Driving force behind NGOs

VADODARA, July 1: When a century-old global movement having traversed 29 countries reached India in 1986, few imagined the far-reaching effe...

VADODARA, July 1: When a century-old global movement having traversed 29 countries reached India in 1986, few imagined the far-reaching effect it would have on the voluntary scene in a growing industrial centre of Gujarat. Twelve years after it came into being, the United Way of Baroda with its organised resource mobilisation and allocation has become the driving force behind non-governmental organisations in the city.

The United Way of Baroda was started with the tripartite participation of Baroda Citizens Council, USA-based United Way International and UNICEF for the initial five years under the chairmanship of Indubhai Patel. Theone-of-its kind body in the country has since then emerged as a 8220;support organisation8221; assisting the voluntary agencies through need-based funds, common services, dissemination of information, training and management aids.

Says Director Girdhar Vaswani, 8220;The beauty of this organisation is that the fund raisers are not the fund givers thereby enabling a check and balance on all activities. It has helped promote community philanthropy in all segments of society.8221; The results, he adds, speak for the efforts. From a modest funding of Rs 2 lakhs in 1986, the organisation raised Rs 2 crore and disbursed Rs 1.5 crores to 60 voluntary organisations in the city during the last year. The organisation also boasts of 102 institutional members.

Vaswani adds that utmost care is taken to ensure that the funds are allotted and used effectively. In fact, resource mobilisation and funds allocation in the organisation are being carried out under the chairmanship of two of the city8217;s leading industrialists Amit Goradia and Jal Patel, respectively.Among its other activities, are projects benefitting the city and its denizens and studies to determine the immediate and future needs of the city. 8220;We support networking within NGOs which helps avoid wasteful duplication and yield more productive results,8221; adds Vaswani.

The organisation also publishes a quarterly newsletter 8212; Sambandh 8212; incorporating useful information for the voluntary sector.

An interesting side of philanthropy through the United Way is the donor8217;s choice. Every donor has an option to chose between contributing to the support organisation or a particular member organisation or even make a donation specifying a cause. A popular charity event organised by the United Way in the city is the annual navratri festival attracting donations from various quarters of the city.

While individual donors abound, leading industrial houses and corporates like Dinesh Mills, ABB, GNFC, IPCL among others, have also offered sustained financial support to the organisation8217;s need-based projects. In fact, a new payroll deduction8217; scheme will be launched on July 4 at Fag India, Makarpura, by which company employees will donate part of their monthly income to United Way.

Story continues below this ad

The involvement of the corporates, says Vaswani, mainly springs from the fact that 8220;they know their money will be spent wisely.8221; United Way is very particular about sending a filed feedback report to each corporate donor listing details of how funds were used. 8220;It builds up the credibility because most of the times corporates do not even know where their money went,8221; explains Vaswani.

Vaswani feels that more and more urban areas in the country should adopt the United Way model. 8220;Voluntary organisations in Pune are taking a step in this regard, but a lot will depend on the city leadership,8221; he says. A striking fact about the United Way organisations across the globe is that they are all affiliated to a parent body and yet independent from one another. 8220;But we are all linked by a common goal and a common philosophy,8221; says Vaswani.