Guru Krupa – An Example of a Progressive Donor

In August 2021, most unexpectedly, I got a call from Mr Madhavan, ex-CEO of Cognizant Foundation who is a good friend and a well-wisher of Bala Mandir. At that time the world was in the grip of the  COVID pandemic and we had just launched the Kinship Care programme and were looking to get some funding. Some of the regular donors had expressed their inability to continue their support due to the adverse impact of the pandemic. At that time when Mr Madhavan told me that a US- based Foundation was willing to support Bala Mandir, it came as a God-sent opportunity. I immediately shared with him a few areas where we needed financial support and sent him a note. Within a month, I got feedback from Mr Madhavan that the Foundation had agreed to a funding of Rs. 15 lakhs. I was truly amazed by the speed of decision-making. It was only after this that we got introduced to Guru Krupa Foundation and its founder Mr Mukund Padmanabhan.

It has been a tremendous experience to be associated with Guru Krupa Foundation for the past 3 years. They have a simple but effective process for reporting and are very particular about the timely feedback on the progress of the project which keeps everyone on track with the plans. They also have a wonderful way of “nudging” the NGO to do the right thing. Bala Mandir has been a conservative organisation with very little external communication. We are changing but very slowly and partners like Guru Krupa have an important role to play in pushing for change. The first change we made after associating with Guru Krupa was the addition of the donor page on our web site with the logos of our partners. This blog section is the second initiative started because of the nudge from Guru Krupa and we will be ever grateful to them for the same. It has given voice to many of our employees and members, and we hope that it will become a more active forum in the years to come. Guru Krupa Foundation based out of New York is an organisation that backs several charitable causes and supports many NGOs across the United States and in India.

For the past 3 years, Guru Krupa has been helping Bala Mandir provide healthy breakfast and lunch to our school children who come from the nearby slums. Their grant is also helping us with other educational expenses including books, schoolbags and expenses involved for the Aaha Guru curriculum – teacher orientation, worksheets, and other aspects of the programme in our Primary School.

We were very happy when in November 2022, both Mr Mukund Padmanabhan and Mr Madhavan visited Bala Mandir and spent some time going around and seeing our activities, which we had featured in our newsletter. We look forward to many or more years of association with Guru Krupa Foundation. This is an excellent example of a compassionate donor who not only ensures that their grant is well spent for the right cause, but also a progressive donor who pushes the organisation to create the right processes which would help the NGO to become a more effective organisation.