Team-BHP - Beware of Questionable Charitable Organizations & NGO's

My views regarding the NGOs and other private and religious charities is the same. In my view most of them are not using the funds for intended purpose. To me, it is a fact.
There may be 100s of other Govt. organisations whom we can donate, but I mentioned PMNRF only why, because, IMO it is bound to have more trust than others with the PM's name attached to it.

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Originally Posted by Jaguar (Post 3573585)

Where did I say that 99.99 percent are corrupt? That was your interpretation. But I do stand by my view that majority are corrupt. It is a fact, whether you like it or not.

Most of the calls we get are frauds.
I used to get few calls earlier and I used to entertain them too. And then this happened and I totally stopped taking any such calls.
Few months ago I received a call about a patient in Need of a major surgery and the cost is way above the insurance that they have. And they are trying to raise about 3 Lakh INR. Wanted me to donate any amount but kept on saying if I donate more then 10k then It would be great.
Earlier I thought of donating some amount because they sounded very genuine and told me that patient is in AIIMS.
Before donating, I asked which ward the patient is in, they said ICU. I asked for the name and told them I will visit the patient next day and If required I will directly help them with whatever I can. on this they asked I can donate to the account and then come to their office for further talks and they will come along from there to hospital. I told them I am making payment (Which I didn't), and they called up within half hour to confirm. I told them it's done and they should have the money in few hours. And after asking multiple times , a lot of pressurizing, they finally gave me their address. It was somewhere in Pahargunj in Delhi. I went there next day with couple of my friends, to find out that it's an address of a shady lodge. Called up their number and told them when I can come, they said anytime. My response, I am standing right there. Upon hearing this they disconnected the call. And Guess what - No more calls afterwards and the number is magically "You have dialed an incorrect number. Please check the number before dialing".

My daughter studies at Rishi Valley School in Madanapalle.
http://www.rishivalley.org/
It is run by Krishnamurthy Foundation (KFI). KFI does lot of social work in Education and Healthcare in villages, in and around Rishi Valley School. I have seen them functioning and I can very well say that 100% of the donated money ends up most efficiently utilized in addressing education and health needs of the poorest of the poor. We are donating to KFI for last 8 years. I urge you to give this organisation a serious thought if you are donating.

DF

Great Thread.

I donate through only one website that I feel is trustworthy - www.giveindia.org
They have the lowest funding cost ~10% that I have read so far.

I am getting innumerable calls for donation and these guys are persistent. I recently was almost ready to shell out 10k for supposedly treating a child who had a heart problem - I say ready but as luck would have it, I lost my wallet which has my everything. Later searched about the agency and never found anything.

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Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 2953508)

I normally donate to the SOS Childrens Villages India. My daughter has actually visited some of their locations in Delhi and was very impressed. I have also donated to HelpAge India. I think Cry may also be kosher.

I've just gotten a call from SOS asking if I could help. I'm considering them but I'd like to check before donating.
Your feedback is about a couple of years old. Does this still hold good?

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Originally Posted by dozer (Post 4001781)

I've just gotten a call from SOS asking if I could help. I'm considering them but I'd like to check before donating.
Your feedback is about a couple of years old. Does this still hold good?

Yes, they are good. One of their facilities is very close to our home and we visit and donate there every year.
They keep you regularly updated on various activities on email and snail mails.
You can visit their website and their facilities before making a decision.

Ever since a happenstance business meeting at a call center staffed by low-paid girls working in a boiler-room atmosphere with male overseers, I no longer entertain any calls for donations.

On speaking to the owner of that call center, I came to know that they have a revenue sharing arrangement with well known temples and charitable organizations. In cases where revenue cannot be readily assured, as much as 90% may end up with the call center. This was by no means an exclusive arrangement with a single call center, instead what was valued were the number of names on the list that each call center had.

Overhearing some of the conversations made me cringe. Most of their willing victims were housewives whose insecurities were routinely preyed upon.

I now strictly believe in the adage that charity begins at home. There are enough poor people in my family and my maids are bogged down by school and college fees, so I try to help them when I can. Even a simple act of donating a big drum to hold drinking water for the laborers who are working on building a park in my area gives me a lot of pleasure.

Hi. You could try this school for blind (its not an orphanage though)
http://www.rakum.org/rakum_school/faq

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Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie (Post 4062456)

Folks, I want to donate some sweets/food & clothes (both new and used [just once or twice and in a very good condition]) to an orphanage! Can anybody suggest me some places in Bangalore?

The thing is - CRY, Save the Children etc are legitimate charities doing a lot of good work. However, some of them employ marketing agents to raise funding. And there are other fakes that raise funding claiming to represent these organizations.

Every NGO does have a telecalling etc budget and they usually outsource that part to professional agencies, the more unethical of which send out young english speaking girls claiming they are class XII students collecting money as part of a class project etc for door to door marketing.

If you want to donate and ensure that your money reaches the donated organization, donate to them online. The larger ones (such as CRY, Udhavum Karangal etc) generally also have 100% 80G exemption. So you ensure that your money reaches them directly AND get substantial tax breaks.

The other option you have (and I used to do this once a year for a few years when I was working for a company that had a substantial presence in my city) was to work with local HR to circulate an email to all local colleagues, appealing to them to donate rice, wheat, cooking oil, washing powder and other necessities - and that would all be loaded into a truck and handed over to a local charity that runs a free dharmashala for below poverty line cancer patients and their attendants, attached to the Adyar Cancer Hospital in Chennai.

Thus, a rather overloaded tata 407 full (nearly 3 tons) of rations every year on the anniversary of that organization's founding (that was founded over a 100+ years back, we started doing it on the org's centenary) would reach the dharmashala.