Helping Hand

BANGALORE: Deutsche Bank and GiveIndia Foundation, a philanthropy platform, have come together to customise charitable causes for high net worth individual (HNI) clients of the bank. The concept was launched in January and right now, relationship managers from the bank are in the process of familiarising clients with the programme.

The initiative enables the HNIs clients to identify philanthropic gestures and choose the region where the donation will be made. For instance, if a client wishes to extend his/her support to childcare in Maharashtra, GiveIndia will shortlist, screen and engage the NGO as per the requirement. GiveIndia offers a periodic feedback to the donor at pre-defined intervals, making the donation options tailor-made.

“This is the first time in India that a bank has created social participation opportunities to its high net worth clients.

Our clients can choose the cause they would like to associate with, monitor their donations and get regular updates on the status of the project,” says Pankaj Narain, Director and Head, Private Clients, Banking and Investments, India, Deutsche Bank.

There are pre-designed and customised participation options. Around 200 NGOs from various parts of India are affiliated to GiveIndia. These were chosen from 4,000 NGOs, which were screened on norms of credibility and transparency. The 200 NGOs represent 10 categories like child welfare, education, women welfare, healthcare, environment, youth livelihood and care for disabled, among others. “As it was felt that social returns on investments are as important as financial returns, we partnered with a bank in the private banking client space. We provide an NGO database for their clients,” says Ujwal Thakar, CEO, GiveIndia Foundation.

The proposal seems rightly timed.

“Reports indicate that the Indian millionaires are growing annually at 19 - 20 per cent. The growth has been steady over the last five-six years and is now becoming more visible. The community is growing,” explains Sonu Iyer, Tax Partner, Ernst & Young.