How Online Fundraising Campaign at Akshaya Patra Works

Fundraising is of immense importance for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as these organisations, despite the fact that they too contribute heavily towards the socioeconomic development of the country, are not at the liberty of using the tax-payer’s money … at least, not directly. Indirectly, the Government does give tax breaks or provides funds or subsidies, especially when it is also a stakeholder.

In order to implement the Mid-day Meal Programme in schools, for instance, the Government has got into a partnership with NGOs like The Akshaya Patra Foundation. In such cases, it shares the cost of the programme or provides land and other requisites. Even in such cases, NGOs have to develop fundraising strategies for both, sustenance and expansion.

Online Fundraising for Akshaya Patra

At Akshaya Patra, we understand that online fundraising has more to it than simply accepting donations online, hence we make a conscious attempt to reach out to as many people as possible through our campaigns using our website and different social media platforms. It also has something to do with the fact that for an NGO, a steady stream of funds is of great importance.

If you want to organise a fundraiser for us at your workplace or school, we’ll be glad to help. You just need to get in touch with us. What if someone wants to help by raising funds for the cause, but cannot due to time constraints. In such cases, a much easier option is to go for online fundraising.

In a broad sense, the concept also includes donations raised by resorting to call-to-action, wherein direct mailers, social media posts, etc., are designed with the intention to bring donor to the landing page from where he can donate. These are the options the organisation uses to raise funds. Beyond these options, there is one option that you can use to raise funds for Akshaya Patra, and that is to create an online fundraising campaign on the organisation’s website.

You have the option of either donating to an existing campaign or you can create your own online campaign by visiting our website. When you create a customized campaign, which will have a title and the target amount of your choosing, you can share it with your friends and family via email or social network. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes from your busy schedule and you’ll become a role model for other people.

In essence, you will help Akshaya Patra reach more people and raise funds for our cause, i.e., to eliminate classroom hunger, by starting and promoting an online fundraising campaign.

As of now, we are feeding over 1.5 million children across 25 locations in the country. Our mission is to reach 5 million children by 2020 and that, we know, will be an uphill task unless we have more people on board.

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Go through Gaurav Warman's Experience of fundraising: akshayapatra-ngo-india.blogspot.in/2016/03/fundraising-for-ngo-akshaya-patra.html

How is the Quality of Mid-day Meals Maintained?

The Mid-day Meal Rules, 2015, notified by the Government of India (GoI) puts forth certain stipulations pertaining to the meals served to school children as a part of the Mid-day Meal Scheme. Among other things, it stresses on the nutritional standards and quality of mid-day meals; the latter being given due importance this time around.

Mid-day Meals Quality Guidelines

As far as the nutritional standards are concerned, it is stipulated that mid-day meals should provide 450 calories and 12 g protein for primary students and 700 calories and 20 g protein for upper primary students. The implementing bodies, i.e., government schools, partnering non-profit organisations, etc., have to plan the menu accordingly. They can rotate the food items, or vegetables that are used in preparation of these food items, on a daily basis to ensure that the children get necessary nutrients in prescribed quantity.

Now, the personnel from an accredited lab can evaluate hot cooked meal samples as and when deemed necessary to ensure its nutritional value and quality.

These new guidelines bring about a much-needed change to the ambitious scheme. The quality of meal served to children deserves more attention, considering that the number of beneficiaries of this programme runs to the tune of over 100 million. Thus, not taking the quality aspect seriously will mean putting millions of children at risk and any untoward incident will affect the whole programme. The authorities need to ensure that such incidents do not occur; implementing stringent quality check regulations is one way to do this.

The notification makes it mandatory for every school to have a facility for storing raw materials and cooking meals without compromising on the hygiene. Additionally, it’s important that the cooking staff maintains personal hygiene and wears gloves, masks, caps, etc., while cooking in order to avoid contamination. Also, there should be a proper arrangement of clean water and a waste disposal site in the vicinity.

The notification of new rules is a crucial step that will help in improving the quality of Mid-day Meal Programme. When a programme is being run at such a grand scale, it has to be constantly evaluated to minimize problems and make it more effective. One of the non-profit organisations, the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s handling of Mid-day Meal Programme is an apt example of the same.

How Akshaya Patra is Showing the Way?

The Akshaya Patra Foundation started serving meals to children in 2001—well before MDMS in its current form came into existence—and joined the Government to implement this programme when it was started. At the Foundation, elaborate measures are taken to ensure that the quality of food served as a part of the Mid-day Meal Programme in schools is up to the mark.

The Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is implemented in Akshaya Patra kitchens and the entire staff is trained in this aspect. Even in the decentralized kitchens in Baran, Rajasthan, and Nayagarh, Odisha, where women self-help groups cook mid-day meals, due importance is given to quality. The staff at these kitchens is trained and monitored by a team appointed by the Foundation.

In fact, Akshaya Patra’s expertise on this aspect has even prompted several State Governments to ask the organisation to organise workshops on food safety, quality, and personal hygiene for cook-cum-helpers in their states.

Personal hygiene is also given utmost importance at Akshaya Patra kitchens. Both, kitchen staff and visitors are provided caps, masks, gloves, and disinfectant to avoid contamination of food. The raw materials that are to be procured are done only after taking food safety standards into consideration and are accepted only after thorough inspection. Vegetables are sanitized in chlorine water before they are cut and vessels are sanitized with hot water before the cooking process begins.

Even the menu is based on regional palate, keeping in mind recommended nutritional standards. Thus, the kitchens in the North follow a wheat-based menu, while those in the South follow a rice-based menu. In order to ensure that the nutritional standards are met, a variety of vegetables (E.g., beetroot, carrots, pumpkins, brinjals, etc.) and pulses (E.g., lentils, soybeans, kidney beans, etc.) are used and the cooked food is subjected to Theoretical Nutritional Value Calculation as per the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and lab analysis.

Food is packed in steam-sterilized vessels and dispatched only after its taste and texture are checked. Before loading the food in delivery vehicles, their cleanliness is also checked. Even school authorities are advised to check whether the food vessels are clean, covered tightly with a lid, food is warm, etc.

The adoption of global quality practices, such as Kaizen and Six Sigma, has helped the Foundation improve the efficiency of the entire process, thus ensuring that they reach out to over 1.5 million children with nutritious meal.

A lot goes into ensuring the quality of mid-day meals; right from careful selection of menu to proper hygiene. Having said that, all these efforts are worth taking because the mid-day meal is at times, the only meal many of these children afford. In a country, where malnutrition is a chronic problem, the mid-day meal comes as a blessing in disguise.

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