1. What is the belief behind HER Foundation?

We believe that unless members of the civil society are involved proactively in the process of development, sustainable change will not happen. Believing in this principle of 'Civic Driven Change' HER Foundation sensitises the civil society in order to make them partners in its mission.

2. Does HER Foundation work in India or other countries too?

HER Foundation is a national level development organization with its welfare projects spread across India.

3. What is the mission of HER Foundation?

HER Foundation's mission is to empower underprivileged girls, women and their families and community through relevant education, innovative healthcare and market-focused livelihood programmes. We aim to deploy best possible methodology and technology for achieving ideal SROI (social return on investment), to practice and promote good governance, to link business competitiveness of the corporate with social development initiatives and to sensitize the privileged section of society to promote Civic Driven Change.

4. Who are the people behind HER Foundation?

The realization of a group of young corporate professionals, that it was their Social Responsibility to give back to the society, laid the inception of HER Foundation. HER Foundation is managed professionally by a Board of Advisors, comprising individuals from diverse backgrounds and expertise, followed by an Executive Committee and a well defined professional workforce.

5. Which areas does HER Foundation work in?

HER Foundation has been working in the thematic areas of education, healthcare, women employability and empowerment of women and girls.

6. Why do you stress on education, when there are other equally pressing issues in the country?

Education alone has the power to liberate people from the vicious cycle of poverty - not only in terms of earning a livelihood but also in becoming aware of the rights and freedoms that a citizen is endowed with. Thus empowering women and girls and making them self-sufficient.

7. What is the working model of HER Foundation?

HER Foundation works under two models, namely Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) and Outreach.

8. What is Social Venture Philanthropy model?

SVP: Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) is an innovative model based on the business concept of venture capital. Under SVP, HER Foundation identifies, handholds and builds capacities of genuine grassroots NGOs. HER focuses on achieving scalability and sustainability, creating a culture of leadership and excellence and inculcating a deep sense of accountability among its partners.

9. What is the Outreach model?

While working in the remote rural areas, Smile Foundation realized that capacities of community based organisations (CBOs) were not adequate to meet expectations of social investors. Under outreach model, Smile Foundation implements the development interventions directly as it requires intensive and professional engagement for a wider and sustained outcome.

Smile Foundation gets a first-hand experience on the nuances of development at the grassroots through its Outreach model and then shares the same with partner organisations.

10. What is the source of funding for the organization?

Around 70-80% funding support of the organization comes from corporates; the rest comes from PSUs, individual donors and private institutions.

11. How does HER choose the projects / grassroots NGOs to work with?

HER Foundation looks for emerging and committed grassroots organizations for reaching out to underprivileged communities. We partner with people and organizations that want to make a difference but do not have adequate knowledge and capacity to raise resources or work in a professional manner.

12. At present how many people are directly benefitting from various programmes of HER Foundation?

At present HER Foundation is directly benefitting more than 300,000 women and girls through 158 welfare projects across 25 states of India.

13. How can one associate with the organization?

In our journey so far, we have received immense support from numerous individuals, many private and public sector companies, development agencies, educational institutions, public figures and the mass media. One can associate with us in any of these above mentioned ways. Please visit the contact us or get involved section of our website for more information on the possible ways of being involved in our journey.

14. How can I donate to HER Foundation?

You can go to Donate Now section of HER Foundation's website and donate online. For other donations related queries please write to donation@herfoundationindia.org

15. What are the ways of measuring impacts of the various programmes?

HER Foundation has a proper programme management system which tracks progress and does periodic analysis - both qualitative and quantitative Periodic external evaluations are also done to gauge the impact and progress of various programmes

16. What information is sent to the donors?

The donor gets an instant acknowledgement mail along with an SMS. On receiving the reconciliation statement from the bank, a receipt is sent via e-mail immediately, followed by a hard copy by post (within India). The receipt is accompanied by a 'welcome pack' which is also a token of appreciation. The donor receives a birthday wish, wishes on important festivals, programme updates and an annual impact report during a year's time.

17. What will HER do with my donation?

As soon as the donation through cheque or online is reconciled by the bank, the amount is allotted to the specific programme, which it has been meant for. The utilization and results are managed, monitored and audited. The outcome is reflected in the annual impact report, which is shared with the donors.

18. Is the website safe to make online payments?

Yes, the website is safe for any kind of transaction. Also any information exchange is kept safe and in no condition gets disclosed. Also the payment gateway is a third party payment gateway recognized by the financial institutions under the government of India. So any transaction also is thoroughly secured.

19. Can one donate in kind (old clothes, books, stationary etc)?

Usually in-kind donation is accepted only when there is a need in any of the projects at a given point of time.

20. Is it possible for a consistent supporter to meet the beneficiary personally?

While you can visit the school where the children you support are studying we do not encourage donors to directly meet the beneficiaries as we do not want to give special treatment to any child.