FUNDS AND ACCOUNTING

This is it - the weakest link in my chain!

My friend, Paul Myers, was instrumental in raising an incredible amount of money to help kids through this Blogathon. And he wrote to me about a very important issue:

"I've had a few people ask about how they can be sure the thing is legit. A reasonable request, if they're going to give money to someone. Any suggestions for them?"

That got me thinking - and this website is a step towards answering this question.

I know that it's vital to get an organized, streamlined process in place to manage the funds raised for CHD.

I've been working on this for almost a year now, with very little progress. There are many restrictions in India to foreign exchange entering the country. The recent wave of terror and criminal activity has made it harder than ever before.

In Feb.2002, when I ran the CHD Awareness Day campaign, a friend wanted to donate $2,500 for an operation. But as I didn't have an organized process ready, and couldn't offer tax breaks for the donation, the opportunity slipped by.

That was my wake up call.

I've been working on creating my trust fund, getting it authorized by the Internal Revenue Service in India (so all donations to it are tax exempt to the donors), seeking Federal Ministry permission for forex etc. But it is going slow.

In order to do this the proper and legal way, we need to follow certain rules, get permission from Governmental authorities and conform to some legalities. The ball has been set into motion, and I hope to report steady progress.

To show the donors something is indeed being done with the money contributed, I want to get cracking with the first few operations - even if that means they'll be funded out of my pocket .

The funds raised in this Blogathon is a kick in my pants. I'm not letting up this time. I've just finalized the draft of a trust fund that'll be set up to manage it. It will be registered soon. The tax exemptions and other stuff may take a bit longer.

The surgeries, hopefully, will begin within a week or two.

I know this may not be confidence inspiring to someone who doesn't know me from Adam. Those who know me longer, know that I've been working online for kids since 1995. And realize it isn't possible to fake it for so long - hence by exclusion, I must be the real goods :-)

But I'm sure I'm leaving a lot of goodwill on the table because I can't make my case strongly, or show a more solid backing or foundation for my dream project. It will happen - soon, I hope.

I'm thinking along the lines of a daily update which will be available to the list of donors. Maybe a "member-only blog" to present the developments as and when they happen, to all donors.

In the meantime, we can still go ahead and save some lives.

Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian