Hyderabad’s crowdfunding campaigns take over the world

It seems like Hyderabadis are making a mark at the global level in any way they can. The recent accolade comes from crowdfunding platform Milaap.org that revealed that campaign organisers from the city are effectively utilising social media to reach out to potential donors across the globe, and succeeding in their attempt to do so.

The announcement came at a conference in the city on Tuesday in which Mayukh Choudhury, co-founder and CEO of the Bangalore-based platform shared the information. “Telengana has a huge diasporic community, which is willing to “give back” to the people; this is a key reason behind the remarkable support for Hyderbad-based campaigns amongst the NRI community, particularly from the USA,” he said.

“A strikingly unique factor about fundraisers from Hyderabad is how it has successfully drawn the attention of celebrities from the State; they have not only encouraged more donors by sharing fundraisers on social media, but have also directly contributed towards causes they care about,” he said.

“For example, 19-year-old Amal suffering from a rare blood disorder needed Rs 25 lakh for his treatment last month. The fundraiser was shared on Twitter and Facebook by actor Nani. Amal’s campaign also received contributions from other celebrities of Tollywood like Lakshmi Manchu, Vijay Deverakonda and Mohana Krishna Indraganti. It is incredible that over 8,300 people shared Amal’s campaign on social media till date,” added Choudhury.

A third of the fundraisers from Hyderabad are set-up for medical procedures, and most of those are emergency cases. Keeping this in mind, Milaap has established partnerships with hospitals from where patients frequently set-up fundraisers. Such partnerships not only add to the credibility of campaigns, but also speed up the verification process of the need.

The list includes major hospitals like Global Hospitals India, Apollo Hospital, Care Hospitals, Citizens Specialty Hospital, Omni Super Speciality Hospital. “It was only a few months back that Milaap.org was looking for a way to become more accessible to those with limited digital access, but in need of funds. Here, we have a city, where people themselves have come forward to introduce many to this relatively new concept.

Hyderabad has, indeed embraced, not just the idea of crowdfunding, but Milaap as a platform as well. People have been setting up fundraisers for not only close relatives, but also friends, colleagues, community, environment and pets,” he said.

“If anyone has a requirement of funds for personal and social causes, they can easily set up campaigns by visiting our website or sending a WhatsApp message on +91- 702-289-966 or email at [email protected] for guidance to set up a campaign,” he said.