Rabiya is 12 years old, and the best English student in her class. Since becoming a student at CHILDReach, an Atma Partner school, Rabiya has been able to excel in subjects that were previously inaccessible to her. This is because CHILDReach offers Rabiya a classroom environment and specialized attention that supports her unique learning style.
Photo by Neha Kumthekar (more…)
What if you could volunteer from home to support projects anywhere in the world? What if you could complete a piece of a project in 30 minutes to contribute to a larger project for an NGO like Atma based anywhere across the globe?
Professionals all over the world recognize the value of volunteering, for both personal and professional development. However, volunteer opportunities that are time consuming and require an upfront commitment aren’t accessible to everyone.
Micro-volunteering, otherwise known as virtual or e-volunteering, is defined by working online to complete specific tasks that may fall under the umbrella of a bigger project. Micro-volunteering engages individuals with skills across the areas of IT, blogging, fundraising, HR, research, design and social media. A micro-volunteer can put his or her specific technical expertise towards an NGO project, from anywhere in the world, contributing as much or as little time as they have available.
Karla Kevin and Ravi Bagaria recently completed a five week Atma Volunteership. This is their Atma experience in their own words.
Ravi: After having given our Final exams for becoming Chartered Accountants, Karla and I started looking for a volunteer opportunity. We had two months in hand and wanted to utilise it to the fullest by helping non-profits with their investments, financial and tax planning.
Karla: The first thing that set Atma apart from other NGOs was the professional manner that volunteer recruitment was done. I received prompt responses to emails and we went for a meeting at the Atma office where our volunteer role were defined from the very beginning. That illustrated how much Atma values their volunteers and their resources, which was refreshing and encouraging! I instantly knew Atma would be the place where Ravi and I could make the most of the time I’d set apart for volunteer work.
The Foundation for Mother and Child Health India (FMCH) improves the lives of mothers and children by providing programs focused on preventative healthcare, education, and nutritional interventions to underprivileged communities. Founded in 2005 in Indonesia, FMCH believes that a child’s development in the early years of their life is a foundation for their future educational and personal development.
Malnutrition in children is the result of several factors, most of which fall under a lack of access to resources and education. A limited family income, poor knowledge of basic nutrition and hygiene practices, and limited access to medical support, safe water and proper accommodation all contribute to the issue of child malnutrition. FMCH’s mission is to tackle malnutrition in innovative ways. Through medical clinics, health talks, home visits and cooking and parenting classes, FMCH approaches early childhood development and health from multiple angles. By addressing health issues and malnutrition in pregnant women, infants and young children, and by teaching proper nutrition, they focus on the holistic development of the child and empower women to make smart health choices for their families.
By Hayley Bolding, Atma Founder
At Atma we believe that any “issue” an organization faces is merely a challenge, and that having a “challenge” rather than “problem” focused outlook encourages innovative solutions towards helping the organization to grow.
Founded to tackle the educational challenges faced by Mumbai’s underprivileged, Atma recognizes that the greatest impact is in building capacity within the key people and organizations creating change in India – the innovative NGOs that are our Atma Partners.
An open letter from Summer Starr, Atma Partnerships Director
In 2004, I graduated from the University of Washington. Armed with a BA in International Development, I flew to Kenya to “change the world”. What I discovered was that neither I nor the organisation I went to work with were prepared to utilize my skills in the most effective manner. As a young person with minimal work experience, I lacked the perspective and skills the organisation truly needed, and the organisation was not prepared to use the skills I did have.
In not being able to make the impact I wanted, I felt disillusioned. This experience pushed me to “step up my game”. I realized that passion was not enough: I needed to gain experience so that I could maximize my impact and contribute in a meaningful way. In addition, I needed to look for volunteer opportunities with clearly defined roles that fit my talents and expertise.
In 2011, The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon raised 12.16 crores towards charities and NGOs across Mumbai. Through their participation in the Marathon, 138 corporate companies played a large role in the fundraising effort.
Over the past 11 years, the Marathon has grown into a fantastic event for NGOs, corporates and individuals to come together towards creating social impact. Why should a corporate company take advantage of the incredible exposure and community engagement opportunity that comes with the Race day?
Photo by Cory Goldberg
The Corporate Challenge is a category which allows corporate companies to participate in the Mumbai Marathon on behalf of a nonprofit organisation of their choice. Besides the visibility and exposure provided by the large scale event, there are multiple other benefits for corporate companies that choose to engage in the Marathon.
Atma Partner Masoom is an NGO that focuses on illuminating Mumbai’s night schools. Night school students attend classes at night after working during the day, and must make do with fewer resources than regular students. Founded by Nikita Ketkar, an Unltd India Investee, Masoom exists to improve the classroom infrastructure and educational offerings in Mumbai night schools, allowing night school students to excel academically.
Click to learn more about Masoom and Atma’s other Partnerships.
The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is Asia’s largest marathon, and one of India’s single platforms for fundraising. [1]
In the past, the Mumbai Marathon has served as an incredible event for awareness and fundraising for NGOs across India, as well as to help showcase the social issues they address. In 2010, 107 NGOs chose to participate in the Mumbai Marathon. In 2011, 179 NGOs were registered in the Marathon, collectively raising Rs 12.16 crore. Based on the growth witnessed over the past few years, NGO involvement is expected to continue to grow exponentially.
The key to a successful Marathon campaign for any NGO is having an extensive planning process and clear goals. Preparing for the Mumbai Marathon encompasses much more than showing up on Race Day: planning requires a large investment of time and energy in marketing your cause, finding participants and corporate teams, and completing the registration processes. However, approaching the Marathon preparations in a strategic way guarantees an incredible outcome for an NGO.
“One of my high school teachers once said to me, ‘If you’re not doing something about it, you don’t get to complain about it.’ The most important thing I have learned over the past 4 years is that talk is meaningless. It’s not enough to complain about the problems we see in the world today, the only way to make change is to stop complaining and start doing. Action does not just speak louder than words, it is the only thing that will create change.”
Atma began with an idea. Mumbai has thousands of NGOs that are founded by passionate social entrepreneurs who have an incredible vision. However, most NGOs struggle with a lack of resources which prevents them from truly achieving their goals and effectively reaching underprivileged children and young adults in Mumbai.
