According to the India Philanthropy report of 2022, funding in the social sector (majorly driven by the government) has seen a growth of approximately 12% annually over the past five years. Though cash donations are still a common mode of donating money, online donations have seen a rise in the past few years.
These online donations are majorly done through donation sites. Currently, there are more than three million NGO websites in India alone.
Presence of millions of NGO websites on the internet today definitely makes it hard for a donor to choose which organisation is the best one to donate to. Apart from that, their genuineness, their way of maintaining the donor’s receipts and records and their strictness towards the donor’s privacy also plays a big role.
Keeping those things in mind, what can be some good sites where one can donate (or do charity) in India?
Before donating to any charitable trust, one should be totally aware of their donation policy. Along with that, if the donor also wants to receive tax benefits from donating, then they should make sure that the charitable organisation/ trust is registered under the 80G deduction list.
Here are a few charities or funds that accepts online donations-
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Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund
In 1948, by the appeal of the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established. Initially, the contributions from this fund was utilised in assisting displaced persons from Pakistan. However, now it is primarily used to help families that suffer due to natural calamities, cyclones, etc. or people who are victims of riots or major accidents.
A portion of the fund is also used to provide the cost for medical treatments like kidney transplantation or heart surgeries. A large part of the fund is also used as an investment in various forms with banks and other agencies.
The fund does not get any budgetary support from the government and the contributions in it are entirely done by the public (voluntarily). However, the fund is recognised as a trust under section 80G of Income tax act and is exempted for 100% tax deductions (without any qualifying limit).
The fund accepts online donations through BHIM/ UPI/ QR code.
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PM CARES Fund
Just like the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, the main objective of the PM CARES Fund (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund) deals with helping those people of India who are dealing with emergency situations like Covid-19 pandemic. The trust was established by Narendra Modi, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, in March 2020.
Just like the Prime Minister’s National Relief fund, the PM CARES fund also does not get any budgetary support and contributions are done voluntarily by the public, but it is registered under Section 80G for tax deductions. By 2021, the trust had collected the amount of 10990.17 Crores.
If you are not looking for a government platform to donate online and still hope for a tax deduction on your donations, you can opt to donate to NGOs that are registered under 80G.
Narayan Seva Sansthan is one of the highly recognised and trusted NGOs of India. Established in 1985 by Mr. Kailash ‘Manav‘, the NGO has 480 branches in India and 49 abroad. Their offerings include-
- Treating polio patients and Divyangs through corrective surgeries (80-90 surgeries every single day)
- Empowering Divyangs, underprivileged children and people with free of cost education, and skill development courses.
- Conduction of mass marriages on a regular basis (twice a year) of underprivileged and specially abled couples and so on.
A donor can even enjoy tax benefits by donating online to the Sansthan as it is registered under Section 12 A and is eligible for tax deductions under Section 80G. The Sansthan also takes the donor’s privacy policy very seriously and has well maintained accounts and receipts of donations.
For further reference on donation to the Sansthan, you can Click here!
