Skiing Experience – Philanthropic Analogies and take-aways

My first skiing experience was a brief stint in January 2001 in the slopes near NewCastle, UK. My main take-away from that was painful muscles and soreness for the next few days. Fast forward to December 2009 in the Poconos region in NJ, USA. A few times up and down the snow-covered mountain and my biggest take-away then was that I was six weeks pregnant! Life happens and somehow it took another ten years before I could go back to the slopes which was last year. That is when I actually enjoyed this winter recreation. I have my dear husband and peers to thank for in this venture for sure. It was thus time to take this effort one notch higher and start investing in the process in order to maximize the season this year. The timeline of picking up this activity also aligns with the way I have indulged in my philanthropic enterprise since a year now and here are some key take-aways of this shared experience:

Investment: To begin with, engaging in this activity has been investment-heavy right from the amount of time, energy and effort as well as all the tangible equipment to go with it – skis, poles, boots, hats, gloves, warmers, balaclavas, pants, jackets, helmet, goggles and so on. To me, this itself is a testament to anyone’s patience, financial obligation and commitment to keep at it. Similarly, starting Social Echoes involved that right balance of patience and mindset. While one can continue with their day-to-day operations, consistent engagement in the social sector is a matter of longer-term investment.
Momentum: One of the key beginner lessons they teach you in skiing is “do not get over your skis”. The moment you get over your skis at the beginning, you are bound to lose balance and fall. In order to build control and impetus to philanthropy, it is prudent to take a more staged approach – such that eventually the skis would do the skiing for you (I haven’t reached this stage in either of my initiatives!).
Metrics: One of the most valuable aspects of my work is establishing key measures of assessment. How do I know that the results are creating a positive impact to the communities/organizations they benefit? Being a small pebble in the pond, how does one measure the effectiveness of the programs and that the positive waves of change can be seen? The bunny, greens, blues, blacks, diamonds – these are some clear indications of advancement in skiing. Yes, you can be comfortable with the greens. At the same time, for an avid skier, the real progression is seen as you move through these varying levels of difficulty in the slopes with the right balance of all of the above, and more importantly, a strong belief in seeking the unevenly distributed terrain.
Freedom: With the ability to ski through nature, it gives you a sense of freedom and acts of giving create a sense of humility and freedom. That humility comes with the feeling that we are merely dots among heaps of evergreens and snowy carpets. My instructor aptly put it, “these mountains have an ability to humble you” – indeed!

Uncomfortably Fortunate

Montreal, Canada - July 13, 2016: On the hottest day of the summer (37 C), hundreds of protesters gathered at Nelson Mandela Park for a Black Lives Matter rally, in solidarity to similar protests in the United States, and to condemn the racial profiling and police brutality in Montreal. After the rally, the protesters took the streets and marched down for three hours and about 10 km. The march finished around 10pm without incident.

May 30, 2020 – the day when the world witnessed the launch of SpaceX Dragon into space with two US Astronauts; that same day US witnessed nation-wide rioting and protests.

While on one hand the country was shooting for the stars, on the other, the country’s stars were being shot at. As noted in so many of the posts and articles, the past week has clearly displayed the nation’s deepest cracks of racism in the system. We are all still grappling with the effects of the Covid19 pandemic when this even larger systemic pandemic of racism has hit us.

Today as I reflect on the time when I moved to the US from India way back in 2007, I had always visualized (and still do) America as being the world’s melting pot of cultures and ethnicity. To see how far people of color and race have made it here – in Business, IT, Medicine, Science, even Politics – despite the suppression, despite being broken down by the very systems they would want to uphold and despite such deep-rooted racist treatment in the white-dominated world, and still rising to the top! It isn’t easy and a huge applause to them!

Being a brown-skinned immigrant, there were times when I was faced with questions around my accent, my ‘knowledge’ of English, my religious practices. Clearly, there were implicit biases I have been faced with and it stays with you. At the same time, this adopted country has done us good – to my family and me – and I cannot help but feel privileged to be shielded by that belief. And with that same feeling, it is also impossible not to feel the pain of so many black Americans whose lives have been shattered right now through injustice and segregation.

Yesterday, I, with my family, participated in the peace protest with fellow community residents in this small town of Vienna, about 15 miles from the D.C. epicenter of the protest. People had gathered around, on their one knee, exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully against this racial discrimination pandemic. Cars drove by, honking loud and clear in support of the crowds. Maintaining the six-feet distance with the crowd, we could see all kinds of signs being held high:

I. Can’t. Breathe

Racism. Is. The. Bigger. Virus

Prejudice. Is. An. Emotional. Commitment. To. Ignorance

“Mama” – last words by George Floyd was the most painful sound that no mother should ever reconcile with.

For the first time, I truly understood the deep meaning behind the phrase – Black.Lives.Matter.

As a parent, an educator and an advocate for social change, I do not know at this point what to make of all of this for now and what the right actions ought to be. We may have come a long way as a race, at the same time, I realize how far behind we as humans are in embracing the power of diversity and inclusion; that there is an urgency to unteach this level of exclusion and an even stronger need to promote giving that strengthens equity.

The talk at our home is about how fortunate we are – and lets do more than be comforted by it.

I for India Concert

Last weekend, Facebook and GiveIndia (India’s largest giving platform) came together along with the Bollywood industry for a Fundraiser concert – a four-hour long live concert to raise funds for the India Covid Response Fund. I must say, the entire concert was a treat to watch! It had the perfect line-up of the ‘who’s who’ in Bollywood, great cameo from Hollywood stars, gratitude speeches from the organizers and donors and to top it all, recognition for some of the most engaged frontliners in the fight against COVID19 in the nation. This would probably be the first time that the Indian entertainment industry has come together through home-to-home performance, at this scale, to entertain and more importantly, to raise donations for the response fund.

The strategy for raising these funds was simple and straightforward. No glamour, no drama. The way I see it, the concert used some key fundraising strategies –

Engage – Every performer engaged with the audience with some form or the other. Everyone opted to perform a bit of their piece in a positive manner that uplifted the current spirit of the viewers instead of making us feel worse off.

Identity – Frontliners were recognized for their dedication and commitment – nurses, doctors, government entities.

Storyline – They were determined and had a common message. And they aimed to win the hearts of people.

Contribution – It was easy – and through click of a ‘Donate’ button right on the facebook screens of the viewers. Total of Rs. 52 crore (about US $7 million) funds were raised for several burdened causes due to COVID19, mainly the daily wage works and those directly affected by the crisis.

What next? An advantage with the video medium of storytelling is the ability to be showcased over and over again. Some of the performances are still echoing in my mind; so many floating around on social media feeds. Repeating footages of several of the performances certainly maintains the continuity of the message until relevant (in this case hopefully not for too long).

Overall, I would say the concert was an excellent approach to collective giving.

People watched; they were moved; they donated.

What are some other strategies you have seen as success stories?

Links to the information –
More about I for India Campaign – Click here

Highlights of the concert – Click here

Future for Nonprofits?

Protection people health and insurance concept. Hand shield protect wooden human on table

The world has been shaken up by the curve ball thrown at us. There are mixed feelings of isolation despite the speed of connectivity. It is really difficult to make sense of any of it so far and I am hoping that with time, we will be able to make meaning of it soon. Amidst all of this, I am extremely amazed by the way so many industries have stepped up in unison to support one and another.

Focusing purely on the nonprofit sector, while the ‘ask’ and variety of giving have increased in the recent weeks, there remains a lot of uncertainty around how long will this crisis continue. And in that process, how will several of the nonprofit organizations even survive. To top it is the current state of economy with potential job losses and financial downturn that will likely negatively impact funds and donations. There have been articles after articles on various resources for philanthropy and how they should respond in this time of need. We are only at the beginning of this cycle and how it will ultimately affect the social sector is left to be determined. I spent last few weeks attending some of the virtual small-group discussions organized by Salesforce.org, Council on Foundations and Chronicle of Philanthropy. The message from all seemed unanimous – that for the sector to sustain through this unprecedented challenge, it would need to take focused actions in four key areas –

Rapid response funds are being set up by multiple foundations, Government and private entities to help support immediate needs of their mission. Such emergency responses provide short-term continuity to the organization’s work as they grapple with the situation. Chronicle of Philanthropy has a useful list of the open fund applications.

Funders are beginning to relax some of their grants restrictions have been relaxed and I find this pledge quite a positive initiative in the direction of foundations providing the much-needed relief for the sector.

GivingTuesdayNow! “We each have the power to make an impact with acts of generosity, no matter how small and to ensure the sustainability of organizations and services that are crucial to the care and support of our communities”, CEO of GivingTuesday Asha Curran said as they announce the global day of generosity as an emergency response to COVID19. I am a fan of such ‘giving days’ especially at a global level that can attract funds towards general supporting costs / unrestricted donations. GivingTuesday has also put together this resourceful Toolkit for organizations to get started.

Large funders including the government entities like USAID, DFID, etc. will HAVE to restructure their grant guidelines, directives and contractual obligations, of course without losing sight of accountability. They will have to UP their own systems and processes before passing them down to their grantees.

While the road ahead is not clear, one thing is certain – that for nonprofits to come out strong, it will require them to be pushed into finding new ways to operate – for both, the funders and the grantees.

Virtual connectivity will no longer remain an option.
Funds will be based on relationship building rather than financial transactions.
And the future will no longer be about maintaining in perpetuity.

C for…

Coronavirus Compassion

Like many around the globe, we all feel our lives disrupted lately with the ongoing pandemic. What is happening has been freaking and it is mind-boggling that no one, not one in the entire world, could ever predict the gravity of the situation earlier in the year. The intensity is changing by the day and if you are exposed to different time zones like I am with my family in India, then you go to bed with one set of news at night and wake up to an entirely different data in the morning.

I wonder where we currently are in the graph – at the peak, peaking, flattened? It is all a big guessing game. What we in the DC area are going through might be something that NY or Seattle went through few weeks ago? Which means we will likely go through the trajectory that Italy currently is in? Unless…as I understand from the validated sources ….unless we alter that trajectory.

Here are some of my takeaways that I consider valuable from this situation:

1. This is a classic scenario of part-reactive/part-proactive decision-making. At each stage, we guess based on the situation what to do next. We react based on anxiety and concern surrounding us. So yes to halt some of those immediate social gatherings, minimize large group interactions, stock up on basic essentials. Then pause and proactively reconsider others – travel plans, what more can we do collectively to contain the virus, stock up as necessary.

2. It is a sad global situation when our frontline workers – the already overwhelmed doctors and the public health system – are faced with such a dilemma in life! I pray that they get the strength – physical and emotional – to face their patients who may be most vulnerable at this point in time.

3. Covid19 is really testing the spirit of humanity and surprisingly, it has become a great equalizer! There are so many other ‘Cs’ that I can substitute here –

– Considerate when it comes to stocking up. Is Toilet Roll really going to save us all?

– Community care is a great step amidst such crisis. I am supporting ‘Second Story’ for now and hope you can find your cause.

– Common message from around the world for all of us to be optimistic, cautious and prepared.

– Collective effort – after all we are all connected with this globally so lets be more careful here.

– Compassionate of how we treat a person next to us just in case he/she has an ‘accidental’ cough?

What is your C going to be?

Annual Gala as Fundraising – Yay or Nay?

Few weeks ago, we attended our sons’ school’s annual fundraising gala event. The evening was a feel-good factor with good food, beverages, treats as well as a combination of fundraising opportunities through treats, silent bidding, live auction and ‘raise-the-paddle’. Proceeds from the event would then be used for various school programs, enhancing existing resources and professional development for its faculty. Coming from the nonprofit world, I can see how the debate on ‘whether to gala or not’ is so prevalent, and for all the valid reasons. For one, it takes away huge amount of time and labor from the core work of the organizations. Often, there is pressure to meet set targets and the key then is really the ROI which may not be as convincing either. Dependency on the event proceeds also affects their overall operations and strategic planning.

So what makes a gala like this a success? For one, I as a donor am vested in the organization and hence have that level of connection, the bias. At the same time, here are some of the key takeaways from the way I saw the school organize and handle the event:

– A team dedicated to the event that had a mix of the school’s development team and several committed parent-volunteers. Their energy and passion really created a high prior to the event. This was key to driving the event from logistics to strategy.

– One could see the power of storytelling – one of the most inspiring forms of creating identity and engagement. This was in the form of students’ collective art work by grade, an engagement with each faculty based on their field of study (how about a round of mini golf with the PE teacher?!, and so on..), to support a common cause and thus amplify the mission of the school.

– The event created an environment to inspire giving to the school community; there were actionable items and a common narrative.

– There were no long speeches, no long video messages. Event was really designed to make it fun, lively and present the ask creatively.

In all, if done right, gala events like these are a decent ‘value for money (VfM)’ proposition through the supporters – donors, volunteers, the employees, the beneficiaries.

What are your favorite approaches to fundraising events? What are some of the Yays and nays?

The Giving Mindset

Last week, the Finance Minister of India announced the Budget 2020-21 for the country. As an Economics student, reviewing the budget was a given annual assignment during my five-years in Higher Ed. It is a habit I have continued all these years except for two changes – the depth in reading that the lack of context personally for me now. The sections that I would be most interested to read through are those that relate to education, support for any innovative schemes and overall charitable giving clauses. Naturally so, I glanced through the key highlight of the budget this time around and I consider it a good timing as I launch Social Echoes.

One of the clauses in the bill talks about a new scheme of tax rates for individuals which offers an option to pay taxes at reduced rates. A caveat to this option is that if individuals opt for the reduced rates, they have to give up on certain exemptions and deductions – one of them being donations to charitable organizations. You can read key highlights of the budget here and summary of the tax changes here.

While there are several nuances to the taxation element and something to be left for chartered accountants to elaborate on, this clause made me ponder on what motivates people to donate. The background that I come from, people and companies give as a means to carry forward their commitment for donation, to see (as well as create) the impact of their donations. They typically donate to causes that are close to their hearts, be it girl-child education, religion, special needs, art heritage, environment and so on. Yes, the element of tax exemption does come through and I am presuming this is almost as an after-thought, as one of the ‘benefits’ of charitable contribution and not necessarily an ‘incentive’ to donate.

With this new reduced tax rates in place, only time will tell whether it would change the giving mindset of people (and companies). In my opinion, those committed to give will probably continue with their contributions. Those only recently in the giving market, may have a judgement call to make regarding their potential donations. My biased opinions aside, I am keen to explore –

What are some of the real motivations of giving?

Do the nonprofits face any real threat from the proposed tax changes?

What would you, as a potential donor, do – forgo the reduction or the giving?

More on these to follow, in the meantime feel free to share your thoughts on the above.