Background Note on CAF India

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)

CAF has been working to help donors to give more effectively and charities to make the most of their resources for more than 80 years – and CAF has been an independent charity for more than 30 years.

CAF International

CAF International works globally and has US$5 billion under management on behalf of donors and civil society organisations. The network is led by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), a registered charity in the UK. The network offices are located in UK (Head Office), India, Australia, Bulgaria, Russia, South Africa, USA, Brazil

More than US$2m is given through CAF each day and last year CAF distributed funds to over 45,000 civil society organisations across 90 countries.

CAF’s international activity positions CAF as a foundation with a global vision to increase the flow of resources specifically encouraging and enabling local giving around the world, enabling the effective distribution of resources by grantmakers and companies, borderless or Diaspora giving – increasing the flow of resources from the developed world to NGOs in developing countries.

Services provided across the network include: designing and running giving programmes; managing charitable funds and providing training for civil society organisations.

CAF India

CAF India is a registered public charitable trust and is part of the CAF International network. Established in New Delhi in October 1998, CAF India's mission has been to increase the flow of resources from corporations and high net worth individuals to the non-profit sector.

In India we have provided giving solutions – Payroll giving, Company Accounts, Donor Advised Funds to several individuals and multinational companies and their employees since 1998.

CAF India has a wide range of validated charities that work across diverse areas of children, education, health care, livelihoods, aged, animal welfare and environment. The charities we support go through a process of due diligence and validation and CAF India ensures the charities we recommend to our donors comply with all the fiscal, legal & regulatory norms in-country.

Growing local giving

Over the years, CAF has been established as an accountable and transparent service provider to corporations in the arena of Corporate Community Initiatives. There is an increasing focus on acting as a bridge between the companies and the communities we serve. The number of corporations and individuals that are aware of CAF services and solutions has increased in the last decade. This has been achieved by making them aware of sustainable social considerations as part of their corporate strategy.

Our Donor Services team works closely with companies and individuals, helping them engage more effectively with the community.  

We do this by 

Helping donors find and support the causes which are important to them Helping donors engage employees and customers in charitable giving Designing a community program which matches the donor’s objectives Ensuring that NGOs are validated and distributed only to bona fide charitable organisations Providing services that ensure charitable support is as tax-efficient as it can be

CAF India Giving Solutions

For Foundations and Individuals

Foundation Set up and Management

CAF India has partnered with Baxter Foundation in setting up and incubating the Chronic Care Foundation in 2006-07 with seed funding of USD 0.5 million. The foundation focuses on critical healthcare issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular and renal diseases.

CAF India has been retained to set up the Steve Waugh Foundation in India and also manage the grantmaking for the foundation.

CAF India Donor Advised Fund

This Fund allows Individuals or Foundations to support their own project in any area across any part of India. The donor will be eligible for 50% tax exemption under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act. CAF India will advise the donors regarding the need for funding in certain interesting projects. CAF India takes care of the due diligence, validation, monitoring and reporting.

Advisory

CAF India has the expertise in developing charitable giving programmes:

CAF India has managed programmes for corporates – from appeals response to evaluating impact, it has provided consultancy on design and development of programmes to various corporates over the last decade, done research and recommended charities. CAF India has provided administrative support, monitored, evaluated and reported on programmes.