Milestones & Impact

"Our path has not been determined. We shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones. Because we have decided to come together as ONE to RIGHT every WRONG."

Our inherent philosophy is based on Mother Theresa's loving quote that each of us can do small small things with great love and passion to make a difference and that is exactly what we believe in. having started with 0 funding and not taking any support we at iCONGO always said love and passion to be the change for the cause and God is our budget and thus we set out on a mission that most people felt was Utopian and said what you trying to do and what's in it for you guys so stop wasting you time and pursue something that gives you some money quickly instead of saying we will never raise funds through donations for ourselves and not retain percentages. How will you guys survive? You won't go far and will perish with your stupid philosophy and ethics. Well we have not only survived but have made a difference in the past 4 years and mission is looking less and less utopian now as various people are joining up as CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS and CHAMPIONS to be that change and lead the change for social justice through citizen action. Life is not all about creating wealth only for ourselves and our near and dear ones. There is a bigger purpose of life and that is to create a legacy of a better world for future generations to come and today iCONGO is mostly run by volunteers who are DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS and bring with them a treasure house of experience and expertise from the corporate, media, government, academic and people sector.

I remember that old fable of an old man rescuing fishes washed ashore and another younger person laughing at him and ridiculing him saying old timer stop wasting your time you rescuing 10 fishes every minute the sea is throwing up thousand and the older wiser person turns around and says son at least I am saving whoever you can and not just standing around and if you and others joined in maybe we could have saved them all. Well this parable encompasses everything we have withstood to put iCONGO together as a group of CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS who have come together as ONE to RIGHT every WRONG. Gandhiji had once said that when one wants to be the change first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win". Yes friends the victory is for the cause when we all come together as ONE to RIGHT every WRONG by promoting social justice through citizen action. Various people who found our vision and values utopian earlier are now reaching out to join us and be the change and that itself is the biggest sign of change. So we have accomplished part of what we set out to do but there are miles to go together and awaken people to their social responsibility before we sleep.

To conclude Margaret Mead had said something very true about change "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." How true my friends and I am happy that the small group of concerned citizens have come together with us to be the change and its only with their support, blessings and solidarity that we have managed to achieve the small things we have done with great love. We thank all our mentors, volunteers, champions and supporters for all their solidarity and support to be and lead the change. We also invite others to come join us and be the change. iCONGO is a people movement & citizen action to promote social justice by working with the people sector i.e. screened transparent and accountable NGOs who adopt THE OMEGA RATINGS norms for best practices & good governance through citizen responsibility in all sectors.

Thanking you with warm regards,

Founding volunteers of iCONGO- the citizen movement for social justice.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The founders of iCONGO have been volunteers by nature and over the years, from a very young age, have been involved as volunteers working with various charities to bridge the gap between people with the ability and desire to be the change and the people who have needs and are unserved. They have, in the past, conceived, planned and executed cutting edge ideas for property events, projects and programs which, amongst various things, includes the Sound of the Sea, Music for Life, Chivas online auctions with eBay, Rare Rhythms , Art Auctions, Movie Premieres, International music concerts and other idea based events and cause related marketing ideas like the CRUSH exchange- an orange promotion and the Whisper Campaign to raise funds for the blind girl child.

All these projects were created to raise awareness, create citizen involvement and action and generate resources for various International & National NGOs. The founders of iCONGO also created the concept of the MAGIC BOX on Jet airways that has now raised over 9.2 crores in the past 10+ years and involved citizen action from hundreds of thousand people who give an average of Rs. 400 by inserting money in an envelope in their in-flight pouch for underserved children welfare. The power of a functional idea is huge and the founders today invest their time and efforts to enable and empower small & grassroots NGOs (even non members of iCONGO as long as we believe in the credibility and charter of the NGO) to think out of the box, by training and mentoring them for effective fundraising, cause related marketing and social marketing & communications for long term self reliance ,sustainability and building social justice by involving citizen action.

In the past few years iCONGO and the founders of iCONGO have created huge citizen action for social justice and in the process have also selflessly raised hundreds of million Rupees for credible, transparent and accountable NGOs without keeping any money from the funds raised for various NGOs and projects. The links on the side are testimony to iCONGO and it's founder’s various successful interventions and implementation of their ideas for social justice.

Pre founding @ Concept stage (2002- 2004)

iCONGO fact file and Impact over the years

Pre founding @ Concept stage (2002- 2004)

 - An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come -

1. In early 2002, the founders of iCONGO raised funds for the Gujarat pogrom victims by stating loudly as ONE voice that what happened in Gujarat was not just a mob running loose and creating riots but a well planned massacre that was launched to woo the sentiments of people and polarize the vote bank in Gujarat. That was when the one of the founders planned and implemented the now popular DIWALI RAMZAN campaign to sensitise people to what really happened in Gujarat. With help and support from citizens like Anu Aga, Harsh Mander, Syeeda Hamid, Sharmila Tagore, Amala, Nafisa Ali, Nandita Das, Pritish Nandy, Javed Akthar, Saeed Mirza, Rohena Gera, , Deepak Parekh, Vinod Mehta, Kamla Bhasin, Rahul Bajaj, and various others , they reached out to various people and raised funds over 2.5 crores for the rehabilitation of people who were living in camps at cemeteries as they were made refugees in their own homeland. Moneys were accepted only if people were ready to take stands and speak out and not if they wanted to give the money without taking stands and understanding the issues. Subsequently this became the model for Philanthropy for social justice, and the founders of iCONGO thus decided never to just use the child’s face or child sponsorship to raise funds as fundraising is not just about money, honey … but about getting people involved to understand issues and actively advocate against social wrongs. Thus was germinated the idea of Karm Mitra (do a google for info) and a movement like iCONGO (iCONGO was a name coined by Nikhil Nehru- strategy guru along with the founders of iCONGO in 2004 as an acronym for Indian Confederation of NGOs)  to build social justice through citizen action and get people in urban India to speak out by sensitizing them face to face with direct dialogue from the underserved people in rural India about social issues that are plaguing these invisible indigenous communities like the homeless, tribals, dalits, sex workers, people living with HIV and disability, manual scavengers, victims of natural and man made disasters like ethnic cleansing across India due to impoverishment and marginalisation.

2. In the latter part of 2002, the founders of iCONGO first met with the Maj. Gen. Pannu (former Director General of various NGOs, founder of Global Cancer Concern of India and the then Chairman of SAFRG) for lunch at IIC where they discussed the concept of forming a collective body of NGOs to reclaim, build and preserve public trust. Maj. Gen. Pannu applauded the idea and was the first to encourage and push the idea and told the founders of iCONGO that it would be great if they could pull this off, despite the opposition of various NGOs who would not like a good practice as promoted by iCONGO. He also said this would be great for the people sector and would work well for the small, but very efficient and credible, NGOs that do not get support like the big cool sounding NGOs who spend most of the money on huge administration and marketing cost.

3. Subsequently we discussed the idea with over 300 people who included NGO leaders, corporate citizens and leaders, lawyers, marketing professionals, chartered accountants, bureaucrats and academicians who all echoed Maj. General Pannu’s idea. In 2005 Bobby Sista- founder of  “Population First”, guru and legend of marketing, advertising and active promoter best business practices for corporate social responsibility came on board as founding chairman of iCONGO and said to the founders “the idea is one of a kind in the whole world, now lets go out there and build a world class organization and best practices that the world will look up to, applaud and follow no matter what the hardships and adversity we face while taking stands and speaking out.” Thus was born a unique people movement and citizen action for social justice to encourage involvement and active participation with the people sector to “Be the change”

4. In 2003, after 2 years of planning, the founders of iCONGO pioneered face- 2- face fundraising through Direct Selling agencies in India. They launched the first big donor loyalty program, Karm Mitra, and sensitized top executives in corporate India  through an award winning film titled “The joy of giving” about the plight of communities like Dalits, Tribals, Commercial sex workers, manual scavengers, homeless, positive people, the disabled and people affected by riots and communal violence. This model is benefiting various charities who have now adopted this approach. This film was shown to all people in offices by the sales team before accepting any donation. The main aim was sensitization and building an ecosystem for the NGO sector for ethical fundraising and holistic development by involving citizens as friends in action for social justice. The fund was secondary and the primary objective was to enlighten and awaken people about the plight of unserved and underserved communities who were victims of chronic hunger and impoverishment in a so called India Shining.

5. In 2003 the founders of iCONGO worked with Brotherhood, a small NGO, to plan and execute the WE CARE film festival and short film competition by showcasing Hollywood and Indian Cinema movies with pivotal actors playing roles of people living with disability and inviting young filmmakers to create films to promote dignity and accessibility for people living with disability. For the past 5 years iCONGO has been supporting and encouraging this movement which has become a model adopted by various other NGOs across India.

6. In December 2003, the founders of iCONGO planned , managed and supported an event for PUCL and Anhad in Chennai with leading celebrities like Kamal Hassan and Amala and Media partners like Vijay TV and The Hindu, to sensitise people in Tamil Nadu to understand the electoral process and not just vote for politicians who make tall promises. This event was managed by sex workers and destitute youth who were trained to execute various details of event management and in the process gained jobs with event management firms.

7. The founders of iCONGO supported “THE DALIT FOUNDATION” and worked with Prof. Sukhdev Thorat to plan and organise the first big Dalit Advocacy summit at Delhi.

8. The founders of iCONGO worked with TK Mathew and Deepalaya to facilitate and announce a grant for children’s education from GTL a MNC. Nandita Das graced and supported this initiative.

9. The founders of iCONGO announced “Vision of India (iCONGO registered intellectual property)” with leading cricketers, captains of industry, celebrities , Spiritual gurus to garner support for various  NGOs including Youth Research Group, Mathrubhoomi foundation, Parikrama and various others.

10. iCONGO supported Mahila Samiti, a small grassroots NGO in Karnataka working on woman rights, to organise a play “Tumhari Amrita” and raised over 6.5 lakhs for the movement with support from the play’s Director Feroz Khan and cast Shabana Azmi and Farooque Shaikh, who all work at subsidized costs for a small honorarium.

11. iCONGO conceptualized and implemented the first street raffle aid fundraising in Chennai and raised over 6 million (60 lakhs) INR in a 40 day operation. The other first of this operation was that a direct dialogue between the communities like sex workers/homeless youth and the Chennai middle class was created. Trained Sex workers and Homeless youth met people at malls, beaches, cinema halls and sensitized them to the issue of homelessness and then asked them to buy the raffle coupon for Rs. 100. Some of these people proved to be an excellent and diligent workforce and were employed by big direct selling agencies for regular employment. Thus a model of sustainable livelihood for communities was also created.

12. The founders of iCONGO pioneered the concept of Media for Change and produced and promoted the first big Bollywood CAUSE MOVIE on dignity for people with HIV Aids in India. Titled “EK ALAG MAUSAM” it featured Nandita Das, Anupam Kher, Rajit Kapur and became a role model for other movies like Phir Milenge, My Brother Nikhil, Black and so on.

13. iCONGO promoted the first music video titled “Khushhi- the joy of giving” on children and community rights for youth involvement with Channel V and MTV.

14. In 2004 when the founders were designing the charter and concept of iCONGO in consultation with various Academicians, NGO, Business, Media leaders, the first organisation to offer support to incubate iCONGO was CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). N Srinivasan, the Director General of CII at that time, wrote to iCONGO offering support and resources as he really liked the noble idea and felt it was an idea whose time had come and that something like iCONGO was very essential for the community. The iCONGO founders humbly declined the offer as they wanted to make this an autonomous proactive citizen movement, building support step by step with no corporate funding but pure citizen involvement apropos our holistic philosophy.

Founding and Post founding (November 2004 onwards)

- When you want to do something for the larger common good the universe will conspire to make it happen against all odds and all adversity-

a. iCONGO documentation is put together on 26th November 2004 and we are positioned as a philanthropy hallmark and gateway to promote social justice through citizen action. We pledge that we shall be the first organisation in the world that works selflessly without raising any funds for itself or retaining any percentage for administration and other costs from funds facilitated for member NGOs through citizen supporters. Our core charter is to promote social justice through citizen action and citizen social responsibility which is our pioneering concept again, as we go beyond funds and ask people NOT to JUST GIVE but to practice philanthropy for social justice where individuals get involved with cause, understand social issues and be the change by advocating for the cause.

b. In December 2004 the iCONGO registration formalities are completed.

c. iCONGO works with Pardada Pardadi to launch their shops with an effective marketing and communications strategy. Profits from this shop are to be used to impart education to girls in Bulundshahar and adjoining parts of UP.  iCONGO also write a franchising strategy for Pardada Pardadi and today they have 2 franchisees.

d. In January 2005, iCONGO presents its mission and plan at the NECCI summit in Guwahati Assam to over 1000 people from business, media, NGOs and students. The vision of iCONGO, to reclaim and preserve public trust for the people sector, is applauded by all.

e. In February 2005 Uday Khemka of Khemka Foundation calls Jerry Almeida, iCONGO, and tells him that he would like to partner with iCONGO as he loves the overall idea and that we should make some plans for a holistic engagement through support from Khemka Foundation. Jerry subsequently meets with Uday while on a visit to UK for his work with the British High Commission and they decide to start with the RIGHT every WRONG Conclave and the Karmaveer Puraskaar.

f. In March 2005, we sign a MOU with Crossover events to partner with them as the philanthropy facilitators for the Bangalore International Marathon for 3 years.

g. iCONGO has helped raise over 4 crores for various charities through 2 Bangalore International Marathons in May 2005 and 2006. iCONGO has done so absolutely selflessly by building capacity of charities to raise their own pledges and helping them to make inroads with donors. The money raised was channelled directly to charities of the donor’s choice and iCONGO gave 100% of the funds to the citizen’s charities of choice.

h. In May 2005 the founders of iCONGO meet with Prannoy Roy and alongwith the team at NDTV put together a plan for the RIGHT every WRONG conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar that will be held every year on 25th and 26th November from 2006 onwards.

i. In July 2005 the founders of iCONGO partner with the London Season and exclusive club of aristocrats and captains of industry to host their delegation in India to support causes related to children’s education.

j.In August 2005 the iCONGO mandate is presented to over 600 NGOs at “Spandan” a gathering of NGOs hosted by CCF- India. The founders of iCONGO present the philosophy of iCONGO and also the values and best practices that we, as the people sector, need to practice and live up to. Most of the NGOs at the gathering write back for membership of iCONGO and agree to adhere to the transparency and accountability charter proposed by iCONGO as a collective.

k. In September 2005 the founders of iCONGO, after 3 months of discussion and negotiation, partner with Playwin and the ZEE group to create a strategy for the RIGHT every WRONG solidarity band public advocacy campaign to promote transparency and accountability. Ogilvy teams up with iCONGO to put together the creative strategy for the campaign and the first draft of the strategy is presented in November 2005. Subsequently iCONGO backs out of the partnership with Playwin due to cases of lottery suicides and decides not to do the campaign till they find the right partner to promote this.

l. From mid 2005 onwards the founders of iCONGO have been conducting workshops for NGOs across the country (even non members) to promote ethical practices in fundraising and safeguard the interests of the entire sector for the long term We have conducted over 50 such workshops and written strategies for various international and grassroots NGOs including members and non members like CCF, Dalit Voluntary Association Foundation, PYDS etc, at the behest of these NGOs and organisations like Datamation , SAFRG. The last one was conducted at the behest of the Resource Alliance- UK, India for grassroots NGOs at Dehradun. Most of these workshops have received overwhelming response and reviews as the best fundraising, social and cause related marketing and communications training programs.

m. In late 2005 iCONGO partners with DEF and America India Foundation (AIF) as knowledge partners to promote the Manthan awards for digital convergence and e-governance.

n. From January 2006 till September 2006 iCONGO meets with various DSAs to create the direct dialogue agencies to raise funds for iCONGO members through face to face fundraising. However we decide not to work with these DSAs, thanks to various NGOs who have now adopted the face to face process pioneered by us in India without understanding how it works. These NGOs have encouraged these DSAs to be mercenary with fundraising for the short term, by giving pay outs which are as high as 45- 75% of the funds raised from the individuals. The fact that they retain huge commissions is also not communicated to the donors and there is absolute lack of transparency. Hence we decline working with these DSAs and decide to, slowly but surely, build an absolutely transparent and accountable process with our own citizen promoted socially conscious face to face fundraising operation.Short term myopic operations, as encouraged by these few mercenary DSAs and cool sounding NGOs, are further harmful for the credibility of the NGO or People sector and we are losing public trust in the sector (which is already very low) for the long term. We also realised that some of these direct support DSAs are misrepresenting us by claiming to be iCONGO partners and it is imperative to educate citizens about this misrepresentation of our brand and goodwill as we have no relations whatsoever with these NGOs/ DSAs.

o. In June 2006 the founders of iCONGO were invited by The Ashoka Foundation to visit their Washington Headquarters to plan and execute a reality show to promote social entrepreneurship. The founders went and met the Ashoka team and the Ashoka founder Bill Drayton to weigh potential synergies to collaborate and work together on this concept and enhance Ashoka’s brand image in India.

p. In 2006 we present the RIGHT every WRONG band concept to various media houses like Times of India, Times Now and some news channels as we are searching for new sponsors after backing out with Playwin. We are proud that all three partners adapted the RIGHT every WRONG idea and Times made it India Poised and Lead India to encourage citizen action, various other news channels made it as Indian of the year award, Real Heroes etc. We lost out on intellectual property but the whole idea is that if the idea leads the change for creating citizen action, it is a battle won. Our core objective is to motivate citizen action and thus we also have on our website a disclaimer, which is a first again, encouraging people and companies to adapt and feel free to take our ideas and use them to lead the change and promote social justice through citizen action for various causes.

q. In June 2006 Group M, a WPP Worldwide media planning and busying company approaches iCONGO to work with them to design a Cause Related  Marketing campaign for Allianz insurance around Save the Tiger theme. iCONGO is also approached by various firms like Bharti, DLF, Yum Foods and various others to help them create their CSR strategy. We would soon be launching a CSR and Cause Related marketing advisory, in association with a European company and with an advisory council of Gurus in CSR and CRM from UK, USA, Europe and India, specializing in CSR consulting and cause related marketing. iCONGO is also approached by GE MONEY to be their knowledge partners for a consumer education website to promote responsible borrowing and financial management.

r. The founders of iCONGO have also been talking on CSR and NGO matters at various forums in India and globally, including the World Economic Forum’s- India Economic summit to lead a discussion with business leaders on the issue of climate change and we also write papers for top publications. iCONGO is very selective about who we work with as partners or supporters and has declined support from various companies, including a soft beverage company and an Indian conglomerate involved with mining and other such businesses, that affect the livelihood and health of communities in places like Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and others states.

s. In August 2006, we at iCONGO, put together a design for a livelihood program for underserved youth to gain employment with Industry. The project, which is an iCONGO intellectual property, is named iTEAM- Institutionalised training employment and advancement of the marginalised and is incubated with funding from USAID.  The concept is huge and is real empowerment for the unserved and underserved youth and is today adapted by various organisations across India. Various people are also using this as business models to start training and recruiting firms.

t. In November 2006 we presented our mission for social transformation to over 300 international delegates at an exclusive dinner keynote address for the AusAid sponsored Strength based strategies and received overwhelming encouragement for the iCONGO and iTEAM mission.

u. In March 2007 we organise the first RIGHT every WRONG Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar awards (2006- 2007) with over 70 top speakers and experts. In the 60th year of Independence, citizens get together to rekindle the spirit of our constitutional pledge and also vow to promote THE OMEGA Ratings charter to promote transparency and accountability from all sectors. This conclave is organised in association with various partners and all issues from child rights to human rights, animal rights to environment, disability to HIV, corporate social responsibility to responsible media reporting are discussed at this conclave. The same is telecast on NDTV profit to reach out to people across India. Various ads issued by Government for consumer action, citizen involvement in development use the RIGHT every WRONG slogan in their creative.

v. At the March conclave Friends without Borders, a group of volunteers working to promote bilateral friendship between Pakistan and India, is also presented. A plan to put together a concert at the border in No Man’s land, with volunteers from both sides, is also discussed and encouraged.

w. In mid 2007 we raise a small fund of 20,000 Rs from various individual citizens for Abhyas Trust, who give money to create a campaign to save stray dogs. This campaign, conceived by Navtej Johar with his volunteers and friends, was a huge success to sensitise citizen action to save stray dogs. It had a resonance, through citizen action for animals, across the nation in various states for good governance to save our strays and be responsible with the practice for promoting animal rights.

x. In the third quarter of 2007 iCONGO, with the Viveka Foundation, partner with “Indiatimes- The Times of India group” to organize a lecture series with the towering legend Bob Fuller, author of books like All Rise and other books speaking against the practice of undignified rankism (the mother of racism and casteism) and disparity, to promote the concept of dignity for all. Various business heads and professionals attend these lectures at Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi and understand the concept of inclusive employment and providing livelihood to create equity for unserved and underserved communities.

y. In 2007, in association with one of the world’s top management consulting firms, we invest sweat equity and time and develop customized iCONGO proprietary consulting tools for fundraising, team building and communications & image perception and share this pro bono exclusively with members and some NGOs we believe in.

z. Around the same time we also partner with Department of Science & Technology GOI, Business Standard and Mentor Port to create MENTORCONNECT, a unique concept for corporates to learn from NGOs and NGOs to learn from corporate, to promote holistic CSR practices employing the triple bottom-line approach.

aa. In August 2007, to celebrate 60 years of being a democracy, iCONGO with citizen volunteers and citizen reporters test launches www.dishoooom.com- a people sector and citizen’s media movement. Positioned as the voice for the voiceless, the idea is to motivate citizens and NGOs to report to RIGHT every WRONG.

ab. The 2nd RIGHT every WRONG Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar (2007-08) is organised on 26th and 27th November 2007 and the theme at this conclave focuses around the issue of climate change and preparing India for this challenge. This was a timely intervention and subsequently iCONGO has supported various forums, as a knowledge partner, for highlighting the issue of climate change including SANGAM- the NGO summit organised by The Art of Living Foundation and UN Millennium campaign.  The founders of iCONGO were also instrumental for organizing the PHFI Foundation day lecture series with Sir. Tony McMichael, member of the International panel for climate change, on the theme of climate change and health issues. The founders have also been promoting focused group round table discussions, to influence legislation with business and political leaders, through delegations from US and Europe on the issue of timely interventions for addressing the environmental challenges that are in our face today.

ac. iCONGO’s media portal www.idishoom.com is unveiled at the 2nd conclave on 26th November 2007, National Social Justice and Citizen Action Day, by the volunteer editor- in- chief, Shashank Khattar. On March 30th, to celebrate Martyr’s day, the portal is converted into a dynamic website. The website has received overwhelming response and today has an outreach to over 3.5 million people through email and online reading, including a captive audience of over 200,000 people who have written to us over the past 6 years to know more about socio- political issues. The test launch of the website included a citizen essay writing competition and we knew that this was another pioneering idea whose time had come from the overwhelming response through entries. One of the best mails we got was that this is an idea which, when you get to know of it one wonder’s DAMN!, now why did I not think of this first

ad. In December 2007, iCONGO launches Restaurants Against Hunger, in association with Olives Bar and Kitchen. Restaurants Against Hunger is a movement to involve individuals who have superior spending power in creating social change, simply through eating out! Eating out is a firmly entrenched part of modern middle class culture. Diners are encouraged to treat themselves to a restaurant meal and in doing so contribute to a cause close to their heart. Participating restaurants donate part of the takings from selected dishes or invite their customers to make a voluntary donation to table bills. Our tie up with Olive bar and kitchen has been a great success.

ae. Over the past 3 years the founders and citizen volunteers of iCONGO have facilitated various funds and other resources for various NGOs, from individuals and corporate. This has been done purely as a selfless and catalytic facilitator to promote social justice through citizen action. Over the years we have raised huge funds and resources, without retaining any percentage, for member and non member NGOs- be it from the marathon where various people and corporates raised huge pledges for the cause they were passionate about or the London season delegation or individuals like Shalini Bhupal – ED of Taj Krishna Hotels Ltd, Tabu the socially conscious actor, Kamal Modi or people like Alasdair and Sally from the US who have channelled support through us to NGOs. Before the financial year end (March 2008) we facilitated funds from the Lintas Media group, through a unique program called Paanchprana, to 5 NGOs.

af. From 2006 one of the the founders of iCONGO was also directly involved in putting together 3 institutes for Public Health in India with the Public Health Foundation of India, a public private partnership launched with support from the Government of India, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and various other philanthropists including Global Indians and captains of Industry in India like Mukesh Ambani, Uday Khemka, Vinod Khosla,  Purnenedu Chatterjee, Desh Deshpande, Shiv Nadar, Rohini Nilekani, Arjun Malhotra, Srini Raju, N Prasad,   Ramalinga Raju, GVK Reddy, GM Rao, Pankaj Patel and various others who donated between 5 – 10 crores  to build institutes of public health in 8 states of India.

ag. On 1st April we formally announced THE OMEGA RATINGS charter in collaboration with the fundraising movie premiere of  Shaurya- The courage to make RIGHT… RIGHT… and raised over 3.5 lakhs and other priceless resources like people involvement for homeless children with huge support from Moser Baer, PVR, Torrent Power, Airtel, Air India and the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

h. In 2008, iCONGO partners with Population First and UNFPA (UN Population Fund) to promote the Laadli awards for gender sensitivity in media companies, TV and movie productions and advertising agencies.

ai. In June 2008 the founders of iCONGO present on holistic CSR and the triple bottom-line approach at the CSR summit organised by US consulate and Indo American Chambers of Commerce. The presentation is much appreciated by the audience and the other 2 panel members, Ms. Liza Nietze of Ashoka USA and Mr. Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Group. In the course of consultation with the US consulate to design the forum on holistic CSR, iCONGO develops an idea to create a forum on CSR with leading media companies and to launch the most responsible companies movement in India with Grant Thornton as audit partners.

aj. iCONGO has also designed the Indian Social Innovation Movement to promote social entrepreneurship in India and is now getting geared to design an education forum and build a certificate course on NGO management, fundraising ethics and strategy, cause related and social marketing and communications

ak. In July 2008, iCONGO partners with ICCR to organise a fundraiser for NGO AHEAD- The Melody of Love, starring Tom Alter, Mantra and Divya Arora

al. In August 2008, iCONGO partners with TiE and various other partners for the TiE Retail Summit. iCONGO also partners with Mam Movies for I Am The Change Film Festival, a unique project where 101 Film makers got together to make Films on 101 Social Causes in 101 hours and with Centre for Civil Society for organising Jeevika- South Asia Livelihood Documentary Film Festival. In the same month iCONGO partners with Indiatimes for the Indiatimes strategy Summit, in Delhi and Mumbai, that features Jack Trout, the International Marketing Guru.

am. In October 2008, iCONGO partners with Art Laureate for organising Anantaa-The Eternal Legends, an art exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and graphics by eminent artists of India. The exhibition is organised to support the activities of Literacy India. We also partner with TiE to support the TiCON, 2008

an. iCONGO partners with Project Globe,2008 to organise a online art auction in support of Future Generation

ao. iCONGO partners and supports Dhoon Foundation to organise their Cultural event Taare Zameen Par to showcase the talents of Special children

ap. iCONGO organises the 3rd Right every Wrong Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar on 26th and 27th November 2008, in association with UNODC, ISS and NNFI. The Conclave focuses on “ELECTORAL REFORMS” and intends to empower stakeholders of the society to debate on the pressing issue of electoral reforms, work out methods of dealing with it at an individual, local, national and international level. The Conclave also led to other movements like NO CRIMINALS & ENGAGE VOTER. iCONGO launches a a mammoth signature campaign to have the GOI, an appeal addressed to the President, Prime Minister and all citizens serving in Government" to announce 26th November as the National Social Justice and Citizen Action Day.

aq.In December 2008, iCONGO partners with TiE Bangalore for their Entrepreneurial Summit. iCONGO also partners with Trinayani to support Triumph Together, a 7 day visual Arts workshop in celebration of World Disability Day, where people with and without different disabilities will come together to experiment and exchange ideas

ar. In Jan 2009, iCONGO organises a three city Conclave (Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore) in association with AUSIB, UNODC, PPI, Omnicom Group and The council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India. The Humane Capitalism Conclave is a forum and platform that promotes holistic CSR by involving responsible CSR practitioners from India and Internationally, to speak about best practices of CSR and Cause Related marketing, where CSR is not just a buzzword, cheque book philanthropy or a cost centre but practiced as a profit centre by using the triple bottom line approach i.e. not just meeting financial but also fulfilling the social and environmental bottom lines. A rating of 100 most Responsible Businesses and Business Leaders is also announced at the Conclave. The most responsible companies and captains of Industry will be a list of people who have used their wealth, power and influence to promote social equity rather than just be listed as the wealthiest or most powerful people.

as.In April 2009, iCONGO forms iCODEVGURUKUL to conduct specialist mentoring workshops for the development sector. It is a unique proposition as, for the first time in India, specialist gurus will give practical fundraising gyan for creating supporter involvement instead of people who don’t have hands on experience, or people from overseas who do not understand the Indian ecosystem which is very different from the US or European matured fundraising ecosystem. Fundraising is often misunderstood in India and we propose to explore various nuances of fundraising, to strengthen the supporter base for various causes

at. On 25th April 2009, iCONGO organises the first practical Fundraising workshop in Delhi, under the aegis of iCODEVGURUKUL. The workshop is organised with specialist Gurus who work hands-on to Plan, Conceptualize, Sell and Manage high profile events. To top it, as a first, all fundraisers and delegates from NGOs are given handholding and assistance by iCONGO to develop a strategy for a successful fundraising event for their organisations

au. In April 2009, iCONGO organises a Fundraiser with Lushin Dubey, Untitled, to raise funds for The Idea Works Foundation to help set up Delhi’s first Medical Transcription Centre for the Blind.

av.In September 2009, iCONGO partners with the UN Information for the WMD (We Must Disarm) online voting campaign- a 12 day campaign from International Day of Peace to International Day of Non- Violence. iCONGO also organises the GOD( Global Oneness Day) Concert with Gautam Ghosh Collective.

aw. In October, 2009 iCONGO organises a workshop in Mumbai, under the aegis of iCODEVGURUKUL. The workshop focuses on Fundraising and Communications Training and is organised in association with Silver Innings and SPJIMR. This workshop is designed to support Fundraisers, CSR Heads, Social Communications Professionals, NGO Directors, Brand Managers,Event Managers & others who are inclined towards organizing fundraising events & functionaries of NGOs from Maharashtra & Mumbai.

ax. The 4th Right every Wrong Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar is organised on 26th and 27th November, 2009, in association with NNFI, PPI, Project Vijay and NFCH (National Foundation for Communal Harmony- an autonomous body under the Ministry of Home Affairs). The Conclave focussed on ‘Confronting The Challenge of Combating Corruption And Related issues’, and placed particular emphasis on the role of citizen action in this context.

ay. In December 2009, iCONGO and Deccan Chronicle launch the Be my Santa Ad campaign in Bangalore to inspire citizen action for the underprivileged children

az. In July, 2009, iCONGO partners with AIESEC as knowledge partners for their Forum- Environ 2009

ba. In July 2010, iCONGO partners with Jamghat(A Group of Street Children) to organise a Fundraiser Theatre performance by the kids- Dulari Bai.

bb. In July 2010 iCONGO and Curtains Up organise The Eco-Business Summit to dwell on inculcating environmentally friendly strategies for a sustainable future in everyday business operations and to learn about the use of energy saving technologies while still keeping a competitive edge.

bc. In August 2010,iCONGO announces KARMAYUGA – RIGHT EVERY WRONG GENERATION, a 40 day period beginning on our Independence day annually, where citizens practice the biggest religion of all “HUMANITY” and contribute whatever little they can to be the change and RIGHT a WRONG in their own TIME and SPACE. Karmayuga is a simply humble concept, where you can RIGHT every WRONG in your own space and time and get nominated for the KARMAVEER CHAKRA instituted in 2008 with the UN. We award the Chakra to our Karmayuga flagbearers at the Karmaveer Puraskaar ceremony on 26th November, 2010

bd. In September 2010, iCONGO partnered with Filmbooth for its latest avatar - "EIGHT". Eight is an International Short Films Festival which is part of the "Stand Up & Make a Noise" Campaign being held in New Delhi.

be. iCONGO also partnered with TiE as Citizen Action Partner in all the events through out the year and supported TiE to make the events like; TiE Retail Summit 2010, Tie Young Entrepreneurs, TiE-Lumis Partners Excellence Awards 2010, TiE Cleantech Special Interest Group (SIG) Event, HR Summit-2010, Leveraging Technology to build scalable business model in Education, TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2010.

bf. iCONGO organises 5th Right every Wrong Conclave and Karmaveer Puraskaar on 26th and 27th November, 2010. The Conclave is organised in association with PPI, GLP and NFCH and focuses on the Theme Global Peace, Oneness and Secular Harmony The awards ceremony also witnesses the launch of ISTC- I SEE THE CHANGE, an initiative by iCONGO to encourage PHILANTHROPY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, where you get involved with a pre-screened credible cause not by JUST GIVING MONEY, but also by being empowered to govern, review, monitor, advice and share reports about the cause dear to your heart

IMPORTANT: the founders of iCONGO have been volunteers by nature and over the years, from a very young age, have been involved as volunteers working with various charities to bridge the gap between people with the ability and desire to be the change and people who have needs and are unserved. They have in the past conceived, planned and executed cutting edge ideas for property events, projects and programs which, amongst various things, includes the Sound of the Sea, Music for Life, Chivas online auctions with eBay to raise awareness and resources for various international NGOs and the Magic Box on Jet airways that has now raised over 9.2 crores in the past 10+ years and involved citizen action from hundreds of thousand people who give an average of Rs. 400 by inserting money in an envelope in their in-flight pouch for underserved children welfare. The power of a functional idea is huge and the founders today invest their time and efforts to enable and empower small & grassroots NGOs (even non members of iCONGO as long as we believe in the credibility and charter of the NGO) to think out of the box, by training and mentoring them for effective fundraising, cause related marketing and social marketing & communications for long terms self reliance sustainability and building social justice by involving citizen action.

The list of milestones can go on but only key elements need to be highlighted and hence abovementioned milestones are illustrative and not exhaustive and more information may be availed on our websites or write to us at info@icongo.in