Travel to Ashadeep Association

Vylasini Seetharaman Start Date: Aug 11, 2017 - End Date: Aug 16, 2017
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Vacation/Personal Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

My Travel Story

by: Vylasini Seetharaman Start Date: Aug 11, 2017 - End Date: Aug 16, 2017
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Vacation/Personal Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
Though my interest in Ashadeep Association started off as a way for me to tackle my grant-writing module, as I did more research and through speaking with Santosh, an office manager for Ashadeep Association, I came to know about a more pressing need.  The need is for Ashadeep Association to be widely known in the local community as well as both nationally and globally solely for the purpose of fundraising.

I have been working with children since the year 2002 and have always felt that people are who they are because of the opportunities afforded to them.  When a child is given limitless possibilities, he or she can grow into an individual he or she never thought was possible due to his or her financial status.

I had the opportunity to live and study in India for 5 years, during which I spent a few years in Mumbai.  This is when I became aware of the disparity in people’s living conditions.  Based on data from the Infochange India (2006) and Mumbai Municipal Corporation (n.d.) collected through surveys and government statistics for the city of Mumbai, it became apparent to me just how much of the Mumbai population actually lived in slums.

I still remember when my mother came to visit me in Mumbai and said that as her flight was landing all she could see were the makeshift slum houses.  Once when I was travelling by the local three-wheel transport we came to a traffic signal where I noticed a group of five children, all of whom looked to be no older than 10 years old.  They were sitting on a concrete slab by the side of the road, and among them was a boy who played with the rubber tire from a bicycle.  Just across the road was a cluster of slum houses where I believe the children lived.  Even in all this all I saw was laughter and happiness.  I wondered how these children’s lives would have been had they been given the same opportunities as many of us.

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to develop a fundraising strategy and plan for Ashadeep Association.  This study involved an exploration of components that can help increase donations by approaching a large group of donors.  

The issue at hand is that after the death of the founder, there has been a gap as to who will run the organization and how funds will come in as most of the private long time donors have aged and their donations will eventually stop.  This will affect the operations of Ashadeep, and the services it can provide to its clients would come to a stop.  

This study also involved research into the challenges the organization faces such as people’s mentality toward donating, the need for its services, how it reaches the people who need its services, and, most importantly, the impact it makes in the community.  

The main purpose of the study was to thoroughly research and evaluate the different components that can be used when planning a fundraising strategy that includes a grant proposal.  In addition, the study involved an exploration of how Ashadeep can become more visible to its audience so as to increase its donor pool and volunteer base.

I would like to continue my research and to keep on improving and helping Ashadeep Association in Mumbai to keep on functioning by optimizing and coming up with ways to support their fundraising efforts
  • Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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