BHARATI PAWASKAR
It is India’s number one crowdfunding platform for medical emergencies and social causes, ImpactGuru.com that became the angel for the volunteers and team at People For Animals (PFA) to raise funds to improve the lives of the stray animals at Shantinager in the port town Vasco. The campaign that was kick-started by a student volunteer at PFA, Sherry Fernandes received tremendous response and the funds collected were over a lakh rupees in just 10 days.
Sharing her experience, Sherry explains that she started the fundraising campaign before the monsoon to improve the state of shelter for injured animals. “Animals need to remain dry for quicker healing of wounds, so I wanted the funds to be arranged quickly. We thought of approaching ImpactGuru.com whose founder and CEO, Piyush Jain supported our cause wholeheartedly. The request was put up on the platform and the volunteers of PFA shared it on various social media platforms. The response was overwhelming, and the crowdfunding campaign was a huge success,” she briefs.
“Our crowdfunding company was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab in USA in 2014. A strong passion to make a difference in the lives of people and save more lives inspired co-founder, Khushboo Jain and me to start a fintech company focused on making healthcare more affordable. We thus co-founded ImpactGuru.com with a mission to help people find crowdfunding solutions primarily for healthcare as well as social change,” shares Piyush Jain.
Healthcare crowdfunding is an alternative method of raising funds online for medical expenses, with the patient (or his/her friends or family) primarily relying on social media networks to mobilise donors to finance the relevant medical bills. Typically, each of these donors contribute relatively small sums of money online to help raise a much larger goal amount. “For example: 200 donors contributing Rs 5,000 each can amass Rs 10 lakh in less than 24 hours. The additional advantage of crowdfunding is that patients do not have to repay that money back to the funders as the money provided online is a donation and not a loan,” explains Piyush whose core mission is to work to ensure that no one dies due to lack of funds for their healthcare expenses in India, be it humans or animals.
Along with Sherry are over a dozen volunteers “ Ved Salkar, 19, Lubna Mendonca, who is probably the youngest at 12 joined by her family members, Rajiv, 21 and Xena, 18. Then there’s Sharvani Chandavle and Vianni, both 20 and Zane Vaz who is 23. PFA’s secretary, Asha Keni and treasurer, Elizabeth Valson are very supportive and happy that the youth are targeting to collect funds for the animals, keeping a target of Rs five lakh for constructing soak pits and extend the shelter roof.
Luckily, within just 10 days, an amount of Rs 1.09 lakh was generated through crowdfunding platform. The amount was utilised to build soak pits. Fortunately, a local civil engineer Rhys Axl Pereira offered his expertise free of cost. He charged only for the labour and the raw material which came to around Rs 10,000. So, 90 per cent of the amount was saved. However, another Rs four lakh would be needed to extend the animal shelter and the young volunteers are hopeful that the total campaign amount of Rs five lakh will be arranged soon. Till date Rs 114307 are in their kitty. The shelter needs microscope too so that the animals could be scanned by the vets.
Can this platform be misused? How transparent is the transaction? Can there be manipulation with the funds raised? “Not likely. Data being put up publicly on our platform is their choice. The campaigners have access to content on their Fundraiser page. At any time, they can remove content/pictures/videos/hospital documents that are part of their Fundraiser page. So far though, we have not witnessed any issues of individual/NGO/patient’s data being misused,” states Piyush as funds raised on the campaign are publicly mentioned for anyone who has the fundraiser link.
Are there any taxes levied on the amount generated? Piyush explains, “For DIY (Do It Yourself) fundraisers, we charge a 5 percent fee on total funds raised. There is no upfront fee to use our platform. GST of 18 per cent charged on the aggregate transaction and platform fees (for INR donations only). No GST charged on foreign donations. We offer tax benefits through our strategic partnerships with GlobalGiving.org and Give2Asia.org for US, UK and Hong Kong donors.” Rising internet access and digital payments penetration continues to complement the growth of the crowdfunding industry in India..
PFA team is happy that ImpactGuru has helped in raising funds for these homeless strays who wander on the streets and take refuge under anything when it pours, especially during the torrential rains that Goa witnesses during monsoons. Not able to see their plight and woes, PFA along with its volunteers has been undertaking welfare measures to improve the lives of the stray animals. It takes in injured animals and nurses their wounds and lets them out when they recover. PFA also sterilises the animals so that their population does not grow. Currently it is sterilising 30 plus animals per week. Funds would surely help them extend their services.
