Grassroots organizations have worked tirelessly on the frontlines to provide immediate COVID relief and to sustain existing programs, preventing further digression on India’s overall development. These small, community-based NGOs have the greatest proximity to vulnerable communities and play a critical role in India’s development; however, have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and regulatory changes impacting India’s philanthropy ecosystem. Today, there is an urgent need for the philanthropic community to support the resilience of India’s grassroots NGOs through long-term, general operating grants so that they can survive these uncertain times and continue to support India’s most marginalized and vulnerable communities. Dasra and Tarsadia Foundation have stepped up to meet this need and have launched the Rebuild India Fund – a long-term resilience fund that commits 5 years of general operating grants (USD 13,500 per year, per NGO) and capacity-building support to 100 new grassroots NGOs each year. The fund will be supported by a cohort of global philanthropic partners committed to providing long-term, funding to NGO strategies based on local knowledge and systems. Thus, The Rebuild India Fund aims to challenge existing practices of philanthropy and encourage open dialogue on giving principles such as trust-based philanthropy, flexible and long-term funding, supporting proximate leaders, and more, with the larger goal of creating an empathetic ecosystem. The Rebuild India Fund was built off of Dasra’s 2021 COVID relief campaign - #BackTheFrontline – which raised USD 10+ million, supporting 152 NGOs across 31 Indian states & union territories, impacting 2.9+ million lives. |