Tag: donation

  • More celebs need to be real-life heroes

    By CHIRAG MALKANI —- BONO, the rockstar and activist, acknowledges the power of celebrity, saying: “It’s silly, but it’s a kind of currency, and you have to spend it wisely.” That is, if you spend it at all. Yes, there are famous personalities who, like Bono, have aligned themselves to social causes – but are there enough of them,…

  • Is there a disconnect between donor giving and NGO needs?

    AS a donor, do you have a preconceived notion of what your giving experience should look like? In today’s culture of instant gratification, many want instant recognition of their gift. While it is heart-warming to see the appreciation of the person you are helping and watch them immediately benefit from warm socks or food, does…

  • My Big Fat Charity Wedding

    IN India,  weddings give us the opportunity to celebrate our culture through elaborate customs and rituals. We all know what wedding season really means though: extensive guest lists, extravagant jewellery, ornate venues and exorbitant amounts of food. Considering India hosts around 10million weddings annually and spends more than ₹100,000 crore on everything from invitations to honeymoons,…

  • Change Yourself, Change The World

    By VENKAT KRISHNAN N —- I HAD an interesting conversation with a seasoned development professional some years back, as he held forth on why ‘charity is bad and development is good’. “Imagine,” he said, “that you are standing by a river, and you see a baby floating by, obviously thrown into the water and likely to…

  • Is Your Smartphone Preventing You From Giving?

    By MOHIT HIRA —- WHEN I was first asked to write for this blog, I tossed around a few themes. And then, as one who has crossed over from the always-waiting-in-a-queue world of the rotary-dial black telephone to on-demand-video-streaming handheld devices, I figured it was best to connect the virtual with the real. So, here goes… In…

  • Making Giving Global

    By GAUTAM ADHIKARI —- WASHINGTON DC: Politically and ideologically this country is polarised. Conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats are barely on speaking terms. They dislike, even fear, one another with an intensity unmatched in the decades since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s. Yet, in the wake of the hurricanes Harvey and Irma…

  • Why You Should Hand Over All Your Money Right Now

    By SHOVON CHOWDHURY —- MONEY is important, and we think about it a lot. This is normal. But we need to recognise certain truths, which are self evident, and take action accordingly. One of them is this. You can make lots of money, and let’s hope you do, but you can’t take it with you. Whether you’re…

  • Your 500 Bucks Deconstructed: How Small Donations Help

    ONE thing that often stops us from donating to a cause we find meaningful is believing we are too broke to make a significant contribution. And that is because we don’t always understand how small amounts can make a difference in the lives of others. At Small Change, every fundraiser we start has different targets aimed at acquiring different…

  • Who Are We To Decide Who Deserves Charity?

    By SANGHAMITRA CHAKRABORTY —- THERE is a time in your life when your child asks you questions. Lots of questions, repeatedly and relentlessly, about everything they see or hear. They then go on to validate and verify your answers like a keen fact-checker would. It was during such a time, when our son Josh had learnt to…

  • Giving Is Actually (Scientifically) Good For You

    WE’VE all experienced how great it feels to give to someone we love or who is genuinely in need. But did you know there’s scientific validation that it does a whole lot more than just help people in need and feed our egos? Ever since scientists discovered fMRI scanners, understanding what parts of the brain are…

  • Indians don’t want to pay for stuff

    By SAMIT BASU —- THE first time I heard of the concept of crowdfunding for creative projects, I remember thinking how wonderful it was that people in other countries were willing to pay in order to see ideas they found interesting come into the world. But I also found myself assuming, stupidly, that something like this could…

  • JFK: The Man Who Silently Refused His Salary

    THE recent debacle that was the American election has left half the world stunned in its wake. Suddenly, we are standing on the threshold of a world where a superpower will be led by a supremacist. His innumerable debates and interviews were mocked by many but the truth is now undeniable –  the billionaire business mogul…

  • E-Receipts- A’Paper-less’ Giving experience

     “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.”  Our hearts swell with pride and joy at seeing more than Rs. 1.5 Crore raised for our NGO’ partners via LetzChange portal in just over 8 months. But we’re not resting on our laurels! We’re striving hard to ensure that we keep adding new features to LetzChange…