In October, the Indian Philanthropy Forum (IPF) launched India’s first ever giving circle, bringing together ten members to make a three-year commitment totalling $600,000 to a highly innovative non-profit in Mumbai. On Saturday 23 October, the members met. After considering three very strong organizations, they voted to support Muktangan, an organization working in a public-private partnership to improve the quality of education in Mumbai’s state school system through teacher education.

Dasra is pioneering the giving circle model in India through the Indian Philanthropy Forum. It brought together IPF members and recommended three organizations to support, though the final decision was made by the donors themselves through majority vote. Alongside the grant Muktangan will receive three years’ hands-on management assistance from Dasra, with the objective of transformational growth and the scaling up of a programme that has the potential to change the face of education in Mumbai. (The photo above shows a young girl in a Muktangan classroom benefiting from the unique learning methods promoted through their teacher education programme.)

The Indian Philanthropy Forum will be launching its next Dasra Giving Circle in the coming six months, focused on health.

For more information
About Dasra: alison@dasra.org http://www.dasra.org
About Muktangan: http://www.muktanganedu.org