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EdelGive Foundation’s GROW Fund for Utthan, 3 others from Gujarat among India’s 100 NGOs

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the GROW (Grassroots Resilience, Ownership, Wellness) Fund will invest up to INR 100 crores in two years to build capacity and support future readiness of 100 NGOs. The NGOs selected from pan India, work in the areas of advocacy, governance and research, climate, ecology and animal welfare, community development, art and culture and sports, differently abled, education, gender rights and equality, health and sanitation, livelihood and poverty. An Utthan-Edelgive note:
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In a first-of-its-kind opportunity, 100 NGOs doing critical and credible social impact work across the nation have been selected to receive grants from the GROW Fund, which is anchored by EdelGive Foundation along with several reputed funding partners. Every NGO, chosen to be a part of the initiative’s cohort of 100, will receive INR 80 lakhs over two years to direct resources to building its capabilities, resilience and future readiness. With registrations from over 2300 organisations, the NGOs will be assisted with mentoring, networking and leadership building. It will also enable organisations to recover from the immediate challenges faced due to COVID-19 and sustaining operations by covering critical costs and promoting future readiness for long-term institutional well-being and sustainability.
Utthan along with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Samerth Charitable Trust & Sense International India is one of the four organisations selected from Gujarat and work across focus areas of Advocacy, Governance and Research, Community Development, Differently Abled, Gender Rights and Equality, Livelihood and Poverty.
Since the advent of COVID-19, in a global first, the grassroot organisations, serving different communities in India, have faced numerous challenges in their growth and sustenance including depleting funds and risk of forced closure. The GROW Fund is a unique financial initiative that aims to redefine philanthropy by committing to build a conducive ecosystem for organisations to grow resilient and future ready, by addressing their organisational development needs.
The GROW Fund has received accolades and resources in its mission to make philanthropy more inclusive and accessible to small and mid-sized NGOs, from Indian and international funders including philanthropic institutions and eminent philanthropists known for their individual giving. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Manan Trust, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, MacArthur Foundation, A.T.E Chandra Foundation, Rainmatter Foundation, Dalyan Foundation, Oak Foundation, a private philanthropy partner, Indus Foundation of Utah, Omidyar Network India and Ashish Kacholia along with Edelweiss Group are a part of this initiative as core funders. Additionally, eminent businesspersons and changemakers such as Sanjay Purohit, Rati Forbes, the Bikhchandani Family, Helenka & Sunil Anand, Onward Foundation and Govind Iyer have also lent their support to GROW Fund.
Commenting on the announcement of the cohort, Vidya Shah, Executive Chairperson, EdelGive Foundation, said, “The cohort for GROW Fund grantees cover grassroot organisations working tirelessly with the underserved communities in diverse areas like poverty, health and sanitation, gender rights, education, climate, animal welfare and governance across 20 different states of the country. Apart from the monetary support, the selected NGOs would benefit immensely from trainings and sessions on technology, finance, human resources, fundraising and communications among others. This will be coupled with organisational development assessment tool, specialized 12-14 months program and GROW hub knowledge dissemination platform. We remain steadfast in our commitment to enable these changemakers to tide over the challenges faced due to COVID-19 and increase their on-ground impact exponentially.”
Speaking about the objective of the GROW Fund, Naghma Mulla, CEO, EdelGive Foundation, commented, “We believe that the grassroots organisations working for the upliftment of underserved communities, are most effective in devising sustainable solutions to various issues on-ground. Through GROW Fund, we aim to bring in collaborative philanthropy to strengthen and support the NGOs across India. Thanks to the generous support of our funder institutions and philanthropists, the current grant will certainly prove to be a great enabler for the selected 100 NGOs and will pave the way for such collaborations in future.”
The 100 shortlisted NGOs were selected through an open and transparent online application process. Each application was evaluated on qualitative and quantitative information around parameters such as financial strength, fundraising capacity, reach, impact and critical gaps related to funding. Ensuring equal representation from all parts of India, the cohort represents NGOs from diverse geographies including Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Nagaland, Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
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About Utthan: Utthan is a registered non-profit organization working for the last forty years to empower the most vulnerable communities by promoting gender justice, peace, equality and sustainable development in the drought-prone coastal districts of Ahmedabad, Amreli, Bhavnagar & Kutch and the poverty-stricken tribal districts of Dahod, Panchmahal, and Mahisagar. Through Its mission to initiate sustainable gender sensitive processes of empowerment amongst the most vulnerable communities, through a process of building conscientiousness, and organising around their major issues, Utthan directly touches the lives of more than 1.4 million people of 412 villages in six districts of Gujarat.
About EdelGive Foundation: EdelGive Foundation is a grant-making organization, and a go-to partner of choice for Indian and foreign funders wanting to engage with the Indian development ecosystem. Our unique philanthropic model places EdelGive at the centre of grant-making, by providing initial grants to NGOs and by managing funding from other institutional and corporate funders. Consequently today, EdelGive functions as a Philanthropic Fund Manager and Advisor between grant-makers and credible NGOs. Over the last 13 years, EdelGive Foundation has supported over 150 organisations across 111 districts in 14 states of India, influencing commitments of almost INR 500 crores to NGOs in the sector.

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