Milaap and Rang De

January 24, 2012 15 Comments

Philanthropy is of interest to me.But I have my own preferences when it comes to giving viz.:

1.When it comes to giving money I prefer to do it anonymously.When it comes to giving of skills I prefer to do it personally.

2.It is very important to me to in no way demean or belittle the recipient.

3.I want to empower people by my assistance,not cause dependency.

4.I dislike cold charity.

5.I dislike competitive giving.

6.I abhor hard selling by charities .

7.I dislike super exclusive philanthropic cliques.

8.I hate profiteering off the poor and self-serving , hypocritical philanthropy.

9.I would love to have the option to give as little or as much as I can or want without being judged.

Milaap and Rang De are my 2 new discoveries.I haven’t test driven them yet,But I promise I will blog about my experiences with them later.In the meanwhile you can find out more about these microfinance organizations from their respective websites here:http://www.milaap.org/ and http://www.rangde.org/ .In case you have wished for an Indian version of Kiva here is your chance to be a social investor.Rang De has been around for a while but Milaap is newer.So be warned and start with just what you won’t mind writing off as a mistake.I repeat I have not personally tested either site as yet.

Filed under Philanthropy, Tool Kit Tagged with anonymous giving, Charity, empower, giving, giving money, Kiva, microfinance, microfinance organizations, Milaap, Philanthropy, postaday, Rang De, social investor, social sector lending

Sudha Murthy and JRD Tata

August 23, 2011 8 Comments

Sudha Murthy is the wife of N.R. Narayana Murthy,Founder of Infosys.She is the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation.Here is a story I found today.In it she narrates how JRD influenced her life.Enjoy!

“There are two photographs that hang on my office wall. Every day when I enter my office I look at them before starting my day. They are pictures of two old people, one of a gentleman in a blue suit and the other a black-and-white image of a man with dreamy eyes and a white beard.

People have asked me if the people in the photographs are related to me. Some have even asked me, “Is this black-and-white photo that of a Sufi saint or a religious guru?” I smile and reply “No, nor are they related to me. These people made an impact on my life. I am grateful to them.” “Who are they?” “The man in the blue suit is Bharat Ratna JRD Tata and the black-and-white photo is of Jamsetji Tata.” “But why do you have them in your office?” “You can call it gratitude.” Read more of this post

Filed under Philanthropy, Theory Tagged with House of Tatas, Indian Institute of Science, Infosys, Infosys Foundation, JRD Tata, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Pimpri Pune, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011, Sudha Murthy, Sumant Moolgaokar, Tata Group, Tata Motors, Tatas, Telco

Carlos Slim and the Giving Pledge

August 1, 2011 3 Comments

wealthymatters.com

Carlos Slim Helu is one of the prominent people to have declined to sign the Giving Pledge promoted by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.Here is his reasoning:

“I prefer that Bill Gates create a Microsoft or Steve Jobs create an Apple.” Giving away their personal wealth “is an interesting idea… but it won’t solve any problems. They will make that money tax deductible and give 5% [of the overall amount] every year to [the actual] charity. If they collect $300 billion, they will use only $15 billion every year. That won’t solve any problems.” Read more of this post

Filed under Philanthropy Tagged with Carlos Slim Helu, Charity, development, jobs, philanthripy, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011, The Giving Pledge

Buffett Family Philanthropy

March 30, 2011 6 Comments

Here is an article I came across by chance today.I think it’s worth sharing.

Daddy Givebucks: Lessons Learned When Warren Buffett Hands You $1 Billion

By: Jeff Bailey September 1, 2009

Three years ago, Warren Buffett gave each of his kids $1 billion to give away — suddenly thrusting them into the philanthropic elite. Here’s what they learned.

For all the talk of how Warren Buffett is a normal, aw-shucks Midwestern guy, we know he is not just like us. We don’t play bridge with Bill Gates. We may get calls asking for capital infusions, but they’re from our kids, not from GE and Goldman. And these days, we certainly don’t get 10% dividends on our stocks.

But ask Buffett about his kids — Susie, 56, an Omaha knitting-shop owner; Howie, 54, an Illinois farmer; and Peter, 51, a New York-based new-age musician — and he turns into your typical, gushing dad. “All three are smart. They have good judgment,” he says. “They’re just very decent human beings.”

So decent, he thinks, that three years ago, when he pledged $30 billion in Class B Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he also promised each of his children $1 billion in shares for their charitable foundations. (All four foundations are receiving their stock grants in annual installments, with the remainder to be paid out upon his death.) Read more of this post

Filed under Philanthropy Tagged with Africa, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Crop research, Educare, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Ghana, Girl Effect, Global Philanthropy Group, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Howie Buffett, Jennifer Buffett, John Deere, Mary Robinson, Nike Foundation, NoVo Foundation, Omaha Nebraska, Ounce of Prevention Fund, Peter Buffett, Philanthropy, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011, Sherwood Foundation, soil management, Susie Buffett, trevor neilson, W.K.Kellogg Foundation, Warren Buffett, water resources

Indian Philanthropy

March 29, 2011 1 Comment

Here are some major features of Indian Philanthropy as enumerated by eminent Indian businesspeople.They are perspectives that were articulated in response to the Gates-Buffett ‘the Giving Pledge’

1.”India has a very old culture of giving, since the time of Buddha. The concept of philanthropy is not new to us.”—-Rahul Bajaj, chairman, Bajaj Group.

2.”Philanthropy in the first world and in the third world are two different things. In the first world people donate to build a baseball stadium. In India, we have to decide for ourselves what we want out of philanthropy. It is not for the Americans to tell us.”

“shareholders have done more charity than Gates and Buffett put together. How? By allowing Cipla to export drugs for $100 million to Africa, which could have fetched $4 billion if they were exported to the US”—-Yusuf Hamied, chairman & managing director, Cipla Read more of this post