(How to help a charity without spending money )

 ”Do you have to be talking in riddles all the time? How can 3 clicks change lives?”

“Prasna, I know you are upset because I have not written for a long time. However it is true that you can change some people’s lives with just 3 clicks on your mouse.”

“OK tell me. It better be a good story.”

“It is a good story, but a trifle long. I need to tell you all that before you get ready to click thrice on your mouse.”

“Why don’t you just get on with it?”

” Ok here it is. ASSET India Foundation (Achieving Sustainable Social Equality through Technology) was started by my niece Nita Umashankar, (who is finishing her PhD in marketing Strategy at the University of Texas in Austin) my elder  brother Umashankar and his wife Sushila Umashankar. The purpose:  to educate Children of women in prostitution and girls rescued from trafficking for prostitution in major cities in India. They do this  by providing computer literacy for alternate livelihood and as a means of AIDS prevention. This way these children can free themselves from being chained to the flesh trade. They place the students in internships/jobs after the training.

ASSET India Foundation is taking part in the Chasegiving contest on Facebook.  My brother wrote to find out if I could write to associates and friends and request them to vote for ASSET India in the contest.

“What is this Chasegiving contest on Facebook?”

“Ok Prasna, this is the situation. In the current economy, fundraising for non-profits in the U.S has become very difficult. Hence Chase Giving, a US charity and others have organized contests to engage more young people to participate through social networks such as Facebook. There are a number of research studies that have indicated that using social networks directly for fundraising has not been effective. Chase Giving therefore has organized the voting contest. The winner gets the prize sponsored by Chasegiving – it is $25,000 in Phase I, $100,000 in Phase II and $ 1 Million in Phase III. You vote by a 3-click process. You click on the link at the end of this blog, then become a fan of Chasegiving and then click to vote. That’s it.”

“That is it? How do people know about ASSET India’s credentials?”

“Prasna, my brother anticipated  you will raise this question. So he has already sent the details.  He raised the two questions: Who benefits from the prize,  and why should  any one vote for ASSET over others and what has ASSET done so far?”

” I hope you learn from your brother.”

“I will. Here are the answers to those questions. Tangible facts, Prasna that no one can ignore.

 Who will benefit from this prize?

The competing non-profits such as ASSET India Foundation will receive funds based on the number of votes. Chase Giving has approved each participating non-profit including ASSET. ASSET is registered with the Internal RevenueService in the U.S and has official tax exempt status. ASSET raises funds to support its work in India. (Thus the money comes for charity work in India).

Why ASSET over other charities?

“When we came back from India with the idea to help children of sex workers and girls rescued from trafficking, we did extensive research on what NGOs were doing in this area. The only skills provided were sewing, vegetable vending, bag making etc- earning Rs.500 per month which not enough to keep the girls out of the flesh trade. That’s why we started ASSET. We not only provide the training but also place the students in jobs. To date we have placed more than 150 students in companies such as FirstSource  (BPO), Cafe Coffee Day, Phoenix Software and several smaller companies. In addition I am pestering CEOs about the skills their companies need at the entry level so that I can incorporate them in our training and thereby reduce training costs for the companies. The starting salary is between Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 4,000 in Chennai and Rs. 4,000 to Rs 6,500 in Mumbai.

ASSET also provides instruction on Health & Hygeine, managing money and brings speakers from the industry to talk about the importance of staying in school and opportunities in the IT field. The very reputable SMILE Foundation based in Delhi manages all the ASSET centers in India. SMILE staff oversee the centers. I transfer the funds to SMILE and they in turn disburse the funds to NGOs running the centers. SMILE provides regular financial statements as well as progress reports. ASSET has no paid staff in the U.S and its and its annual tax filing is public. ”

“What about some concrete proof that this is working?”

Umashankar continues ” Major donors include Dell, IBM, Intel, Sooch Foundation, Global Giving Foundation, Saxena Family Foundation, SHG Foundation.(ASSET website: www.assetindiafoundation.org)

Here is our first batch placement report for our Mumbai center, located in Kamathipura red light district.  Placement Status of 1st Batch:

1. Mrs. Arpita A Salunke – Aditya Birla Minacs

2. Mr. Akshay R Berde – Aditya Birla Minacs

 3. Mrs.Suvarna M Pawar – Aditya Birla Minacs

4. Ms. Shraddha M Vyas – Navjeevan Centre

5. Ms. Rekha J Gaikwad – Bombay Teen Challenge

 6. Mrs.Vidya H Chandorkar – Bombay Teen Challenge

 7. Mr. Shailesh M Gurav – Swimming Teacher at Lower Parel

8. Mr. Suresh Om Prasad – Video Shooting Work

Faculty: Mr. Prakash Moraye, Management &  Ms. Laxmi – Computer Instructor at Class

Placement Status: Sr.No. Name Date of joining Company Post Salary

1 Ms. Sneha Gaikwad 7/9/2009 Dreamz Management Tele-calling Operator 4500

2 Ms. Ravina Kachankar 7/9/2009 Dreamz Management Tele-calling Operator 4500

3 Ms. Radhika Shrigadi 7/9/2009 Dreamz Management Tele-calling Operator 4500

4 Ms. Bhavana Rathod 7/9/2009 Dreamz Management Tele-calling Operator 4500

5. Ms. Fehmida Sheikh 7/9/2009 Dreamz Management Tele-calling Operator 4500

6 Ms. Amrapali Katarnaware 14/9/09 West Side Sales 4800

 7. Ms. Chanchal Mishra 14/9/09 West Side Sales 4800

8 Ms. Pramila Puralkar 14/9/09 Loot Store Sales 4200

9 Ms. Vijaya Narayan Parab 22/09/09 IP INDIA COMPANY Data entry operator 5000

10 Mr. Uttam Das 21/09/09 Café COFFEE DAY Tr.TM 5000

11 Mr. Sanvidhan Katarnaware 21/09/09 Café COFFEE DAY Tr.TM 5000

12 Mr. Ramdas Ovhal 4/10/2009 Asha Mahila Sanstha Field Worker 6500 Promoted

13 Mrs. Savita Pacharkar 4/10/2009 Asha Mahila Sanstha Field Worker 6500 Promoted

14 Ms. Sangita Kamble 4/10/2009 Asha Mahila Sanstha Field Worker 6500 Promoted

15 Ms. Anita Baban Jadhav 1/11/2009 BPL Mobile Tele-calling Operator 4000

What other proof would you like?”

“The case rests RS. Why don’t you write to your associates and friends?”

 The people Umashankar has listed above will have a new life due to ASSET.

Impressed? Now why don’t you vote by logging in to Facebook after clicking on the link below and then pass on the link to ten of your friends? The logging into Facebook and 3-click process takes a minute and you are  changing someone’s life forever. The link is: http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/717045

The voting deadline is Dec 11, 2009. They need around 5,000 votes to win. I would be grateful if you cast your vote for ASSET and make them win. The desrve every vote they get.