The past year has brought with it the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme adversity, impacting severallivesandlivelihoodsacrossthecountry.Amongstthemostseverelyaffected,weregrassrootsorganisations who were at the frontlines of rescue and relief efforts while barely managing to surviveor sustain themselves. As a result, today, many of these organisations are grappling with depletedreserves of funds, organisational fatigue and the risk of forced closure, as community needs andvulnerabilitiescompoundanddeepen.
Duringthischallengingtime,EdelGivecontinuestoplaceitshopeincollaborationandcollectiveactionto mobilise goodwill, expertise and resources to ensure a recovery that is not only timely, but alsoholistic.
In this context, EdelGive Foundation launches the Grassroots, Resilience, Ownership and Wellness(GROW) Fund, a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at building the capabilities, resilience and futurereadinessofgrassrootsorganisations,inturnfacilitatingtheireffortstoeffectchangeatthegrassroots. Anchored by EdelGive Foundation along with a collection of reputed funders, the GROWFund aims to strengthen 100 high impact grassroots organisations over 24 months, through capacitybuilding,andsupportofkeyorganisationalfunctions.
On 6th July, 2021, as a lead up to the launch, EdelGive hosted the first roundtable on GROW whichproduced an array of invaluable insights that are helping to frame our ideas and ambitions for theFund.Theconversationsreinforcedtheurgencyofmakingphilanthropymoreinclusiveandaccessibleto small and mid-sized NGOs connected with disadvantaged communities, intertwining a trust-basedapproach and data-led style of philanthropy, laying emphasis on organisational development forsustainability,anddesigningforscalethroughlong-term,partner-ledpartnershipandfundingapproaches.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Manan Trust, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, MacArthurFoundation, A.T.E. Chandra Foundation and Ashish Kacholia, along with the Edelweiss Group havejoined as core funders to the initiative. Eminent businesspersons known for their commitment tophilanthropy such as Sanjay Purohit and the Bikhchandani family have also committed to this cause,and are supporting the Fund. EdelGive also looks forward to welcoming many more individuals andorganisationstoGROWinthemonthstocome
Applications to the GROW Fund are now open, and the Fund’s 100 grantees will be selected throughanopenandtransparentonlineapplicationprocess.Eachapplicationwillbejudgedobjectively,basedon both qualitative and quantitative information submitted on broad parameters such as financialstrength and fundraising capacity, compliance, reach, impact and coverage, as well as critical gaps infunding.EdelGivewillbeworkingwiththeCOVIDActionCollaborative(CAC), GOONJ, JanSahas,
OXFAM, ACUMEN ACADEMY, ARTHAN, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), Council for Social &Digital Development and Social Lens as outreach partners, to ensure equal representation from theNorth, South, EastandWestzonesofIndia.
“GROW was conceptualised keeping in mind the operational struggles, emotional fatigue and mentalhealthofeverygrassrootsorganisationduringtheprolongedpandemicanditsaccompanyinghardships.Ouraimisnotonlytosupporttheseorganisationsfortheircorecostsandfunctioning,butalsotoensurethattheirvoicesareheardsothattheirissuesareeffectivelysolved.”–VidyaShah,
ExecutiveChairperson,EdelGiveFoundation
“Through the GROW Fund, we intend to institutionalise our belief in grassroots organisations and thecommunities they work with. In this context, we believe that grassroots organisations are the bestplaced to find, not only the most effective but also the most sustainable solutions to the plethora ofissues and hardships faced by underserved/marginalised communities in light of the pandemic.” –Naghma Mulla,CEO,EdelGiveFoundation
With GROW, we focus on designing solutions at scale and then distributing the ability to solve. Theidea is to erect structures – including technology-based structures – to enable people to solve incontext. I believe that this is how we, as a society, can move away from working to put out fires asthey arise, and move towards a resilient framework of response that can be employed across theboard.”–RohiniNilekani,Founderand Chairperson,RohiniNilekaniPhilanthropies
“Systemicissuescannotbesolvedbyplanninginterventionsforcausesand/ororganisationsindividually. The GROW Fund lays emphasis on solutions that are capable of supporting partnerships,communitiesandinstitutionsatasystemiclevel.”–AmitChandra,Founder,A.T.E.ChandraFoundation
“From filling in the gaps in public services, to dealing with the consequences of our policy responsesand amplifying the voices that are left unheard in the corridors of power, it has fallen to grassrootsorganisationstotryandminimisethecatastrophicimpactofthispandemiconourfellowcitizens.WithGROW, weaimtotakeonthemantleofprotectorfortheseorganisationsbyensuringtheirresilience,sustainabilityandfuture-readiness.–IngridSrinath,Director,CentreforSocialImpactandPhilanthropy(CSIP), AshokaUniversity
Come be a part of the GROW Fund’s journey to build sustainable organisations that can maximisetheirimpactongroundandenablearobustcivilsocietyinIndia!
