Shobha Narayan's take on Donations, Child sex offenders and Snehalaya

Shoba Narayan writes in her recent article in Live Mint

" When you donate to your favorite charity, don’t do so anonymously. Put down your name and a number. Tell the world, not because you want to brag but because it will spur others to give "

She goes on to say: 

... Putting your name and a number beside a charity’s name instantly gives it credibility and subliminally increases the amount of other donor cheques. It will cause others to say, “Oh, Ramya gave a lakh to Vanchit Vikas. Maybe I should give at least Rs. 10,000 instead of Rs. 5,000, especially since I am from Pune.”
On the flip side, charitable organizations should persuade donors to allow them to put down names and amounts. Rather than releasing a bald list of donor names without any accompanying amount, the NGO donor list should look like this: “Mrs Kesliwal: Rs. 1 lakh; Ms Archana: Rs. 2,000; Mr R. Jhunjhunwala: Rs. 10 crore; Mr Anand: Rs. 700.” Anonymous donations have less of an impact because when people are considering a charity, they want to know who else gave, and how much".


This is what she had to tell about Snehalaya
" Snehalaya, goes where angels fear to tread and confronts the basest of human instincts pretty much on a daily basis. It comforts children whose innocence has been destroyed, and works to rehabilitate prostitutes with compassion"


In the article, Shoba whole heartedly praises the efforts of volunteers and social workers who dared to take on the child sex offenders and fight the legal battle to get them to conviction. 
"2,500 other fearless people, including social activist Anna Hazare, and local women’s activists groups, marched with Snehalaya to bring these criminals to book. She writes that  child sex offenders are the lowest of the low"


You can read the full article here
http://www.livemint.com/articles/2010/11/04181120/Donating-this-Diwali-Let-the.html