Projects

Overview    Project Selection    Project Monitoring    Current Projects


Overview

Most of the projects that will be supported by Asha Kiran will be targeted towards children. Our focus is primarily on selecting projects that help children get an education that they would otherwise not be able to afford. Asha Kiran selects child development projects without any discrimination based on region, caste, religion, political affiliation or language. Project selections are made based on the organization's objective, it's methods and it's status as a non-profit organization, and we evaluate projects extensively before committing to support them.

Although our main focus is underprivileged children, Asha Kiran may also support projects that provide vocational training, the care of the physically or mentally challenged, healthcare for the poor or other such deserving projects that work towards bringing a better standard of living to the marginalized sections of society.

Project Selection

Asha Kiran selects projects that help meet it's objectives of bringing education within the reach of the poorest sections of society. All projects that we select must be non-profit organizations that are able to direct atleast 95% of collected funds to the beneficiaries and their families. In other words, not more than 5% of their income should go towards administrative and other expenses. Once a project has met these basic criteria, further investigations of the financial statements of the project in question, it's working methods and it's penetration are performed. If these steps are satisfactory, a personal visit is made to the project site(s) by a board member of Asha Kiran to meet with some of the beneficiaries and their families before selecting the project for support.

The formal guidelines as set forth in our bylaws are as follows.
  • The organization or the project under consideration should conform to the objectives of this corporation.
  • The organization under consideration should have a detailed budget specifying how the stipulated amount would be used. Not more than 5% of that amount can be used for administrative or other overhead expenses.
  • The organization under consideration has a long term perspective.
  • The project under consideration concerns, involves and benefits people in the economically under-privileged sections of the Indian society.
  • To the extent possible, projects under consideration would concentrate on different regions within India.
  • The organization should be registered in India as a tax-exempt non-profit organization or registered under laws in India closest to 501c3 laws in the US.
  • One or more members of the executive committee of Asha Kiran Inc. will visit the site of the project before selecting it.
Project Monitoring

We understand that monitoring a project to ensure that it maintains the initially set standards is vitally important for both the sponsors as well as the beneficiaries. To this end, we have put a number of steps in place to ensure that our funds are used correctly. Firstly, we collect documents about each beneficiary that help us evaluate their status. For example, for our current project, we collect the yearly progress report cards of each beneficiary and send this to our sponsor. We also review documentation regarding the financial condition of the family that we are supporting to ensure that the funds are going to the most deserving families. We receive and examine our project's financial records every year. Finally, our board members make yearly field visits to the project site, and meet every beneficiary that we are helping to support. This enables us to obtain valuable feedback from the final beneficiaries of our funds.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our monitoring process, or would like to review our draft memorandum of understanding that we expect supported projects to honor, please email us at support@asha-kiran.com.

Current Projects

Currently, we are supporting below mentioned project in India:

Ashakiran India: This project was chosen as our first project to support for a number of reasons. Two of our board members were regular contributors to this project in India a few years ago, and they were impressed with the dedication of the volunteers as well as eminently satisfied with how their money was spent. After further investigation involving field visits, meeting the beneficiaries, and a study of the legal and financial documents of Ashakiran India, we entered into an agreement to work together to achieve our common goal of education as a path to alleviate poverty.

For further information about Ashakiran India, please visit our Ashakiran India project page.

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