In Hindi, “Nanhi” means “small” and “Kali” means “flower bud”. We think of young children as small flower buds, or Nanhi Kalis.

• $60 per year for a Nanhi Kali studying in Std. 1 to 5
• $90 per year for a Nanhi Kali studying in Std. 6 to 10

Your donation is used for the education and welfare of your Nanhi kali in two ways: material support such as stationery, books, hygiene material, uniforms, shoes and under clothing; and academic support on the school premises before or after school hours.

The exact breakup of your donation is:

• 45% – Academic support, organizing summer camps, events for parents and community for gender sensitization
• 38% – Provision of uniforms, notebooks, stationery, exam fees, learning material, hygiene material (for girls in class 8 to 10)
• 10% – Advocacy and donor servicing (cost towards mailing Nanhi Kali profiles, progress reports to donor)
• 7% – Administration Costs

While the Boston Chapter of Nanhi Kali does NOT accept donations, we do act as a portal for the Indian Nanhi Kali Project.

If you are making a donation to Nanhi Kali in the United States, your contribution is directed to the US chapter of the Mahindra Foundation.

There are two ways to make your donation: online and by check. If you would like to donate online, please go to to the registration page of our parent organization at www.nanhikali.org. After submitting your registration you will be directed to the donation page which accepts all major US credit cards.

If you would like to mail a check, kindly address it to:

• Mahindra Foundation
• Mr. Kulashekar Raghavan
• 488 Ellis Street
• Mountain View, CA – 94043

The minimum period of sponsorship is 1 year. You can sponsor the education of as many Nanhi kalis as you wish for up to 3 years. There is no commitment to renew sponsorship for your Nanhi kali.

About 60 days after making the donation the sponsor will receive a photograph of his Nanhi kali along with a profile which gives details of her family and living environment. After 6 months, you will receive her first school progress report. After 1 year (towards the end of the sponsorship period), you will receive her second school progress report. In addition, you may receive correspondence in the form of cards and drawings from your Nanhi kali along with the progress reports.

Presently, the only officially recognized Nanhi Kali chapter in the US is the Boston Chapter. If you wish to get involved or start a Nanhi Kali Chapter in your city, please email the Boston Chapter at nkboston@gmail.com.

You may visit the project where your Nanhi kali is being educated. The visit will be organized by the Nanhi Kali Team in India. We encourage you to interact with all the children in a group instead of a one to one interaction with the child. If you wish to visit your Nanhi kali, please email support@nanhikali.org with details.

Let your Nanhi kali know, that you remember her by sending her letters and birthday cards. Post these to the following address and rest assured she will receive them.

• The Nanhi Kali Project
• Mahindra Foundation
• Mr. Kulashekar Raghavan
• 488 Ellis Street
• Mountain View, CA – 94043

Please note that we do not encourage gifts being sent to Nanhi kalis.

Yes, during your sponsorship period you will be the only person sponsoring your Nanhi kali. After the end of the period, you may choose to renew the sponsorship by sending us the renewal amount. However, if the sponsorship amount does not reach us within 2 months of the due date, another mentor will be found for your Nanhi kali. If you contact us after those 2 months and want to continue supporting the program we will assign you a new Nanhi kali.

Yes. Project Nanhi Kali is registered under Mahindra Foundation USA as a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are therefore tax exempt in the USA. Our Tax ID # is 20-8105205. We will send you a copy of the tax exemption certificate along with your receipt once you make your donation.

We do not give the choice of area, region, caste, or creed for selection of Nanhi kalis since our aim is to reach out to every underprivileged girl child in India irrespective of these factors. We have a list of children who are waiting to be sponsored under the Nanhi Kali programme.

Nanhi Kali is currently helping girl children in Maharashtra (Mumbai, Lonavala), Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Paderu, Vishkapatnam, Kakinada), New Delhi Rajasthan (Udaipur), Madhya Pradesh (Sheopur District [Chambal region], Ratlam), Chattisgarh (Kanker [Baster region]), Uttar Pradesh (Ferozabad), and Karnataka (Bangalore).

Nanhi Kalis are selected along the following criteria:

1. Girl children that are enrolled in government schools
2. Girls belonging to the poorest sections of society (with an annual family income less than $300)
3. Girls with illiterate parents
4. Girls belonging to a scheduled caste, scheduled tribes or migrating communities
5. The eldest girl in a family with many siblings
6. Girls from communities where social stereotyping is prevalent (female infanticide, early marriage, etc.)
7. Girls from female headed households

We do not encourage sending gifts as we do not want other children to feel left out. In the event a check is sent as a gift, we will use it to distribute sweets to all the girls in the Nanhi kali’s class.

The Mahindra Foundation considers donors a part of the Nanhi Kali family. It takes measures to ensure that their privacy is always protected. Your personal information will remain with the Mahindra Foundation office and will not be shared with any other institute.

Upon making a contribution donors get a thank you letter and receipt. These include a system generated login id and password. Login details enable sponsors to view their Nanhi kali’s profile and school progress report online on the main Nanhi Kali website: www.nanhikali.org. This account can also be used to renew sponsorship and to sponsor new Nanhi kalis.

In case of changes in personal details, please notify us immediately by emailing support@nanhikali.org. We will make the changes in our database.

Project Nanhi Kali works with CCAvenues for its online payment gateway, as it adheres to high security measures. CCAvenue is registered with VeriSign, the world’s best and most trustworthy Online Authentication Agency. CCAvenues servers are audited by ScanAlert, Inc. Through this CCAvenues ensures that the credit card details shared by users online are safe. For further information please visit www.ccavenues.com.

If you have any problems with making an online donation, please contact Ms. Pragna Khandwala of the resource mobilization team at Nanhi Kali by emailing support@nanhikali.org.