I recently added an ad for CRY – Child rights and you, a non-profit organization which works as a channel or a link between donors like us and field workers, who work for child welfare. You can find more on their mission and activities on their website here.
I have added the link on the side bar under the title – Donate. I am also adding the link in this post in case you are interested in donating
http://www.cry.org/mainapp/shop/donation.aspx.
I will add a few more charities on my website in the future based on how convenient it is for the readers to donate and based on the effectiveness of these charities. My personal preference would be for charities which work for child welfare and are effective in doing it (do not waste the money on overheads).
I personally do not have any means of evaluating a charity and have picked CRY as I have worked with them in the past and have found them to be professional and focused on their mission.
Additional offer
I have not charged a dime from anyone for all the content (now over 400 posts) I have posted for the last five years. The ads you see on the website is the result of fiddling around and does not bring in any serious revenue.
The content on this website, good or bad, is original and not copied from anywhere. It typically takes me an hour or more to write some of the posts and the investment ideas are generally the result of the more than 20-30 hours of direct analysis and much more of background reading and study. It is my assumption that I have delivered some value (though you can disagree on it :) ) to the readers over time, for which I have not charged and do not plan to charge in the future.
I plan to make an exception to the above plan in one specific case. In the future I plan to publish or provide a few investment ideas at regular intervals in exchange for donations to the charities listed on this blog. If you make a donation of a minimum of 1000 Rs or 30 dollars, and send me the receipt by email, I will in exchange email, a detailed analysis of a stock to you.
Whats in it for me?
That would be a very valid question from your end. For one, the offer is voluntary and as 97% of the content is free, you may not miss a lot. However you can look at it as a win-win offer too. If you donate, a child’s life would be changed and in exchange you may get a decent investment idea which may make some money for you . I cannot assure you that you will make money from my idea, but I can assure you that I will share an idea, only if I am investing in it.
I will be writing in detail on this in future posts with more options on this. Please leave me a comment or email if you can think of a good idea by which both the readers and the charity are benefitted.
Commerical advertising
You may be noticing some ads on my blog too. I have been experimenting with some ads lately to cover my hosting and other small expenses. I am personally not associated with any of the firms advertising on this blog and do not have a financial relationship with any of them, other than the click thru revenue or fixed fee for advertising on the blog.
36 comments:
Rohit,
One word, 'I salute you' (Ok, that's more than one, but you know wot I mean ;-).
- Prashanth, BLR
sounds fine...its motivating to sponsor a child's education...and reap investment thesis from u...will do that in couple of weeks...
-Rathin
way to go, rohit!
I suggest you add Nanhi Kali to the list of charities. They help educate underprivileged girl children. Since it is managed by the Mahindras it has a good reputation.
As is very normal with your posts !!
Brilliant Rohit ! This is a great idea. If all of us were to impart with only .5 % of our earnings to charity, we would make so much of a difference.
Regds
I have a 1.5year old receipt from a donation I had made to CRY. Will that do? :)
Anyways, was looking for ELSS funds to imvest in. Any recommendations/links/analysis/advice?
dear rohit
i would rather send money directly to u than any chrity since i trust u more
do whatever u want from the money
it is purely a matter of trust that u have built up with this blog cannot be reciprocated by paying somewhere else
u have built too much good will, we cant help trusting only you and no one else
An interesting idea, Rohit. I also appreciate the candor and forthrightness of explaining all this - certainly you did not have to do that.
I am a bit worried about complexity of managing it - I mean keeping track of receipts, which year and all that?
Anyway, best of luck with this. I may not be able to participate as I do support a number of things ( without receipts) but I do hope this generates some amount of donations for these causes.
I suggest two more organizations - Save the Children and Childline India.
Hi Rohit,
Nice post.
What is your general perception about current market? will it come down or go high? I have preferred sitting on sidelines till date.
Regards
Ani
Hi prashant and rathin
thanks for your comment
Hi shiv
I will look at the charity and will add it if possible. My plan ofcourse is to have a limited number on the blog to ensure that our effort does not get diluted and it is focussed on specific cause - namely child welfare
Hi investologic
thanks ..hopefully most of will have a growing income stream and so 0.5% should not be an issue.
however income or effort ..anything towards a good cause will help
regards
rohit
Hi investologic
thanks ..hopefully most of will have a growing income stream and so 0.5% should not be an issue.
however income or effort ..anything towards a good cause will help
regards
rohit
Hi gagan
thats fine ..though i hope you will contribute in the future.
I have personally not invested in any ELSS in the past ..prefer mutual funds or equities directly
regards
rohit
Hi anon
thanks for the sentiment. that said, i would like to be only the channel for such an effort and not really collect the funds myself as that can be a tricky thing.
regards
rohit
Hi student of market
valid point ..its a first one for me ..so i dont know the level of response. it would be good if i get deluged by the response..and if that happens, then i may have rework the mechanics.
lets see how it works out. thanks for suggesting some names and i will look at those too
regards
rohit
Hi Rohit,
Great initiative!!!
I recently came across 'rangde.org', an Indian Microfinance organisation. They also have 'Rang De Education', a version to support child education. Pl try it.
I will certainly participate. Do CRY work in India? Although any child development, without geographical boundaries, is great, I would perfonally like to start with the Indian cause.
Cheers,
Sachin
Hi sachin
i will look into organization you mention
CRY is mainly an indian organization ..you may have seen their greeting cards. it just that they have a US site to tap the NRI network
try the link on the side bar or CRY.org
regards
rohit
Hi Rohit,
This seems pretty good coincidence. i have been donating to CRY for the last 7 years since i started working.
And i have made decent money from the ideas provided by you during the fall this time.
but yup in terms of good intentions, it is a great idea.
regards
venkat
Hi Rohit,
Sorry, I'm late to respond.
Excellent idea, also the suggested process of donation being exchanged for detailed analysis is good to start with.
I can't wait to sign up!!
Thanks,
Vikas
Also, CRY is a good pick..can't go wrong.
They have been around for a long time.
Vikas
Hi Rohit,
Its relay a Win Win situation....
I support ur Idea, but it will be a overhead for you to manage the receipts.
All the best.
Sandeep
Hi venkat
next time you make a donation, please let me know. i will add you to the list
Hi vikas
you can use the link on the side bar to access their site. you can make payments in india or in the US. if you decide to do that, do send me an email
Hi sandeep
it would be good to have this problem if a lot of people decide to donate and send me the confirmation. keeping my fingers crossed on it
rgds
rohit
Rohit
Good idea ! i have been donating CRY since 1998. you can select CRY chapter where you would like to donate also.
Happy Diwali !!
Uresh
Hi Rohit,
First of all a very happy Diwali to you, your family and extended family on this blog.
I clicked on the CRY link, few issues:
1) I don't see Credit card pmt option
2) Don't see any tax benefit for US tax return
3) Only see 50% tax benefit in India, should be 100.
Above feature are important and most charities do provide these.
Thanks,
Vikas
Hi vic
A happy diwali to you too.
Let me check on your questions with the folks at CRY. thanks for pointing it out
rgds
rohit
hi rohit,
will mail you the receipt of donation by email once i receive it.
many best wishes for diwali.
regards
venkat
Hi Rohit,
Just an FYI..there are many charities in India and the US..focussed on children in India that are run by ppl like you and me (complete honesty and least overheads).
I have worked with http://www.helpfoundation.org/ in past and visited orphanages (Bal Samparc) in India.
I think you should have 3-4 charities in your list. It might be difficult for one charity to sort out all issues..Just a suggestion.
100% Tax deductibility should be there. It is Smart donating. Let's say if I give $100 in charity, I get $25 (considering 25% tax bracket) back from Govt which I can give again to charity.
In case if the charity doesn't accept Credit cards, we can mail a check for larger amt that should cover multiple reports..let's say for six months or a year from you. Because it will be a hassle to mail/track Rs 1000/$30 every few months. So you should have an annual deal (based on # of ideas/detailed analysis per year that you anticipate) as well to reduce yours/charity's and our work.. all parties benefit with this.
Thanks,
Vikas
Hi vikas
the points raised by you are valid and i have forwarded them to CRY. I am waiting to hear from them.
I do plan to add a few more charities focussed on child welfare.
The other options you suggest, may not be sustainable for me as it would involve too much admin work. I would prefer to provide an channel through my site and at best track the payments as far.
regards
rohit
You're right, I didn't think of the management part in case adding more charities.
Thanks,
Vikas
Hi sujith
no ..there hardly any revenue from the blog. from a financial perspective, the blog is a disaster.
to make decent income from ads, one needs more traffic. unfortunately for my kind of investing, there are not too people interested. most are interested in quick tips and trading
rgds
rohit
Hi Rohit,
I would like to take up your offer of 1 stock analysis for a donation to CRY. However, I do not want the paper receipt that CRY sends out posted to me as I live abroad and it would take ages to reach me. Would it suffice if I make a donation and notify you will you please analyze a stock for me?
Thanks.
hi madhav
you will get an email confirmation of the payment. just forward me the email confirmation. that should be fine
rgds
rohit
Rohit - I like the content on your blog and hope to be able to read all of it. I have some questions regarding your offer of a stock analysis for a donation to CRY. Is the offer limited to 1 stock analysis for every donation made to CRY? Is there a duration for which this is valid?
J
Hi Rohita,
I have made donation to CRY and would need your email-id to send you the receipt.Please mail me the same.
Regards,
Sunil
hi sunil
i may have recieved your reciept , unless its from some other sunil
my email id is - rohitc99@indiatimes.com
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