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Schooling Project (Mumbai)


Hi Everybody,

Disclaimer: This is an appeal for monetary contributions for charity.

This is to introduce an NGO, The Schooling Project, that I and a group of friends co-founded a few years ago. What we do is essentially this: We work with an NGO called Global Concerns India. They identify slum children who have dropped out of govt. schools for financial reasons. We raise money through private donations to pay school fees for those kids. Global Concerns India is headed by a fantastically committed woman, Brinda Adige. We in the Schooling Project have been associated with Brinda Adige for over 5 years now. More details at Protected content

Over the last 5 years, my group of friends and I have sponsored 72 slum children with the simple act of paying school fees. Its sometimes unnerving to think that the small sum of Rs. Protected content year can mean the difference between the child working as bonded labour for her entire life or escaping drudgery forever! Thus far, we have funded 72 kids without any external fundraising. Now we’re planning to raise that number to Protected content march Protected content . Hence this appeal.

Our organization is virtual, i.e. no office, no employees and no cost.
I am on the board of The Schooling Project. Any contribution you make is backed by my personal guarantee
If you choose to contribute, we will guarantee that 100% of your contribution goes towards paying school fees. Zero admin cost.
You will get regular report cards and updates of the kids you pay fees for
You can choose to directly pay school fees to the school – however, this is a slightly complex and time sensitive process. Because school fees cannot be paid too far in advance and not after the due date. So you have to time it exactly
You can also make a payment to the Indu Jagmohan Toshniwal Charitable Foundation. This foundation is named after the late parents of my friend Abhay Toshniwal, he and his wife Nitya are the managing Trustees of the schooling project. This is a registered trust. Your contributions are tax deductible.
Most of the kids are from a slum in Koramangala Bangalore. The kids we sponsor are from all religious groups and a random mix of boys and girls of varying ages. We are a completely secular organization.
We have declined all media attention so far. No interviews, no articles, no pontificating on government lapses, no personal profiles of any of the donors, nothing. We are a group of quiet, anonymous donors. None of the children that we sponsor know who their individual donors are.
Flip Design is my friend Abhay’s design firm in Bangalore. They do all the promotional design work for the Schooling Project.
We do not guilt-trip anybody into contributing. This is the only mail you’ll get for this year.

Final Thought: It costs Rs. Protected content sponsor one child for one year. I normally use a financial measure called “The First Drink Index”.. how much does something cost compared to the first drink you have on a Friday evening at a swish bar.

If you’re sufficiently impressed by what you’ve read and wish to contribute, you can do so by sending a cheque (Rs. Protected content the number of kids you wish you fund) to this address. Please include your name, and address in an attached letter? Crossed Cheques should be in the name of Indu Jagmohan Toshniwal Charitable Foundation

to

Suresh Venkat
TV18 India Ltd.
1st. Floor Empire Complex,
414, Senapati Bapat Marg
Lower Parel
Mumbai Protected content

If you wish to contribute, you will need to hurry. Your cheques have to reach us by 25th March.

I know you probably get a whole bunch of charity appeals throughout the year and you may not choose to contribute to this one for various reasons. If that’s so, then I sincerely thank you for reading this email and considering the idea. We promise to never bring this up again or ask you, either in private or in public about it. But, If you ever change your mind, get in touch with one of us.

If you have questions, mail:

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Please include the words “Schooling Project” in the subject line?

Thank you,

Suresh

Mumbai Forum

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