Annual Report of Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy
Financial Year 2001 - 2002

Dear Member,

The Chairman and Board of Directors of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy are pleased to submit their Annual Report, together with the audited accounts of the Centre, for the year ended March 31, 2002.

Influencing Policy

For philanthropy to flourish the legal and regulatory environment has to be conducive. The Finance Bill 2002 proposed by the then Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, was detrimental to the interest of trusts. The Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy sent a memorandum not only to the Finance Minister but also to the Prime Minister’s Office, pointing out the detrimental effects some of the provisions of the proposed bill could have on charitable trusts and societies.

The Finance Act 2002 is a much-watered down version of the proposed Bill. However, our Centre will continue to persuade the powers that be to create a more enabling environment for philanthropy to flourish.

Our Centre is also proposing to write to the new Finance Minister with regard to the ‘Charitable and Religious Trusts Scheme’ (CRTS) of the Unit Trust of India. While the government is making efforts to bail out Unit ’64, there is hardly any attention being paid to CRTS in which trusts all over India, have invested staggering sums of money.

Activities

Since inception, one of the valuable services that the Centre has been extending to its members and those involved in the philanthropic field is free consultancy in areas of charity law, taxation, financial management, judicious investment of funds and resource mobilisation. In this regard, our special thanks are due to our directors, Mr. R.R. Chari (Commissioner of Income Tax - Retd.) and Mr. K.M. Desai (Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra State - Retd.) who have been extending their voluntary services to various individuals and institutions who approach them for guidance through our Centre. Our thanks are also due to Ms. Zahida Noorani, a qualified and experienced fund-raiser (she was ‘Development Officer’ with ‘Mercy Hospital’, Chicago, U.S.A. for 19 years) who has been a valuable resource-person to members of the Centre since the past couple of years.

The Centre’s services are now fully computerised and various legal documents, important application forms, returns, etc., can be made available electronically through e-mail or on floppy disks. In fact, increasingly, members are interacting with the Centre with queries and requests via the Internet.

The Centre has its website on the Internet at www.cozUcare.org/cap

A new website http://www.capindia.org/ is also under construction.

Financial Support

The grant of US $ 100,000 received from the Ford Foundation has enabled the Centre to expand and enhance its services and programmes, particularly in areas of research, seminars and training programs, as also resource books and its journal, ‘Philanthropy’.

The trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust have also sanctioned a corpus grant of Rs.50 lakhs to the Centre for the following purposes:

  1. creating suitable infrastructure for philanthropy;
  2. developing courses in philanthropy in academic institutions;
  3. promoting good governance and accountability and
  4. advising the government on policy matters backed with adequate research..

    Earlier, a generous grant from the Sir Ratan Tata Trust enabled the Centre to acquire an office of its own at Mulla House.
     
    Publications

    The Centre has published a second, revised edition of a monograph titled “Overview of Laws Governing Voluntary/Non-Profit Organisations In India” by Noshir H. Dadrawala, for the benefit of those who may be interested in a quick understanding of the important facets of managing voluntary organisations in India.  In a sense, this publication is a summary of the earlier volume titled ‘Management of Philanthropic Organisations’.

    Several changes made under the Finance Act 2002, as also guidelines under FC(R)A, are covered in this booklet.

    The Centre has also published a monograph on “Development Concepts and the Role of the Development Worker” by Prof. Pheroze T.Contractor. The author specialises in training of Human Resource Development, works closely with grassroots development workers and is the founder member of Janvikas, a support organisation in the field of development.

    Thanks to the grant from the Ford Foundation, both these booklet are available for free distribution.

    Over the next few months, the Centre will be publishing a few more books including one on ‘Accounting Systems’, ‘Resource Mobilization’ and ‘Profiles in Good Corporate Citizenship’.

    The Centre’s bi-monthly journal, ‘Philanthropy’, continues to be published regularly and without a break since 1986. Thanks to the grant from the Ford Foundation, the journal has received a complete face-lift. The numbers of pages have also been doubled.

    Research on Diaspora Philanthropy

    It is estimated that there are about 17,800,428 Non Resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) scattered over 126 countries around the world.

    The Centre will shortly be bringing out a publication titled “Diaspora Indians - On the Philanthropy Fast-Track”. This study conducted by Ms. Priya Viswanath and her team traces the efforts of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) in the Far East, West Asia, United Kingdom and United States to “reconnect” with their home country and be participants in the development agenda.

    Giving Wings To Dreams

    The Centre continues to provide assistance in registering new organisations as trusts/societies, helps them obtain various tax exemptions and guides them on procedures involved with obtaining clearances from the Home Ministry to receive funds from foreign sources.

    During the financial year, the Centre has assisted, among others, the following new organisations with registration procedures and formalities:

    1) Trust for Public Concern (initiated by Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, Mr. Julio Rebiero and others);
    2) Titan Education Foundation (initiated by Dr. Armaity Desai and others);
    3) Population First Foundation (initiated by Mr. Bobby Sista and others);
    4) CREATE Foundation (initiated by Ms. Rael Alyque Padamsee and others);
    5) Leverina Society (promoted by Hindustan Lever);
    6) Dreamcatchers Foundation (initiated by Mrs. Sonali Ojha and others).

    It is heartening to see philanthropic organisations looking upto the Centre as a resource Centre for data, information, as also a friendly and reliable source for advice and assistance in areas of general administration and procedural requirements under a host of regulations affecting charities in India.

    Conferences/Seminars/Training

    During the year under review, the Centre organised several regional and national level ‘capacity building’ seminars and conferences for philanthropic organisations in India. They include:

  5. a four days’ intensive “Manager’s Course In Fund Raising” in association with the South-Asian Fund Raising Group. Two professional trainers were specially invited from the Philippines;
  6. a national level conference in Delhi on the theme, “Strengthening Philanthropy in India”.
  7. “Excellence in Volunteerism”;
  8. “The ABCs of Proposal Preparation And Writing;
  9. “South-Asian Fund Raising Workshop”, in Goa, in association with the South-Asian Fund Raising Group;
  10. “Effective Governance through Effective Boards”. The main speaker at the seminar was Dr. Marilyn Wyatt of ‘Board Source’ (Washington D.C.);
  11. “Management Training for Voluntary Organisations”, in association with Habitat for Humanity;
  12. ‘Intensive Course on Fund Raising’, in association with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

    Invitatons

    During the year under review, the Centre’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Noshir H. Dadrawala, was invited as a ‘resource person’ by several prestigious associations and institutions. Some of them include:

No.
Association / Institution
Topic
1. Bombay Management Association (BMA) ‘Resource Mobilization For Voluntary Organisations’
2. Indian Society for Training & Development ‘Effective Utilisation Of Resources Through Interface Between The Corporate Sector And Voluntary Organisations’
3. Dept. of Extra Mural Studies,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)		 ‘Managing NGOs In The Developing World’
4. Forbes Marshall (Pune) ‘Effective Methods of Communications, Project Proposal And Fund Raising’
5. Confederation of Indian Industries (CII),
Western Region 		‘Effective Management Of Voluntary Organisations’
6. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), ‘Diploma In Business Management for VSOs’ ‘Management Of VSOs’
7. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) ‘Laws Governing Voluntary Organisations’
8. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) ‘Resource Mobilization’
9. Indian Centre for Philanthropy (ICP) ‘Good Governance’

International recognition

Over the years, the Centre has gained international recognition as a key resource Centre for data, information and professional expertise in the field of philanthropy. The Centre’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Noshir H. Dadrawala is a member of the Governing Council of the ‘Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium’, since March 2000.

Mr. Dadrawala’s research paper titled “Legal Framework for Non-Profit Institutions in India” for the Johns Hopkins University, USA, has been published by the ‘Society for Participatory Research in Asia’ in February 2001. His ‘Country Report’ on “NGO Laws and Regulations” has been published by the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law (Washington, DC, and USA).

During the year under review, Mr. Dadrawala was invited to speak at the following international forums;

  1. ‘International Seminar on Charity Law’ organised by the Centre for Civil Society at the London School of Economics;
  2. at a two-days’ Asian Conference in Bali, Indonesia, on ‘Strengthening Philanthropy In The Asia Pacific Region’;
  3. South Asian conference on ‘Philanthropy & Law in South-Asia’ in Dhaka, organised by the Asia-Pacific Philanthropy Consortium;
  4. WINGS-Forum (WINGS – Worldwide Initiatives for Grant-Making Support) held in Sydney, Australia. Mr. Dadrawala was one of the panelists at a lunch Plenary Session on ‘Challenges Facing the Philanthropic Sector in Developing Countries.’ The Session was chaired by Mr. Barry Gabeman, Vice-President, Ford Foundation, New York, USA.

    Membership

    The number of members registered with the Centre as on March 31, 2002 is as follows:

Patron:
32
Institutional:
101
Associate:
124
Sympathisers:
189
Total:
446

A list of the Centre’s Members (Patron, Institutional and Associate only) is enclosed.  

The Future

In the coming months, the Centre will organise more seminars, workshops and training programmes on new themes. A few resource books are also in various stages of completion.

In terms of infrastructure, the Centre is a relatively small organisation. But our aspirations and levels of motivation are high. We believe we make a difference because we care.

September 2002   R.M. Lala
Chairman