1. When donors want to know if you’ve spent their money ‘wisely’
2. When you are one among 100 nonprofits applying for a INR 2 lakh award
3. What you want to tell your CEO when she agrees to all the inane conditions that a funder lays down for a INR 5 lakh grant
4. When a donor doesn’t want to fund your proposal, but doesn’t know how to say no
5. What you are allowed to spend on staff welfare over a three year period
6. What the government’s thinking, when they realise that you work on advocacy and civil rights issues
7. When you have three days left to meet your annual targets
8. When you raise money from a donor who allows you to spend only 5% on overheads
9. When the donor you’ve been wooing for over a year, meets you at a conference and fails to recognise you
10. When the government cancels your FCRA licence
11. How your funder’s auditors describe themselves
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* Dhruvank has lost count of the number of times he has watched Sholay, and thinks there are life lessons to be learnt from what he considers the greatest movie of all time.
Disclaimer: The author is related to a team member at IDR.