Non-profit GiveIndia raises Rs 75 cr for Covid-19 relief fund

Non-profit organisation GiveIndia has raised Rs 75 crore to provide relief to people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Dubbed as India COVID Response Fund (ICRF), the fund aims to help one crore people in the country, mainly those living in hotspot areas.

Early donors to the fund include Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, HSBC India, Omidyar Network India, UBS Optimus Foundation, Marico, Uber India and Binny Bansal, a statement said.

The on-ground non-funding support will be provided by partner institutions such as Ashoka University and Bridgespan among others.

“Since we started fundraising for Covid-19 relief work, we have received donations from more than 2 lakh people globally, partnered with 40 organisations, onboarded 100 non-profits, and these initial efforts will impact 1 million people,” Govind Iyer, director of GiveIndia and advisor, ICRF said. 

The Covid-19 relief fund will focus on preventing the spread of the Coronavirus, providing humanitarian aid, supporting health workers and enabling the affected families to rebuild their livelihoods. It will work with other non-profits including Akshaya Patra, Goonj, HelpAge India, ActionAid, Oxfam, CRY and Srijan.

Founded in 2000, GiveIndia enables direct donations for several causes. It claims to have a community of over one million donors and 150 corporate partners. GiveIndia has participated in several cause-marketing initiatives with digital companies such as Flipkart, Ola, Cred, PhonePe, BigBasket, EaseMyTrip and claims to support over 1,000 non-profits in the country. 

In January this year, GiveIndia merged with online donations platform SmallChange along with 63 non-profits supported by the startup.