CSR Archives · Page 2 of 6 ·

April 29, 2021December 4, 2023

Impact Assessments are top priority – What do the new CSR rules say

On January 22, 2021, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs amended the earlier CSR Rules of 2014 and notified the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules 2021, to make impact assessment mandatory for companies undertaking CSR activities and CSR expenditure above a specified threshold. The move aims to create accurate parameters in assessing the impact of CSR activities by shifting the focus from expenditure alone to impact assessment, and improve the quality of CSR projects while enhancing accountability and transparency.

This FAQ is a result of collaboration between Samhita & Centre For Advancement of Philanthropy. It has been written with the guidance of Noshir Dadrawala

Following are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about impact assessment:

Q1. What is the need for impact assessment?

Impact assessments help funders, grant-makers and companies to understand and evaluate the impact of their social investments in programmes and projects on their target beneficiaries or society. The findings of an assessment also help funders and companies to make evidence-based decisions in implementation and identify hurdles, allowing for programme continuity, scale, sustainability, efficiency, etc.

Q2. Do all companies need to conduct impact assessments?

According to the January 2021 amendment, impact assessment is mandatory for companies with a CSR budget of INR 10 crore or more in any fiscal year and all projects with outlays of INR 1 crore or more. These impact assessments must be undertaken by an independent agency.

However, it is suggested as best practise that impact assessment be undertaken for all projects as standard procedure,. Especially long term projects.

Q3. According to the new amendment, when must companies undertake impact assessments?

At least one year after programme implementation is complete.

Q4. If a company has a multi-year project, should the impact assessment be carried out after completion of the project?

Yes. As per Rule No. 8, if companies have multi-year programmes (say 3 years), impact assessment needs to be conducted after completion of three years of the programme. Additionally, a follow up assessment needs to be conducted one year after the completion of the programme to better understand the programme’s after effects.

However, if programmes are renewed or scaled up after each financial year, they would be treated as individual single year programmes, and separate impact assessments should be taken up every year.

Q5. Who can conduct an impact assessment?

Companies or their CSR initiatives cannot conduct impact assessments (selfassessment) on their own. An independent agency must be engaged for the assessment.

Q6. Is there a limit on the expense for undertaking impact assessment?

Yes, impact assessment related expenditure may be booked as a CSR expense as long as it does not exceed 5% of the total CSR spending or INR 50,00,000, whichever is less.

Q7. Is the limit applicable on the entire CSR budget or per project?

The limit is applicable on the total CSR budget of the financial year.

Q8. Will the cost for researchers/consultants/agencies be counted as part of the INR 50 lakh or 5% limit or can the spending be accounted for outside that?

Under the amended rules, “Administrative overheads” will now mean expenses incurred by the company for ‘general management and administration’ of Corporate Social Responsibility functions in the company but shall not include the expenses directly incurred for the designing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a particular Corporate Social Responsibility project or programme.

Further, a Company undertaking impact assessment may book the expenditure towards Corporate Social Responsibility for that financial year, which shall not exceed five percent of the total CSR expenditure for that financial year or fifty lakh rupees, whichever is less.

Thus, in our opinion, cost for researchers/consulting is neither part of the INR 50 lakh cap, nor the 5% cap on Admin expenditure

Q9. Can a project conduct impact assessment prior to completion of one year (short duration project) or should it wait for one year? If done earlier, would it be counted as part of the compliance?

The project should have completed at least one year. If it is an on-going project of three years, it would make sense to study impact only on completion of three years.

If you have any queries, want to know how to undertake an impact assessment or connect with the Samhita Impact Assessment team, feel free to reach out to us at csr@wohla.samhita.org

To know more about the other 2021 CSR Amendments check out Samhita’s detailed FAQ.

April 28, 2021December 4, 2023

How can CSR and philanthropy respond to the second COVID-19 wave?

The COVID-19 Pandemic disrupted all aspects of the economy and our lives. For the first time ever, the focus shifted to the state of public health infrastructure, resources and quality of delivery. It also clearly brought home the direct impact of health of a community on the nation’s economic recovery. The India Protectors’ Alliance (IPA) was a quick and agile response to the situation at hand – it quickly focussed on the needs and skills of frontline health workers (the protectors) and infrastructure needs of the healthcare systems as outlined by local administrations. The IPA today is a collaborative of 30 companies and has already crossed the milestone of impacting 500K lives.

The second wave of the pandemic is already upon us and seems to have settled in for the long haul. By most estimates, the country shall continue to witness multiple waves till such time that the vaccination drive covers a critical mass of the population. At IPA, we have redoubled our efforts and expanded the scope as our understanding of the needs on the ground evolves.

IPA remains committed to responding to the immediate needs as well as strengthen the health ecosystem to better manage future health emergencies. Based on our experience of working with communities, state governments and public health experts, we have put together a list of interventions that need immediate funding and will also see long term benefits. Some of them are detailed below:

Oxygen

Oxygenation has been a critical need for managing complications of COVID19 since the virus primarily attacks the lungs and upper respiratory tract of the patients. Also, as the body of knowledge about disease management grew, it was understood that oxygen support can be provided with a combination of low-flow, hi-flow oxygen concentrators and ventilators depending on the severity of the disease.

IPA has curated the a program to provide oxygen concentrators, ventilators and other equipment to small private / government hospitals. IPA is also working with over 100 implementation partners from all over the country to be able to deploy them quickly even into the rural areas.

Oxygenation equipment supports not only the COVID19 patients but also helps build future capacity of hospitals to ensure safe delivery of children, treat cardiovascular diseases, treat accidents and trauma patients and other emergencies.

Vaccination

With the arrival of vaccines, we now have a real fighting chance against the virus. To get back to a semblance of normalcy, it is imperative that masses get vaccinated at the earliest possible. Currently, the vaccines are facing some supply issues but that is temporary in nature.

With the recent announcements by the MoHFW, the vaccination program has got a big shot in the arm.

More vaccine manufacturers have been given permission,
Age group of vaccination has been expanded to include 18years and above,
State governments have been given permission to procure vaccines as per local needs and
Vaccines are allowed to be sold on open markets.

IPA has curated following programs to help you:

Vaccinate vulnerable communities in your catchment areas
Workplace vaccination for corporates or stakeholder communities
Create awareness and educate communities about the benefits of vaccines and overcome vaccine hesitancy
Work with private providers to ensure everyone has vaccine access in the near future

The following programs are already underway :

Mass immunization COVID vaccine drive: We have already started our program in some districts of Maharashtra & AP for mobilizing marginalized communities to private hospitals & getting them registered & vaccinated. Program can be expanded to other critical cities depending on the on-ground requirement and client’s preference.
Mobile vaccination: Mobile unit across India with capability to roll out such unique initiatives across geographies. Our implementation partner team has already received an approval from Hon. commissioner Rajesh Patil of Pune’s PCMC. Rolling out this in Pune, expanding to tribal areas in Maharashtra and eventually Pan India.
IEC content and awareness program: With misinformation or no information for people living in media dark areas, our team is creating content with experts and will mobilize our on-ground teams to provide right information and support it with IVR consultation.
Modules for healthcare practitioners: Creation of FAQ documents, training manual for HCP to support the MoHFW and disseminating this to relevant stakeholders.

Masks & Masking

Vaccines are here but masks are more important than ever. In fact, most experts now recommend double masking. There is an ongoing need to continuously reinforce messaging around the need to #PehnoSahi or masking right.

IPA has curated programs focusing on:

Continuing to support programs such as the Billion Masks Initiative (a MIT, Standford, Deshpande Foundation, Tata Power supported program) to ramp up mask manufacturing through SHGs and connecting them to PharmEasy, Amazon and Flipkart
Large scale mask donations bundled with vaccines
Mask + vaccine campaign with CEOs and leaders exhorting their employees and stakeholders through personal pledges / declarations, eg. “I have taken the vaccine and will continue to wear the mask because I care for you.”

Insurance

Healthcare expenditure drags millions of Indians into poverty every year. The impulsive lockdowns have had a similar effect on many communities who are staggering under the double impact of loss of wages and threat of infection. More than ever, there is a need to bring in more frontline workers (sanitation workers, rag pickers, retailers, suppliers etc) under the ambit of health insurance. IPA is working on curating an insurance product that will help communities take control of their own health and proactively seek healthcare services in the future as well. A community which has assured access to healthcare participates in economic activity more enthusiastically and contributes to nation building.

Tele-Consultations

The second wave of COVID has started affecting the villages and smaller towns, which were earlier spared the onslaught. Access to medical help is sketchy at best especially in the rural areas. Tele-Consultation is the fastest way to enable vulnerable and far-flung communities to access medical advice for management of mild COVID cases. This stops the overcrowding and pressure on District Hospitals and Tertiary care hospitals in bigger cities and Metros. With our solution partners, IPA can set this service up really quickly and this is a viable, measurable, low cost yet impactful way to make a difference in the war against COVID.

Strengthening healthcare and sanitation infrastructure

It is essential to ensure that communities have access to hygienic sanitation facilities and fully equipped healthcare facilities, even more so during these trying times.

With Samhita’s significant experience in WASH, IPA can help facilitate upgradation of infrastructure to best serve the communities that are important to you.

The India Protectors’ Alliance continues to work in mission mode to respond to strengthen the country’s fight against the coronavirus.

It would be great if we can get on a quick call to understand your priorities so that we can help you maximize your impact on the ground. We would also like to hear if there are any specific or customized interventions that you would like us to co-create under the IPA. To know how you can help or to partner with the IPA, reach us at meera.b@wohla.samhita.org or fill in the form shared below.

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April 28, 2021December 4, 2023

Vaccinating India: How can CSR make a difference?

India has been reporting over 3,00,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 daily since April 2021, the highest since the pandemic broke out, a clear sign that we need to ramp up immunisation to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

India’s vaccination programme was flagged off in January 2021. The Government has cleared Serum Institute’s COVISHIELD (in collaboration with AstraZeneca) and Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN. Many other vaccines are in the pipeline and in advanced stages of being launched.

The current vaccination coverage accounts for a very marginal percentage of the country’s population and a collaboration between governments, corporates and civil society will be critical for success.

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility

While the guidelines on corporate involvement keep evolving, the latest CSR amendment allows companies to account for expenditure on COVID-19 vaccines and activities that promote vaccination as CSR spending. However, according to the norms, companies can only claim vaccination cost as CSR activity if they inoculate local communities in a non-discriminatory manner. Vaccinating employees can not be included as a CSR expense. Samhita and the India Protectors Alliance (IPA) have identified three challenges that the vaccination drive currently faces and have put together approaches that could help overcome them.

Strengthening the vaccine drive

Long queues and large congregations at vaccination sites are a common sight, and must be addressed with a more efficient distribution system.
Additionally, with India witnessing significant vaccine wastage, it is imperative to promote optimal utilisation and drastically reduce waste.

To help distribute vaccines more efficiently, IPA has designed the following interventions:
● Deploying and administering the vaccine in large proportions. With the support of private organisations, large cohorts could be covered in a short span of time.
● Identification, registration and mobilisation of beneficiaries at scale.
● Inoculation process, post inoculation monitoring; providing a robust technology platform to manage the programme and monitoring the vaccination of the beneficiaries.
● Community-wide immunisation drives to inoculate at risk vulnerable communities who have either very little or no awareness about the vaccination programme.

Vaccine hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy refers to the delay in acceptance or refusal to take the vaccine despite the widespread availability of vaccine services. This is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience, and overconfidence.

To to build greater confidence in the vaccine, IPA has curated the following programmes:
● Leveraging community media platforms for community engagement on COVID-19 vaccine-related information and other health related information among remote, underserved communities in India.
● Pre-recorded messages uploaded on the platform for all the callers to listen to, updated on a weekly basis (more frequently, if required), based on the most frequently asked questions by users or the misinformation reported by field teams. New content pieces will also be developed based on trending questions.

Capacity building & training

Deployment of sufficiently trained vaccinators is the need of the hour. All health workers involved in the implementation of vaccination need to have adequate knowledge and skills to ensure safe and efficient vaccine administration. Training must cover a wide range of aspects — including knowledge on storage, handling, delivery and waste management of COVID-19 vaccines. Training health workers is also critical to address vaccine hesitancy and build public trust.

To better equip healthcare workers, IPA’s interventions include:
● Supporting MoHFW and State Government agencies in developing the healthcare workers’ training manual and creating additional IEC assets such as factsheets and FAQ documents in regional languages.
● Printing and dissemination of the training manual and IEC materials to relevant stakeholders.
● Conducting social mobilisation and advocacy activities.

Vaccination Programme for a leading Corporate Donor

A leading Insurance company, in partnership with Samhita and the IPA, has started a vaccination programme in Maharashtra & Andhra Pradesh which address both community needs and SBI’s priorities on worker’s health and workplace safety.

This is a comprehensive programme designed to assist marginalised and vulnerable communities at every step of the way, from pre-mobilisation to complete vaccination to follow ups.

We are looking for Corporate partners to mobilize communities and get them vaccinated at hospitals or government booths or any other set up approved by the MoHFW.

To learn more and join us in our efforts to immunise India, contact us at csr@wohla.samhita.org or fill in the form shared below.

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April 9, 2021December 4, 2023

Indian NGO Fundraising “Bright Spots” Report: Lifting Up What Works in Raising Money from Individuals in India

This report is Part II of a research project by UC Berkeley Director of Philanthropy and Fulbright Scholar Morry Rao Hermón, in collaboration with Samhita Social Ventures and the Collective Good Foundation, to help fill a gap in the knowledge base about what nonprofits are doing, and what is working, in the individual donor fundraising space in India.

In Part I, we conducted an in-depth survey of Samhita GoodCSR’s extensive network of over 4,000 NGOs from across India’s social sector about their funding sources, resource development methods, and donor engagement strategies. The findings from that 40-question assessment tool were shared in the “Indian Giving Benchmarking Report: Results of Indian NGO Survey on Fundraising from Individuals” (Samhita Social Ventures December 2019). As the first biennial ‘benchmarking’ study, we hope that Indian nonprofits will use this comprehensive data set as a practical tool for comparing their performance against the averages in the field.

In this new report, we lift up examples of fundraising “bright spots” — organizations that are having unparalleled success raising money from India’s burgeoning middle class. We selected three nonprofits to profile including:

These case studies provide a roadmap that other Indian nonprofits can follow in their own resource mobilization efforts. Through a series of ‘system’ interviews, we unpacked the reasons behind their success, drawing out Ten Guiding Principles shared by the ‘bright spots’. This top ten list can be boiled down into five core competencies that Indian NGOs should keep in mind when building a base of life-long donors:

Be unapologetic about asking for money

2. Focus on your outcomes and the money will follow

3. Find ways to engage your donors in the mission

4. Invest in professional fundraising staff

5. Foster a “Culture of Philanthropy” within your organization

At the end of this 30-page report we provide practical tips on how NGOs can go about adopting these principles in their own organizations so that they can diversify their revenues, grow their programs, and sustain their operations over time.

Download the Report

A note to our readers:

We are looking for other stories of success in the individual fundraising arena, so if you know of examples worth lifting up we would love to hear about them! We are especially interested in identifying fundraising ‘bright spots’ that represent smaller nonprofits, and those in rural areas (including remote regions of India). Please email me your thoughts about this or other topics at morryhermon@berkeley.edu. Happy to answer any questions about my research, what we are learning, and support you on your journey!

March 22, 2021December 4, 2023

Creating a Truly “Social” Stock Exchange

India is gearing up to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) on the recommendation of India’s Finance Minister in 2019. After the initial suggestions by the Working Group in 2020, a new Technical Committee constituted by SEBI is expected to release more granular recommendations soon. SSEs are still in a nascent stage of development, having come into existence less than two decades ago. Only three out of seven SSEs are still active across the globe.

At this critical inflection point, the International Centre for Not-For-Profit Law (ICNL) and Samhita Social Ventures have undertaken an extensive research study to review seven SSEs (in Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, Jamaica, the UK, Singapore and Canada) to provide the most comprehensive analysis so far and offer suggestions for India’s SSE.

This report also analyses the recommendations of the first Working Group in relation to setting up India’s SSE.

Click here to download the report

March 15, 2021December 4, 2023

No real cause for concern, says Noshir Dadrawala of CAP on the Finance Minister’s statement on CSR Consultants

While responding to a query in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs stated that there is no provision of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant in Section 135 of the Companies (CSR Policy) Act, 2014.

As the statement unnerved companies, firms and practitioners, Noshir Dadrawala of the ‘Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy’ compiled a detailed response that explains and interprets the FM’s statement, pointing out that there is no real cause for concern.

Click here to read Noshir’s response

Overview:

From the inception of the law, neither Section 135 of the Indian Companies Act nor the Rules had any specific provision for “CSR Consultants”
“CSR consultants” cannot be considered as CSR “implementing agencies” nor can “CSR consultants” carry out CSR Activities as implementing agencies
The FM has said that CSR is a Board driven process and the Board of the company is empowered to plan, decide, execute and monitor the CSR activities of the company based on the recommendation of its CSR Committee
If a company decides to undertake CSR on its own, it may engage the professional services of an expert “CSR consultant” or “consulting agency” to help the company decide, execute and monitor the chosen CSR activities of the company based on the recommendation of its CSR Committee
The expenses directly incurred by the company (including paying professional fees to an agency specializing in a certain discipline), for the designing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a particular CSR project or programme would not fall under “administrative overheads” and neither would the cap of five per cent be applicable. The fees would be treated as professional fees for expert services rendered by the agency.

CSR Journal | No provision of CSR consultant in Companies Act, Nirmala Sitharaman confirms in Parliament

February 22, 2021December 4, 2023

Bringing the focus back on mask wearing With #PehnoSahi

To re-emphasise the importance of wearing masks in the fight against COVID-19, the India Protectors Alliance (IPA), is bringing together Samhita Social Ventures, RBL Bank, Crompton Greaves, IKEA India, Pernod Ricard India Foundation, Kimberly-Clark Professional and other companies and foundations, to initiate India’s first cross-brand mask engagement – #PehnoSahi.

Click here to read

January 29, 2021December 4, 2023

Corporate Social Responsibility Rules Amendments 2021

On 22nd January 2021, the Ministry Of Corporate Affairs brought significant changes to the existing CSR rules.

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January 12, 2021December 4, 2023

Need of a stimulus package for NGOs

The year 2020 has been a difficult year for NGOs in India (not just because of the pandemic) and the next year also potentially appears to be a difficult one. “Most NGOs are heavily reliant on their funders and with institutional funding drying up this year, several NGOs, especially the smaller ones, have suffered a lot”, said Priya Naik

ETIG-Analysis_-Need-of-a-stimulus-package-for-NGOs-The-Economic-Times-1 Download

January 8, 2021December 4, 2023

Reimagining philanthropy: From control to agency

More often than not, in our discussions about systemic change, we overlook discussions about our personal contributions in those changes. We expect civil society organisations and political leaders to dare greatly, but usually ignore the role of funders in collaboration, risk-taking, and trust building.

At Samhita, we have always believed that “big bets” require collaboration between samaj, sarkar, and bazar. To enable these daring transformations, funders must choose courage over comfort and embrace the power of collective strength.

Gautam John of Nilekani Philanthropies makes a case to take philanthropy from control based funding to agency based funding in his article for India Development Review.

Click here to read the article

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WOMEN’S HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD ALLIANCE (WOHLA)