1. Scope
1.1 These terms apply to every donation to The Saath Foundation ("Saath Foundation") through the Site or otherwise, including one-time gifts, monthly giving, Hold a Hand sponsorship, Saathi Circles, fundraisers and gifts from abroad. They add to the Terms of Use.
1.2 "You" means the donor. For a Saathi Circle, each member accepts these terms, and the Circle's organiser accepts them for the Circle.
1.3 You must be 18 or over to give, and you confirm this at checkout. If we find that a gift came from a minor, we may return it to the parent or guardian.
2. A donation is a gift to Saath Foundation
2.1 Every donation is a voluntary gift to Saath Foundation, a public charitable trust. It is not payment for goods or services. You receive nothing of market value in return. Updates, reports, the Rupee Trail and any Meet Your Saathi visit are part of how Saath Foundation reports on its programs, not purchased benefits.
2.2 Donations are received only by Saath Foundation, into Saath Foundation's bank accounts: the domestic account for domestic gifts, and the FCRA account at State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch, for foreign contribution. Saath Foundation never passes cash or transfers to a child or family. Saath Foundation pays vendors (schools, shops, service providers) directly.
2.3 A donation you mark for a child's need, a program or a fund is a restricted gift. Saath Foundation will use it for that purpose, subject to sections 4 and 5. Unmarked gifts go to the general fund and are used where Saath Foundation's trustees decide.
2.4 Amounts. Amounts are shown in rupees (₹) and recorded to the paisa. We do not round your gift.
2.5 Records cannot be edited. Every confirmed donation is recorded as a permanent entry in Saath Foundation's ledger. Corrections and refunds are made by adding a new entry that references the original, never by changing or deleting it.
2.6 No refunds. Donations are non-refundable. The only exceptions are: (a) duplicate or mistaken payments, which we ask you to report within 30 days, and which we still return, once proven, if you tell us later; (b) chargebacks and payment disputes decided by your bank, card network or UPI (NPCI); and (c) money Saath Foundation cannot lawfully accept, which we return to its source (see section 9.7 and Refund & Cancellation Policy 9.5). The Refund & Cancellation Policy sets these out.
3. Hold a Hand is sponsorship, not adoption
3.1 Hold a Hand is not adoption. In Indian law, adoption permanently makes a child the lawful child of the adoptive parents, and it can happen only through the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and CARA's regulations (JJ Act ss.2(2), 56). Giving or receiving a child for adoption outside that process is a criminal offence (s.80). If you want to adopt, please visit CARA at cara.wcd.gov.in.
3.2 Hold a Hand is financial sponsorship of a child's listed needs, such as school fees, books, meals, or health & care, delivered through Saath Foundation.
3.3 Sponsoring gives you no legal, custodial, parental, guardianship or decision-making rights over any child, and no right to contact, meet or receive information about a child except as these terms and the Visit Policy allow.
3.4 Hold a Hand is Saath Foundation's own program. It is not the State's sponsorship scheme under the JJ Act, and it does not involve a District Child Protection Unit or Child Welfare Committee.
3.5 One child may have many Saathis. You may fund a need fully or in part. Your support does not make a child "yours", and we will not describe it that way.
3.6 A child's support never depends on your continued giving, on visits, on gifts, or on how the child behaves or responds. If you stop, Saath Foundation will try to keep the child's listed needs funded from other Saathis or the general fund.
4. Surplus: when a need gets more than it needs
4.1 Funding for a need closes when it is fully funded, counting only confirmed money. A pending wire transfer holds a reservation but is not counted as confirmed.
4.2 If more money arrives than the need requires (for example two payments complete at once, or a cost turns out lower), the extra is handled as follows:
4.3 The surplus rule is shown at checkout before you pay. It is the same for domestic and foreign gifts, except that foreign contribution always stays in the FCRA ledger. For a foreign gift to a child, the purpose we record is the education, nutrition and care of children supported under Saath Foundation's Hold a Hand program, first towards the child or need you chose, with any surplus going to the same child's other needs, then to other children on Hold a Hand, then to Saath Foundation's general FCRA fund. For a foreign gift to a program, any surplus goes to Saath Foundation's general FCRA fund. So every step in 4.2 stays within the purpose your gift was received for.
5. If a child leaves the program
5.1 Children leave for many good reasons: they finish school, move city, return to family, leave a partner home, or the family no longer wants support. Occasionally a child leaves for reasons we cannot share.
5.2 When a child leaves:
- (a) the child's profile is unpublished at once;
- (b) we tell the child's Saathis that the child is no longer in the program. For the child's privacy we do not give the reason, where the child went or how to reach them;
- (c) money already spent on the child stays spent and remains visible in your Rupee Trail;
- (d) confirmed money not yet spent goes to the next child on Hold a Hand, the child who has been waiting longest for support, or, if no child is waiting, to Saath Foundation's general fund in the same book, as in 4.2. You see the move in your Rupee Trail;
- (e) monthly giving linked to the child pauses automatically. We ask whether you want to support another child, a program or the general fund, or to cancel. Nothing is charged until you choose, except as you have told us in advance;
- (f) staff explain the change to the child. Your sponsorship ending is never presented to the child as your decision alone.
5.3 Donations are non-refundable, and section 5 does not give a right to a refund. See the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
6. The Rupee Trail and the no-contact rule
6.1 What you see. Inside your login, for each gift, the Rupee Trail shows: the date and amount; each allocation of your money to a payment Saath Foundation made (vendor name, category, date paid, amount, payment reference); and the unspent balance. A child's school is named only within the limits in 6.2; otherwise it shows as "a school in [district]". Where your money moved to another child under section 4 or 5, you see the amounts and categories, not that child's vendors. Where we have added it, you also see a copy of the bill for that payment, with anything that could identify a child or a family covered. The original invoice is not shown. Public pages show category totals only.
6.2 Who sees it. You see the vendors paid from your own gifts. School names are shown only for children living with their families, only to that child's Saathis who have passed Saath Foundation's identity check, and only with the guardian's consent; never for a child living in a partner home, never for a child in any legal proceeding, and never to a Saathi who has met the child at a visit or a Saath Milan. Every view is recorded in an audit log with your account, the time and what was shown.
6.3 The no-contact rule. Vendor details are shared with you in confidence, only so you can see how your money was used. You must not, directly or through anyone else:
- (a) approach, visit, phone, message, email or write to the child's school, or any of its staff, about the child or to find the child;
- (b) approach or contact the partner home or its staff about the child, except through Saath Foundation;
- (c) approach, contact, follow, photograph, or try to meet the child or the child's family, online or offline, outside Saath Foundation's supervised processes;
- (d) try to find the child's surname, address, school, class or timetable, or the family's contact details, from the Rupee Trail or anywhere else;
- (e) send money, gifts or messages to the child or family except through Saath Foundation's moderated channels;
- (f) share, screenshot, post or disclose any vendor detail that relates to a child, including to friends, family or social media.
6.4 If the rule is broken. If we have reasonable grounds to believe you have broken 6.3, we will:
- (a) suspend your account at once, including the Rupee Trail, messaging and any Meet Your Saathi eligibility;
- (b) file a safeguarding report with Saath Foundation's Safeguarding Officer, Akansha Guptaa, who will share only what is needed, in good faith, with the people responsible for the child's safety;
- (c) where the conduct may be an offence, or the law requires it (for example under POCSO), report it to the police, the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the Child Welfare Committee;
- (d) after review, either reinstate the account with a written warning, or close it permanently.
Your past donations are not refunded because of a suspension. Your tax receipts remain valid.
6.5 If you are approached. If a child, family member, school or home contacts you outside Saath Foundation, do not respond beyond politely saying you can talk only through Saath Foundation. Tell the Safeguarding Officer the same day.
6.6 School names. School names are shown only within the limits in 6.2: to a Saathi whose own gift was for that child, who has verified their ID and accepted these terms, with the guardian's consent, never for a child who lives in a partner home or is in a legal proceeding, and never to a Saathi who has met the child. They are switched on with the platform setting saath.trail.showSchoolName, and Saath Foundation may switch them off again for all donors at any time, without notice, for example on legal advice or after a safeguarding concern. Where hidden, the school appears as "a school in [district]".
6.7 Accuracy. The Rupee Trail reflects Saath Foundation's books. Figures are provisional until audited, and allocation follows Saath Foundation's published rule (oldest confirmed money first, against the need it was given for).
7. Anonymous or public name
7.1 By default you appear to the public, and to other Saathis, as "Anonymous Saathi".
7.2 You may choose to show your first name, full name, or a name you choose (for example "The Mehta family") on supporter counts, Saathi Circles and fundraisers. You can change this at any time. Changes apply going forward.
7.3 Your name is never shown to the child or family unless you agree to it for a specific message or visit, and then only your first name.
7.4 Anonymous to the public is not anonymous to Saath Foundation. To keep proper records under Indian tax law, and so that your gift is not treated as an "anonymous donation", we record the name and address of every online donor. We may decline or return a gift where we cannot.
8. Tax receipts (domestic)
8.1 Saath Foundation holds approval under section 80G, now section 133 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (URN AASTS4419F26AA01, valid from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029), and registration AASTS4419F26AA02 under the charitable-trust provisions (formerly 12A/12AB).
8.2 We issue an instant receipt after your payment is confirmed. For a tax deduction you must give your PAN and address. If you have no PAN, write to us before you give. We report eligible donations to the Income Tax Department on Form 113 and send you the Form 114 certificate by 31 May after the financial year.
8.3 The deduction is available only under the old tax regime, at 50% subject to the qualifying limit. Cash above ₹2,000 and in-kind gifts are not deductible. See the 80G / Section 133 information page. Saath Foundation does not give tax advice.
9. Giving from abroad: FCRA declarations
9.1 Who counts as a foreign source. Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 ("FCRA"), what matters is citizenship, not where you live:
- Indian citizens (including NRIs) giving from personal savings through normal banking channels: a domestic donation. You give through the domestic route.
- OCI and PIO cardholders and foreign citizens: a foreign contribution, even if paid in rupees from an Indian account. You must give through the FCRA route.
9.2 Saath Foundation holds FCRA registration number 236578456. Foreign contribution is received only in Saath Foundation's FCRA account at State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch, and is never mixed with domestic money.
9.3 Declarations you make at checkout:
- (a) "I am an Indian citizen" or "I am an OCI or PIO cardholder, or a foreign citizen";
- (b) if an Indian citizen living abroad: my Indian passport number, and "This donation is from my personal savings, sent through normal banking channels";
- (c) if a foreign source: my full name, address, country, nationality, and passport or ID details, and the purpose of the gift;
- (d) for everyone: "I confirm the information above is true. I understand that a false declaration may break Indian law, including the FCRA, and that Saath Foundation may return my donation."
9.4 We keep your declaration with the donation record and report foreign contributions to the Ministry of Home Affairs as the FCRA requires.
9.5 Gifts through the FCRA route usually do not receive an 80G / section 133 receipt. Most donors abroad have no Indian taxable income, so you receive an FCRA acknowledgement receipt. If you file an Indian income-tax return, tell us your PAN before you give and we will check whether we can report your gift on Form 113. Your own country's tax rules may differ. Saath Foundation does not promise any tax benefit abroad.
9.6 Wire transfers. For a gift by SWIFT or wire, we reserve the amount against the need for 14 days and give you a unique reference. The gift counts only when the bank confirms the credit. If it arrives after the reservation expires, the surplus rule in 4.2 applies.
9.7 We may refuse or return any gift that we believe may breach the FCRA, including where a declaration appears to be false, or the money appears to come from a source that may not give to Indian NGOs.
10. Monthly giving
10.1 You can pause, change or cancel monthly giving at any time in your account. Cancelling stops future debits only; debits already made are not refunded, except a debit taken after you cancelled, which we return. Details are in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
10.2 We will never pre-tick a monthly-giving box. Any contribution to Saath Foundation's running costs is a separate, optional line with a default of zero.
11. Meet Your Saathi
Giving does not entitle you to meet a child. Visits follow the Visit Policy and Visitor Code of Conduct, only at a venue Saath Foundation hires for that event, and only if the child and guardian agree each time.
12. Corporate and CSR giving
CSR contributions follow a separate written agreement. Money a company spends as CSR under section 135 of the Companies Act cannot also be claimed as a deduction under section 133. For CSR grants we issue an acknowledgement and utilisation certificates as the CSR agreement sets out, not a section 133 receipt. Logo placement or branding in return for a gift may change its tax and GST character. Please speak to us first.
13. Changes and contact
We may update these terms. The version at the time of your gift applies to that gift, except that sections 6 and 11 (child safety) always apply in their latest form. Questions: help@thesaathfoundation.com.