Bengaluru: Sometimes just having the intent to make a socially relevant move is not enough. Many a time, great thoughts and ideas have to take the backseat because of either zero backing or lack of funds which is why many NGOs do not even last a year.
The city-based online platform has been helping many such dreams and initiatives come alive, not just in Bengaluru and Karnataka, but also across the country. Fuel A Dream is definitely a crowdfunding platform with a heart.
Recently, a campaign ‘No Wall Too High’ to bring meaningful music education to underprivileged youth in the city raised Rs 12 lakh to teach 1,500 poor children music for a year.
Another initiative funded by Fuel A Dream was food distribution from IT companies to poor people in a slum in Koramangala by NGO Swabhimaan Trust.
“They wanted to raise money for 22,000 meals which are for their two-month requirement. They ended up raising more money than that,” says Mr Ranganath Thota, Founder of Fuel A Dream. Set up in June of 2015, the platform has raised Rs 2.5 crores over nine months. “At present, we are working with an NGO, Goonj, to light up villages that are not connected to the electric grid and where villagers are unaware of the concept of electricity," he says.
“We are structurally different from other platforms as we do both charities and ideas. While the funder can be the same, the emotions that govern their funding is either compassion or passion. This is different from other platforms which only do one of the above, that is they either only do charities or ideas," he adds.
He has helped nearly 20 NGOs and individuals to raise funds for social causes in the city and the state.
On the way they function, he adds, “It is basically due diligence and feedback loop. We do significant due diligence on the campaigns that are run to ensure transparency, fair and proper utilisation of funds and to build trust for the funder. We are also the only platform with a formal rating system called the crowd rating which again allows funders to give feedback."
Speaking about the trend, he highlights, “It is beautiful that slowly people are beginning to realise that they can collectively go after a good cause. The people want to help and do something for a cause that needs attention.”
