Give.Obvious
We're always looking for ways to give back to the community — its one of our core values. We've made contributions as an organisation through our former donation matching programme, and have been paying it forward in some way or the other. But what we really want to do in 2021 (and the years to come) is to formally ingrain this into our culture.
Here's presenting Give.Obvious, our charitable giving programme through which we give back consistently, meaningfully, and collaboratively.
Through this programme, the organisation donates INR 25,000 from an earmarked fund to one charity or cause each month. These causes are handpicked by us in small groups, so we're each able to support the initiatives, principles and beliefs that matter to us the most.
Since we all have causes close to us—and as diverse as we are—this is the 'obvious' way to expand our circle of influence and encourage change across geographies, domains and initiatives. This way, we're able to step back as problem solvers, and step forth as enablers.
We are excited for you to delve deep into what matters to you and nominate one organisation, charity or cause that you would love to see Obvious support.
There's no big strategy or set of goals, but, to gently set the ball rolling:
How it works
- By 1st of the month: The volunteer team reaches out to that month's group
- From 1st to 10th: The group members discuss what causes and charities they want to support
- By the 10th: the group nominates one cause, organisation or charity
- By 11th or 12th: The vetting team (comprising of the heads at Team Obvious) ensure the nomination is good to go on all grounds including value-fit, conflict of interest and lets the group know
- In the following days: The group reaches out to the nominated cause or charity, and understands the best way to make the INR 25k donation
- This information is given to Jaya/our finance team, who will coordinate with the group to make the donation and provide info on what documents the cause/charity needs to provide
- By the 25th: The donation is made and details are added to this page
Frequently Asked Questions
Groups can explore fundraisers (individual or via popular platforms like Ketto), causes, charities and organisations to donate to, and the vetting team will conduct a 'sanity check' and flag off any issues that may arise.
There's no format. Groups can indulge in free-flowing discussions on Slack or on Zoom to brainstorm on potential nominations.
Once you've made a nomination, please let Sindhu or Kanika know (along with details of the nomination). They'll take it to the vetting team who'll approve the nomination after a brief check.
We should prefer orgs/websites which can give a “80G” certificate, otherwise we cannot claim the donation amount as tax-deductible. But we can be flexible about this, so please send in your nomination anyway.
If you have your heart set on one cause but can’t give us an 80G certificate, you can still nominate it (maybe with a back-up to be on the safe side). The vetting team will then conduct a check and make a call on a case-by-case basis.
Not necessarily, but do bear in mind that the logistics might take longer to figure out if they're based in another country.
Please reach out to Kanika or Sindhu for answers, or flag it on the dedicated Give.Obvious channel.
Yes, you can! The group members are listed below, against the month assigned.
Take a look at the table below for all the donations we've made over time, through the donation matching programme as well as Give.Obvious.
Groups and Donation Calendar
| Names | Month | Choice of Organisation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
January | Hidden Pockets | Completed | |
February | People for Animals, Bangalore | Completed | |
March | Selection Underway | ||
April | |||
May | |||
June | |||
July | |||
August | |||
September | |||
October | |||
November | |||
December |
List of Previous Donations
| Year | Organisation/Cause | Purpose | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|
HasGeek | Support women speakers at conferences with travel stipends | ₹100,000.00 | |
Internet Freedom Foundation | We committed to a donation-matching drive for the IFF. | ₹127,001.00 | |
Kerala Flood Relief | Matched employee donations towards the Kerala floods of 2018 | ₹40,000.00 | |
Kodagu Flood Relief | Matched employee donations towards the Kodagu Flood Relief | ₹10,000.00 |