GuideStar India provides information of over 1000 NGOs in India in an easy to search fashion to help users connect quickly with organisation(s) working in the area of their choice (location/ cause/ type of activity). All information is self-reported by NGOs, however, organisations upload supporting documents such as their tax returns, registration documents and audited accounts. Organisations have undergone different levels of due diligence before being featured on this site.
We do not charge NGOs for registration with us and for using the site. There is no charge for users of data on the website. If you find the site useful, you are welcome to make donations to support our work (write to info@guidestarindia.org).
We do provide a range of services to organisations and individuals who would like to reach out to a large number of NGOs in India through targeted mailers, workshops, etc. We can connect you to NGOs featured on our site and the 22000+ other organisations we have on our offline database. We provide datasets in a ready to use format that could save your time in accessing information that you need. We also provide due diligence services based on user-defined criteria. As these services require additional effort, we would require a contribution to cover our costs.
GuideStar India was launched on Sep 23, 2010. Read our launch covered by the Alliance Magazine.
GuideStar India is an initiative of Civil Society Information Services India (CSIS India) in collaboration with GuideStar International, UK. CSIS India is a trust registered in India. View our profile at http://www.guidestarindia.org/Search.aspx?q=555
India is estimated to have over 3 million registered NGOs as per the Central Statistical Organisation.
- Who are these organisations?
- Where are they located?
- What are their activities? and
- Which are the communities they serve?
If there were answers to these questions at the click of a button, we believe policy makers, foundations, donors and volunteers would be in a position to take informed decisions and consequently direct resources to the most deserving.
NGOs are constantly in search of support (money/material/people) and spend much of their time and energy in reaching out to potential sources of support. However, they are either not aware of or not equipped to provide the required information in the appropriate form so that resource providers could allocate resources effectively and efficiently.
To bridge the gap between the two ends, as stated above, through our NGO outreach programmes, we educate NGOs about the need for using information to showcase their work, articulate their needs, and make voluntarily, public disclosure, of programme and financial indicators in a manner that is easily searchable and usable.
We have developed GuideStar India keeping in mind the needs of various user groups (donors, volunteers, foundations, CSR Managers media, government, academia) who we would like to see using information to power their philanthropy and decisions impacting non profit organisations.
Our Vision & Mission
CSIS India’s vision is Indian philanthropy and non-profit practice revolutionised by the use of civil society information. Our mission is to encourage and equip Indian NGOs to voluntarily share, in the public domain, information that advances transparency, enables better decision making and encourages charitable giving.
Our Approach
We practise the following principles:
- We acquire data ethically.
- We apply no judgement or subjective criteria in featuring NGOs. Every organisation that is registered as a Trust/ Society/ Sec 25 Company is eligible for registration in our database if it can provide a copy of its registration certificate, its Income Tax Permanent Account Number (IT PAN) and a verifiable address proof.
- We avoid duplication of efforts - we try to collaborate with other organisations to reach out to NGOs, we share information and supporting documents available with us, we source information from networks before asking their members or partners to provide information.
- We withold no information- once an NGO gives us information, we include it in our database and would soon put it in public domain.
- We are into intermediation of civil society information only.
- We are open to new ideas and feedback.
Our Model
We believe the starting point of our model is for NGOs to showcase their work and keep their content regularly updated so that users find the organisation(s) that best match their search criteria resulting in actions that drive benefits to NGOs which in turn would motivate organisations to report their work and articulate their needs.
The Long term Impact we expect
Current Partnerships
GiveIndia: NGO Outreach & Due Diligence Partner for India Giving Challenge