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Some donors have contacted us with questions about Sulekha's fundraising
effort and their arrangement with AID. Here are some points of
clarification.
1) Sulekha is helping raise funds for AID's relief
efforts through their website. Recognizing the massive need to mobilize
support for the tsunami survivors, Sulekha offered to raise funds
for AID's relief efforts because AID is a reputed organization which
has long experience doing development and relief work and had already put up a
prompt response to the Tsunami.
2) AID thanks Sulekha for their prompt initiative, which has helped raise a
large amount of funds for Tsunami survivors.
3) Sulekha structured the fundraising scheme based
on their ideas, and AID's priority has been to ensure the logistics so that the
donations received through Sulekha reach AID promptly.
4) We have established a mechanism for them to
transfer the donations received every week to AID, along with the list of donors
and contact information. This will be received in batches by AID, and once we
receive each batch, we process the information and send out a receipt. We have
received the first payment on Thursday January 6th, and will receive future
payments every Monday from now on.
5) AID has brought to the attention of
Sulekha the concerns raised by some donors about the matching
donation arrangement, and they have provided some explanations which we share
with you below. Beyond that, any detailed questions about how the matching
fund works should be addressed to Sulekha, because they are the best people to
provide the answers.
6) Here is our understanding of how the fundraising
works, based on the explanation received from Sulekha.
(a) Sulekha management have formed a core group who
solicit funds for the Matching Fund using their personal and professional
contacts. They have made more than 200 personal phone calls and also had a
few get-togethers/meetings to solicit funds. Sulekha has informed us that
more than 50% of the Matching Fund has been raised in this manner.
(b) In addition, they have also provided the option
to any online donor to allocate their donation to the Matching Fund. If the
donor chooses that option, then their donation goes to the Matching Fund. If the
donor doesn't choose the option, then their donation gets matched from the
Matching Fund.
(c) Sulekha encourages the bigger donors (>$500)
to donate to Matching Fund, so that their donation inspires other smaller
contributors to donate. However, this is OPTIONAL.
(d) During the first day of
fundraising, there was some confusion because Sulekha did not provide this
option to donors. As soon as AID noted this, we conveyed to them that this might
be construed as misleading. Sulekha immediately agreed to change this,
and provided the option to the donor. They have also agreed to transfer any
donations mistakenly made to the Matching Fund (the left side column on the
Sulekha page) back as a regular donation (to the right side column).
\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) and send a cc to AID (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) and rnthey will transfer the funds to the right-side and then match your donation from rnthe Matching Fund. ? rn(f) Recently, they have also introduced the option rnof donating to CARE, since many donors have indicated a desire to help victims rnin other countries too, and CARE works in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. If you want rnto donate to AID, please make sure that you choose AID as the rnorganization. rn? rn7) We do understand that?some donors might rnhave expected that Sulekha.com?has set up a corporate matching fund from rntheir?own resources,?but that is not the case as Sulekha is a small rnfirm.?At the same time, because this is an emergency relief effort, we rnappreciate Sulekha's quick response in leveraging their online presence. Please rnbe sure that if you have any concerns, you should bring them up with Sulekha or rnAID, and if you are uncomfortable with their arrangement, you are welcome to rnmake a direct donation to AID on our website (http://survivors.aidindia.org) rninstead. rn? rnPlease be assured that?both?AID and rnSulekha?are working in the best interests of raising community support for rnthe Tsunami survivors, and we request you to be patient with any shortcomings in rnthis extreme crunch time.",1]
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(e) If your donation was mistakenly allotted to the
Matching Fund, please contact Sulekha (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) and send a cc to AID (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) and
they will transfer the funds to the right-side and then match your donation from
the Matching Fund.
(f) Recently, they have also introduced the option
of donating to CARE, since many donors have indicated a desire to help victims
in other countries too, and CARE works in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. If you want
to donate to AID, please make sure that you choose AID as the
organization.
7) We do understand that some donors might
have expected that Sulekha.com has set up a corporate matching fund from
their own resources, but that is not the case as Sulekha is a small
firm. At the same time, because this is an emergency relief effort, we
appreciate Sulekha's quick response in leveraging their online presence. Please
be sure that if you have any concerns, you should bring them up with Sulekha or
AID, and if you are uncomfortable with their arrangement, you are welcome to
make a direct donation to AID on our website ( http://survivors.aidindia.org)
instead.
Please be assured that both AID and
Sulekha are working in the best interests of raising community support for
the Tsunami survivors, and we request you to be patient with any shortcomings in
this extreme crunch time.
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