Hold a Hand — sponsor a child's schooling, meals and care, fully or in part
Hold a Hand. Change a path.
एक हाथ थामिए, एक राह बदलिए।
Stand beside one child, wherever they live in India. Pay for their whole year, or for a single need like this term's books. You'll see which needs you funded, what's still left, and where every rupee went.
Registered in Delhi, working across India · 12A AASTS4419F26AA02 · 80G (now Section 133) AASTS4419F26AA01 · CSR-1 CSR00538908 · FCRA 236578456 · See our registrations
One child. Real needs. Your choice.
Every child in Hold a Hand has a list of real needs for the year: school fees, books and stationery, a uniform, meals, a share of their care costs, health & care, and digital access. Each need has a price and a "₹X to go" bar.
Give once, or every month. Other Saathis can fund the same child, so a list is often shared by several people.
You choose how much of that list to carry:
- Hold a whole hand. Fund every need on the child's list for the year.
- Fund one need. Pick a single item, like a school uniform or a term's fees.
- Give an amount you choose. It goes to the needs you pick, in the order you pick them.
The children we support live in registered partner shelter homes, or with families going through a hard time. Saath Foundation doesn't run homes. We work with registered homes run by government or by other organisations, and we get the home's or the Child Welfare Committee's permission before any child's profile appears here.
This is sponsorship. It is not adoption.
Holding a hand means paying for a child's listed needs. It gives you no legal rights over the child, and the child doesn't come to live with you. Adoption in India is a legal process run by CARA under the Juvenile Justice Act.
How Hold a Hand works
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1. Meet a child
Browse profiles by age, state and district, or type of need. Each profile shows a first name or chosen name, an age band, a district and state, what the child enjoys, and what they need this year.
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2. Choose what to fund
The whole year, one need, or an amount you choose. One-time or monthly.
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3. Pay only Saath Foundation
Your money comes to The Saath Foundation. We pay the school, the bookshop or the uniform shop ourselves, and record every payment against the need you funded.
4. See where your ₹ went
Sign in to see your Rupee Trail: each payment made from your gift, the vendor's name, the date and the amount, plus anything still held for that need.
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5. Stay beside them
Get progress updates from our team. After 12 months, and once you've come to a Saath Milan, you can ask to Meet Your Saathi at a venue Saath Foundation hires for that event.
What your gift can do
Monthly giving is the default, because children's needs come every month. You can pause, change or cancel from your account at any time.
Monthly UPI AutoPay works for amounts up to ₹15,000 a month without you approving each debit.
Where your money goes, rupee by rupee
You pay Saath Foundation. Saath Foundation pays the vendors. Nothing is sent as cash to a child or a family.
When you sign in, your Rupee Trail shows each payment made from your gift: the vendor's name, what it was for, the date paid, the amount and the payment reference. If part of your gift hasn't been spent yet, you'll see that too.
If a need is overfunded, or can't be met
If more comes in than a child's listed need, the extra goes first to the same child's other open needs, then to the next child on Hold a Hand, the one who has been waiting longest for support. If a child leaves the program, any unspent balance goes to that next child. You'll see the transfer in your Rupee Trail.
Children stay protected
- Public profiles show a first or chosen name, an age band and a district. Never a surname, a school, a home or a street.
- A child's real photo never appears on the public site. Here you see only labelled illustrations. A child's Saathis may see an approved photo in their reports, when the guardian's written consent allows it.
- There's no direct contact with a child. Messages go through our team, and meetings happen only at a Saath Milan or a supervised Meet Your Saathi visit at a venue Saath Foundation hires for that event.
- A child's support never depends on visits, gifts or how they behave.
Tax receipts
Giving from outside India? Your gift comes through our FCRA route. Indian tax deductions don't apply to gifts through the FCRA route.
Questions
Is this adoption?
No. Hold a Hand is sponsorship: you pay for a child's listed needs. It gives no legal rights over the child. If you want to adopt, the legal process in India runs through CARA (cara.wcd.gov.in). Our guide explains the difference.
What's the smallest amount I can give?
₹100. It goes to the need you choose, and the "₹X to go" bar moves straight away.
How long does a sponsorship last?
A child's needs are listed for a cycle of a school year or 12 months. Monthly gifts continue until you pause or cancel. We'll remind you before a new cycle starts.
Can other people fund the same child?
Yes. A child can be supported by more than one Saathi. The profile shows how many are holding that child's hand, never who they are.
What happens if a child leaves the program?
Any unspent balance goes to the next child on Hold a Hand, the one who has been waiting longest for support. We'll tell you, show the transfer in your Rupee Trail, and invite you to hold another hand if you'd like to.
Can I meet the child?
Yes, in a supervised way. In your first year you can come to a Saath Milan, our group day at a venue Saath Foundation hires for that event. After 12 months of sponsorship and one Saath Milan, you can ask for an individual visit, also at a venue Saath Foundation hires for that event, with staff and the child's guardian present.
Can I send a gift or money to the child?
Please don't send cash or transfers, ever. At a visit, you may bring one new gift worth up to ₹500 that the family can share. Our staff hand it over.
Will I learn which school the child goes to?
If your gift pays school fees, your Rupee Trail shows the school as the vendor, because we show every vendor we paid. It's visible only to you, after ID verification, only for a child who lives with their family and whose guardian has agreed, and every view is logged. For a child in a partner home, it shows as "a school in its district". Our donor terms forbid contacting or visiting the school. Breaking this rule suspends your account and is reported to our Safeguarding Officer.
Can I stop or change my monthly gift?
Yes, in one tap from your account: pause, change the amount, or cancel. No phone call needed.
How do I know this is genuine?
Our registrations are listed on every donate page, our reports and accounts are public, and your Rupee Trail shows each vendor we paid from your gift.
