Philanthropy has reported one of the biggest transformations in India in the last couple of decades.

Over the last few years, Kolkata Gives has represented the coming together of the donor who seeks credible NGOs to donate to and deserving organised fund-seekers who work with the less-privileged.

Kolkata Gives is an NGO with a difference. One, it is a networking organisation where much of the institutional 'intelligence' is embedded into names and numbers stored on cellphones; perceived gaps are addressed through WhatsApp messages sent out to raise resources in minutes. Two, it encourages donors to give directly to NGOs. Result: enhanced assurance among donors. Three, by engaging closely with NGOs, Kolkata Gives has evolved into a clearing house of ideas, initiatives and causes; it advises donors on where their disbursements would be best utilised. Four, Kolkata Gives has graduated into an effective first reference point for NGOs; when Apne Aap hosted Ashley Judd in Calcutta in January, the NGO founder Ruchira Gupta turned to Kolkata Gives for fund-raising assistance.

The 2017 Kolkata Gives annual fund-raiser, the fourth in its series, is being organised on Sunday at Hotel Park Plaza Ballygunge (11am to 6pm). The event will see NGOs explaining their story and funding gap, making it possible to attract funding commitments.

The big question a donor is likely to ask: will my donation be effective? Here is the answer: Ms. A (79-year-old spinster) was alone, depressed, and ill, until NGO ARDSI engaged with her. HIV+ Abhik Pal and his mother Shyamali were ejected from their neighbourhood; NGO Anandaghar worked with government institutions to rehabilitate Abhik. Rozy Khatoon lives alongside the Park Circus railway tracks but studies in Class III at Our Lady Queen of the Mission School, thanks to funding mobilised by NGO Tiljala SHED; Poonam Gupta graduated from the pavements to being employed by Charnock Hospital after intervention by NGO Calcutta Social Project; widowed Parbati Halder sustains a family of 10 by rearing ducks following intervention of NGO Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha; Neeraj Jha from a less-privileged family bagged a seat in IIT Kharagpur thanks to NGO Disha Foundation; pavement sattu vendor Ranjit Shaw was able to place his son in a boarding school completely free.

It is your turn to make a difference to the NGOs who make a difference to the world of Bengal's less-privileged. One person at a time.