 2021’s ‘100 Heroes’ that concluded in November, NGOs could raise a whopping ₹16.7 Crore from over 15,000 supporters. That’s the influence of crowdfunding.
