Yes, that DEFINITELY does make a difference. It is almost impossible for a foreigner to start and run an orphanage in India. Visa laws are very strict and the only reason why our organization is able to have foreigners on staff is because each of them hold Overseas Citizen of India cards (essentially they were

The very first step is to learn the culture of the people you want to serve. The largest reason for failure of any organization is failure to communicate effectively; this goes so much further than just language. Cultural misunderstandings can be the source of financial problems, relational problems, legal issues and just about every other

Obviously this number changes dramatically depending on what you want to do, starting cash for an orphanage of around 10-30 kids (assuming you had the building already) shouldn’t be more than around US$10-30,000 to get completely registered and equipped. The hardest thing by far is getting the initial start-up money into India legally and the

There are many people who think that just because you are running an NGO you must be incredibly rich. Generally though, it is quite the opposite. Most of our members would personally have less than $300 in their bank accounts and their only real “assets” are their motorcycles or scooters. There will always be people

Keeping on working while you run the orphanage is not impossible. It all depends on: How many kids you have How many employees you have Whether or not you can get assistance from any other NGO’s (i.e. finance/volunteers) Our suggestion would be to start out VERY small. No more than 2-4 kids. Try it for

Many of our children are brought here by their family members when relatives die. Some are brought by the police. Some are brought by the Human Rights Association, Welfare Department or local MLA’s or Pradhans (village chiefs). We do not take any children without the written permission of the District Magistrate or Welfare Department. Our

This is certainly not a complete list but here are a few things that are very important in regards to sustainability: The biggest need will always be money. Don’t kid yourself; you are going to need a lot of it -especially as your orphanage grows in size. Foreign or domestic support can help in this

Here are a few of the really important first steps, they are not in any specific order but should all be completed before you take in any children. Set a location. Acquire a piece of property to base the organization (if possible eventually have it registered in the name of the organization) or find someone

There are some great books out there on the subject of starting an NGO. One of the books that our team found useful was called “Legal Handbook for Christian Services in India” which should be available from decent Christian Bookstores in India… even if you’re not a Christian there is a lot of relevant information