Philip Kotler, the father of Modern Marketing in his latest book – Marketing 3.0 explains that building strong relationships with customers and retaining them, satisfying them is no longer enough. After all, every company is busy doing it. According to him, the future agenda for companies have to be “ how to make this world a better place.” He asserts that this has to be the foundation of business and marketing.

Bill Gates once said – “ As we look ahead, leaders will be those who empower others.”

The Internet, book shops and media is full of thoughts on “What is the future of business and leadership?" and “What is the role of philanthropy and CSR in future leadership?”

Our event on July 30, 2010 ignites this topic amongst the brightest of brains to get a peep into the future. The event called “The Future of Leadership” will be held at YB Chavan Centre on from 10:00am onwards.

This spirit of event and intensity of discussion will be heightened up by the presence of over 40 CEOs of leading companies, around 80 members from higher management in HR and Marketing, several Deans of respected B-Schools in India.

Update (Aug 4, 2010): Economic Times carried an article post the event in their national daily which gives a nice overview of the proceedings.

GiveIndia is proud to announce the launch of First Givers Club, a platform to drive an active giving culture and help build a community of donors committed to various social causes. The members of the club have a stated intent of donating Rs.5,00,000 or more and engage at least 40 hours of their time per year to any cause(s) of their choice.

More than 100 professionals have taken this pledge to set a new standard of giving!

The launch summit, scheduled for July 30th will bring members together with philanthropists and leading policy makers. The focal points of the first summit are to give members a better understanding of how much to give, who to give to and how, and involving the family in the process. Dr. Nitin Nohria (Dean, Harvard Business School) and Mr. Kevin Salwen (Author, "The Power of Half") are the key note speakers at the summit.

The summit would be followed by five workshops through the year, focused around specific domain areas like Education, Livelihoods, Women & Children, Health, Disability & Elderly. Each of these panels will be accompanied by a "sector research report" that will showcase the sector and opportunities for making a difference.

BNP Paribas, as part of its commitment to Philanthropy and Social Responsibility in its 150th year in India, believes strongly in spreading the message of “giving” and is a proud supporter of the First Givers summit.

GiveIndia also acknowledges the support of its other partners


Update (Aug 4, 2010): A well written article, titled "Will give money, time for charity, 100 pledge at ‘Giving Summit'" was written by Swatee Kher in the Indian Express.

GiveIndia held a series of workshops, ‘Fundraising with GiveIndia’ in May & June, 2010 in 8 cities across India. This workshop was for our partner NGOs to help them understand how to leverage their listing and use the GiveIndia platform effectively to raise funds.

The day long workshops held in Mumbai/Pune/Kolkata/Delhi/Ahmedabad/Bangalore/Chennai & Hyderabad were a huge success with 239 participants from 183 partner NGOs attending. In fact we got such an amazing response from our Chennai NGOs that we were forced to hold two simultaneous workshop sessions to ensure we did not turn away anyone.

There were three interactive sessions held by the Listing, Feedback & Internet teams. The discussions led NGOs to share their experiences with others, greatly increasing the level of participation. Several participants suggested that this become an annual event and we hope to make this part of our annual calendar.

We would like to share the presentations made during the workshops with everyone.





Sharing with you some feedback we received:

“It gives me confidence to work in our target areas and to utilize advanced technologies to report the feedbacks and to serve the beneficiaries effectively and to reach out more.”

“The GiveIndia team is of very high quality. I was most impressed by all three of them. There was a lot to pack in and absorb in one day, but certainly most useful and worth it. The Rs. 990 should not be seen as ‘cost’ but rather as ‘investment’ that participants can recover many times over if the lessons are learnt well.”

“Giveindia should conduct more such workshops so as to make NGOs work effectively and gain maximum benefits from this wonderful platform. “

The gold-hoarder walked in his palace park and with him walked his troubles. And over his head hovered worries as a vulture hovers over a carcass, until he reached a beautiful lake surrounded by magnificent marble statuary.

He sat there pondering the water which poured from the mouths of the statues like thoughts flowing freely from a lover's imagination, and contemplating heavily his palace which stood upon a knoll like a birth-mark upon the cheek of a maiden. His fancy revealed to him the pages of his life's drama which he read with falling tears that veiled his eyes and prevented him from viewing man's feeble additions to Nature.

He looked back with piercing regret to the images of his early life, woven into pattern by the gods, until he could no longer control his anguish. He said aloud, "Yesterday I was grazing my sheep in the green valley, enjoying my existence, sounding my flute, and holding my head high. Today I am a prisoner of greed. Gold leads into gold, then into restlessness and finally into crushing misery.

"Yesterday I was like a singing bird, soaring freely here and there in the fields. Today I am a slave to fickle wealth, society's rules, and city's customs, and purchased friends, pleasing the people by conforming to the strange and narrow laws of man. I was born to be free and enjoy the bounty of life, but I find myself like a beast of burden so heavily laden with gold that his back is breaking.

"Where are the spacious plains, the singing brooks, the pure breeze, the closeness of Nature? Where is my deity? I have lost all! Naught remains save loneliness that saddens me, gold that ridicules me, slaves who curse to my back, and a palace that I have erected as a tomb for my happiness, and in whose greatness I have lost my heart.

"Yesterday I roamed the prairies and the hills together with the Bedouin's daughter; Virtue was our companion, Love our delight, and the moon our guardian. Today I am among women with shallow beauty who sell themselves for gold and diamonds.

"Yesterday I was carefree, sharing with the shepherds all the joy of life; eating, playing, working, singing, and dancing together to the music of the heart's truth. Today I find myself among the people like a frightened lamb among the wolves. As I walk in the roads, they gaze at me with hateful eyes and point at me with scorn and jealousy, and as I steal through the park I see frowning faces all about me.

"Yesterday I was rich in happiness and today I am poor in gold.

"Yesterday I was a happy shepherd looking upon his head as a merciful king looks with pleasure upon his contented subjects. Today I am a slave standing before my wealth, my wealth which robbed me of the beauty of life I once knew.

"Forgive me, my Judge! I did not know that riches would put my life in fragments and lead me into the dungeons of harshness and stupidity. What I thought was glory is naught but an eternal inferno."

He gathered himself wearily and walked slowly toward the palace, sighing and repeating, "Is this what people call wealth? Is this the god I am serving and worshipping? Is this what I seek of the earth? Why can I not trade it for one particle of contentment? Who would sell me one beautiful thought for a ton of gold? Who would give me one moment of love for a handful of gems? Who would grant me an eye that can see others' hearts, and take all my coffers in barter?"

As he reached the palace gates he turned and looked toward the city as Jeremiah gazed toward Jerusalem. He raised his arms in woeful lament and shouted, "Oh people of the noisome city, who are living in darkness, hastening toward misery, preaching falsehood, and speaking with stupidity...until when shall you remain ignorant? Unit when shall you abide in the filth of life and continue to desert its gardens? Why wear you tattered robes of narrowness while the silk raiment of Nature's beauty is fashioned for you? The lamp of wisdom is dimming; it is time to furnish it with oil. The house of true fortune is being destroyed; it is time to rebuild it and guard it. The thieves of ignorance have stolen the treasure of your peace; it is time to retake it!"

At that moment a poor man stood before him and stretched forth his hand for alms. As he looked at the beggar, his lips parted, his eyes brightened with a softness, and his face radiated kindness. It was as if the yesterday he had lamented by the lake had come to greet him. He embraced the pauper with affection and filled his hands with gold, and with a voice sincere with the sweetness of love he said, "Come back tomorrow and bring with you your fellow sufferers. All your possessions will be restored."

He entered his palace saying, "Everything in life is good; even gold, for it teaches a lesson. Money is like a stringed instrument; he who does not know how to use it properly will hear only discordant music. Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and it enlivens the other who turns it upon his fellow man."

What would you do if you had a pre-mature (6.5 months) son suffering from cerebral palsy and epilepsy? What if he was treated for 3 years and could go to a regular school but no school would take him? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Sugwekar who were faced with this predicament for their son, Priyash, decided to start their own school and day care center for their son and other such children in the vicinity. Priyash attended the Spastic Society at Bandra and after 3 years of treatment could have been admitted to any regular school but no school in Badlapur(where the Sugwekars reside) would give him admission.

Our team from GiveIndia, visited Sangopita last month and filed this report on their visit.

“Sangopita”, a word derived from a Sanskrit word “Sangopan” means “upbringing of children”, a task entrusted to parents or guardians who protect their child and nurture them to lead a healthy and sound life. Sangopita offers a ray of hope to agonized parents who are endowed with special children who are mentally challenged and  suffering from Autism, Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy etc.

We were escorted by Mrs. Sujata R. Sugwekar at Badlapur station to the rehabilitation centre at Bendshil, 7 kms from the station.  The centre has 40 resident children, of which 15 were present at the time of the visit while the rest of them were away on vacation with their families. Mrs. Sugwekar briefed us about how and why they started Sangopita and the struggle for survival during the initial phase.

Initially they adopted various measures for raising funds – first of which was contacting their own local physician who in turn wrote to all the doctors in his network for support.  This initial assistance helped them to start up a centre at Bendshil village spread across approx 1.75 acres. Mr. Sugwekar, an employee of Punjab National Bank, also wrote to all the employees of his bank asking for monetary support. During this time the would go house-to-house requesting them to keep aside a fistful of rice and daal along with a one rupee coin. They also requested people to donate old clothes or any other old things which could be used by the children.

Sangopita has managed to arrange clean lodging and boarding facility along with day-night caretakers and some social workers who assist in their daily activities. They have also arranged for a physiotherapist and a doctor who visit them regularly. Since the centre is 7 kms away from Badlapur station, they do not find teachers who are willing to travel on a daily basis. As a result, they started another centre in Badlapur, which added to the expenses.

We interacted with 15 children - all of who were overjoyed and excited to meet us.  We played, laughed, click pictures with them. Some of the slow learning children make paper bags, diyas and candles which they sell. On one hand, all of us were happy to be with them however; on the other hand, all of us were trying to keep our emotions in control, as we feared that once we leave they will again be left with their loneliness, as not many people visit the centre.










You can help Sangopita fullfil its goal of providing these children with a happy and healthy future:

• Provide therapy & care for a differently abled children for a month for Rs. 4,000
• Transportation facility for poor daycare differently abled children for a month for Rs. 3,750
• Sponsor daycare expenses of a differently abled orphan/poor child for a month For Rs. 1,000

From Jul 1st to Jul 31st, we are holding a contest on Facebook to increase awareness of our cause - www.causes.com/GiveIndia. During this period, we aim to more than double the members on our cause from ~2,200 currently to 5,000.

You should first go to www.causes.com/GiveIndia and join the cause. Once you’ve joined the cause, you will be able to invite your friends to the cause.

And to goad you on to not only become members of the cause but to use the power of your social networks and recruit your friends to the cause, we are running a small contest.

The one who recruits the most number of people to the cause between Jul 1st and Jul 31st will stand to win a gift voucher of Rs. 500 for Shoppers Stop from GiveIndia along with a GiveIndia T-shirt.

In addition, the person who has the highest number of recruits to the cause on Aug 1st will stand to win a gift voucher of Rs. 500 for Shoppers Stop from GiveIndia. The number to beat is 205 as of NOW!

So GET SET GO...