Food & Cash Transfer
The Food & Cash Transfer Fund also known as the "Portfolio" uses your donations to fund the activities of a list of NGOs and grassroots volunteers that have been vetted by Nourish Bangladesh. It includes both non-profit organizations and local grassroots volunteers. Donations to the general fund are currently used for cash transfers and dry food distribution to help the economically disadvantaged all across Bangladesh.
What is the Portfolio? The Portfolio is a list of NGOs and grassroots volunteer groups that have been vetted by Nourish Bangladesh. It includes both non-profit organizations and local grassroots volunteer groups that spontaneously come together during disasters to fundraise and help those in need. Grassroots volunteers are usually convened and led by a team leader working as an independent unit but sometimes work as contractors for established NGOs. Most successful volunteer groups in Bangladesh, also more likely to be vetted by us, have a history of helping out during disasters - coming together during disasters and disbanding afterwards. The volunteers are a diverse mixture of youth and adults from different occupations. They tend to have very little overhead costs compared to established NGOs although it is usually not zero. We have so far vetted the following NGOs and volunteer groups:
Non-Profit Organizations: BRAC USA Inc, JAAGO Foundation Inc, B Desh Foundation Inc, Thrive, Bidyanondo, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Action Against Hunger, Al Zahoor Welfare Foundation
Grassroots Volunteers led by: Mithun Das, Azdani N Bari, Muhtasim A Zisan
Why invest in the Portfolio instead of the best NGO and/or Volunteer Group? Our research suggests that there is no such thing as the best NGO or volunteer group. Trust that we have a healthy appetite for generating quantitative scales that reduces multidimensional measures into a single rank ordered scale. But we strongly believe that such an attempt would be misguided. Every rank reducing algorithm has certain assumptions about reducibility which we are quite certain does not apply here. In simple terms, we believe that all NGOs and volunteers have their strengths and weaknesses. Based on our preliminary research, we have reached the conclusion that given our objective of fighting hunger, bigger NGOs tend to be low risk, low pay-off options while the smaller NGOs and grassroot volunteer groups tend to be higher risk, higher pay-off options. Thus, after vetting each organization, we intend to split your donations between the different NGOs and grassroots volunteer groups.
What is the timeline for vetting and disbursing funds? We have been officially fundraising since June 1st, 2020. We make disbursements from the portfolio every 2 to 3 months. So far we have vetted more than a dozen NGOs and volunteer groups. We may disburse your donations gradually over a period of several months to alleviate the problem of what practitioners in the field call “donor fatigue.”
How will the funds be spent? We have very specific purposes for these funds. The funds will be used to fight hunger and provide cash support for livelihood amidst natural and man-made disasters (e.g., Covid-19 pandemic, flood, cyclones, lockdowns, communal violence, fire, etc.). We send the money to NGOs and volunteer groups that do predominantly food relief and cash relief.