The accounts are on this page
A small trust doing two things in eleven schools. What we received last year, what we spent it on and what it cost to run us are all below, in figures rather than in a story.
Two things, in eleven schools
A trust doing two things properly is worth more than one doing six. When we are asked to add a third, this is the paragraph we send.
A midday meal, five days
Cooked in two kitchens we run and delivered to eleven schools. Not outsourced to a caterer, because the day a caterer cuts a cost we would be the last to know.
Books and a bag, once a year
Bought to the list the school actually issues rather than to a standard set. It costs more and it means nothing is bought twice.
What we do not do
Uniforms, buildings, scholarships or health camps. All four have been asked of us and all four would mean doing five things at half the attention.
Last year, in full
Audited and filed. There is no figure on this page about what a single rupee achieves, because we cannot evidence one.
What happens after you give
Four steps, and the fourth is the one nobody asks about and everybody should.
A receipt, the same week
Stating the amount, the date and the trust’s registration details as they stand. It is a receipt for a gift — what you can do with it at tax time depends on registrations we will tell you about honestly rather than imply.
Into one account
There is no restricted fund and no programme you can earmark. A small trust with earmarked funds spends its time on allocation rather than on cooking.
Spent within the year
We hold about three months of running costs and no more. A trust sitting on two years of reserves is a trust asking for money it does not currently need.
Published, whether or not it went well
The annual note names what did not work. Two years ago a kitchen closed for five weeks and the note says so, at the top, before the good news.
Asked by people about to give
Four answers. The first is the one every trust is asked.
How much of my money reaches the work?
Last year, about eighty-nine per cent — and the remaining eleven paid two kitchen managers and an accountant, without whom there would be no work to reach. A trust claiming ninety-nine is either very large or not counting somebody’s salary.
Can I visit?
Any weekday, at either kitchen, without arranging it first. We would rather you saw it unannounced — an arranged visit shows you a kitchen that knew you were coming.
Can I fund a specific school?
No. Everything goes into one account and is spent where it is needed that term. Earmarking sounds like accountability and is mostly administration, which on a trust this size is a person’s week.
Do you take donations from abroad?
No. Accepting foreign contribution requires a registration we do not hold, and a trust that takes it without one is committing an offence rather than bending a rule. If you are outside India, give to something local to you.
Telephone the office, or come to a kitchen
There is no form on this page and no card payment. A trust this small takes a bank transfer and issues a receipt, and the office will talk you through both.