HYDERABAD: Making a difference to society is probably most gratifying for many. But making this a way of life is what three 26-year-olds have been lauded for. Meet Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma and Sarang Bobade — the co-founders of Hyderabad-based NGO DonateKart — who have made it to the Forbes India 30 Under 30 list.
“The biggest challenge of giving is what’s being donated often doesn’t match ground requirements... So far, over one million donors have contributed `150 crore worth of donations to 1,000 NGOs (via DonateKart),” reads the description of the trio and their initiative on the Forbes India website.
Anil, the brain behind DonateKart, got the idea of starting it in 2015 -- when floods ravaged Chennai and he was volunteering in the city with NGO Gunj. “It was the worst floods Chennai had ever seen. The experience taught me that a lot of people are willing to donate and the job of a volunteer was to distribute the donations. But, when I actually started to help the victims on the ground, I found that there was a mismatch between what was being donated and what the necessities were,” he says.
With this thought, Anil and Sandeep, both graduates of NIIT-Nagpur, got down to creating a platform that could list out the requirements, accept donations accordingly and distribute them to the needy. “We started to accept funds, work with vendors and deliver the essentials to NGOs,” Anil explains.
Sarang joined them a year later as the chief operating officer (COO), but was later elevated to a co-founder position. Finally, DonateKart started full-fledged operations in 2016. Today, it raises donations for over 1,000 NGOs.
It was during the pandemic that the initiative gained steam. “The culture of donating increased during the pandemic. We helped villagers and migrant workers in the first wave, while the second wave was all about addressing the acute shortage of oxygen cylinders. We raised donations, but transporting the essentials to the needy during lockdown was a challenge. When it came to sourcing oxygen cylinders, we had to get in touch with Chinese vendors. This was tough too,” recalls Sandeep.
At the end of the day, their hard work paid off. MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao took to Twitter recently to congratulate the trio. “It feels great to be recognised. Receiving a compliment from KTR meant a lot for us. We feel motivated. Now, we want to inspire young minds to step up and volunteer,” says Sandeep.
Sarang believes that their success story can bring a change in society. “It is a rollercoaster ride and every day is a new challenge. We have a great team of 75 employees. We see ourselves as a market leader in a retail-giving space. When it comes to giving, DonateKart should be the solution. In future, people should see only two ways of giving — one is through cash and the other donate via DonateKart,” he says.
The three friends have built an e-commerce of giving, where one does not donate money, but ‘shops’ for what NGOs list as their requirements. DonateKart procures and delivers it, providing the giver with delivery details, according to Forbes India
Anil Kumar Reddy, Sandeep Sharma and Sarang Bobade, the co-founders of Hyderabad-based DonateKart, have made it to the Forbes India 30 Under 30 list. The 26-year-olds speak to CE about their journey so far and how the pandemic has strengthened the culture of donating