FCRA laws, governance issues, compliances, CSR laws, innovative fund-raising in digital space covered
India CSR News Network
NEW DELHI: Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) India in partnership with United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation organised a national conclave to mark the successful completion of the project titled ‘’Strengthening growth of not-for-profits through Inclusive Partnerships’, aimed at creating an enabling environment for building capacities of NGOs in the country.
The conclave covered wide ranging issues faced by the NGOs and the corporate sector in implementing CSR initiatives, focusing on the need for ensuring credibility in the NGO sector and capacity building of local NGOs, both of which are essential for more inclusive and impactful CSR projects. Eminent decision makers from the NGO, Government representatives and corporate sector shared their best practices at the Conclave.
CAF India, a not-for-profit organisation working to make giving more effective and NGOs more successful, in association with UPS Foundation, identified considerable gaps in the NGO sector. In order to help local NGOs achieve the greatest possible programme impact through the best organisational practices, a series of capacity-building workshops were held in Delhi NCR in the run up to the national conclave, which addressed NGO management, financial compliance, governance, FCRA laws, effective management of CSR projects, proposal writing, importance of documentation, communication and fundraising strategies.
Meenakshi Batra, CEO, CAF India, said, ‘’To deliver on the development agenda, it is important to invest in capacity-building of the NGOs. Having worked in the philanthropy sector for the last 18 years, we have witnessed gaps in various areas of NGO management ranging from governance to compliance and overall management to reporting. We are thankful to UPS Foundation for providing the grant support for building capacities of local NGOs in Delhi NCR.’’
Under this project, 15 NGOs were identified using varied selection criteria and using in-depth due-diligence methodology, with an aim to strengthen their capacities through intensive workshops on issues like governance, digital fundraising, accountability and CSR laws.
Gayatri Subramaniam, Chief Program Executive and Convener – NFCSR, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), reasoned, “NGOs need to foster good relations with corporates by incorporating proper mechanisms and expertise. Their strengths must be integrated to create multiplier effect to their projects in order to ensure maximum impact. The need of the time is to carve and develop a new relationship for the best results. Capacity-building of NGOs is definitely the need of the hour.’’
Rajendra Tripathi, Senior Manager – Corporate Citizenship, Oracle India, who was among the panelists at the conclave, added, ‘’As a responsible corporate citizen Oracle is making significant contribution towards education, community development and environment in India. This requires us to work with more than 70 not-for-profit organisations to drive our CSR strategy efficiently. This is where an organisation like CAF India plays a crucial role in mentoring the NGO partners – guiding, managing, reviewing and monitoring their work, in the process building their capacities along the CSR journey.’’
Some of the participating NGOs, who benefited through the capacity-building workshops include CHETNA, Sadrag, Urja, Ritanjali, Empower People, Matri Sudha and Child Survival India, among other NGOs based in Delhi NCR.
Tanuja Birla, Senior Director, AON, added, ‘’Corporates, embracing CSR in its true spirit, have created systems and processes to empower communities and make deep impact. Teaming up with NGOs’ unmatchable experience, ability to scale up, and provide direction, has been a key to this. To deliver more effectively, it is crucial to build capacities of NGOs as part of the larger goal of benefiting the society.’’
CAF India also released a booklet at the conclave, to help the corporate and NGOs deeply understand the importance of capacity-building in the NGO sector, which will result in better outcomes and success stories.
A series of workshops have been planned across the country to support capacity-building initiatives, which can go a long way in addressing gaps in the not-for-profit sector for a truly inclusive partnership.
Panelists participating in the conclave – Sanjay Malhotra, DISHA Steering Group member, RBS Global Finance Services, Senior Manager – Corporate Citizenship – Oracle India, Dr. Syed Kazi, Deputy Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director, Global Compact Network India (GCNI), Dr. Mala Bhandari, Founder-Director, SADRAG, Tanuja Birla, Senior Director, AON & Shafiq ur Rahman Khan, Founder-Director, Empower People
Panelists and CAF India’s Management unveil booklet on capacity-building in the conclave.
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