In January 2018 the i-Care Foundation, Pakistan’s first Donor Advised Fund, celebrated its 10 years of service to the nation. As part of the celebrations, the first i-Care Awards Ceremony was held to honor six outstanding organizations that have established themselves as the leaders in providing efficiently and effectively innovative solutions to social problems. The i-Care Awards will be given every year to recognize the contributions made by civil society organizations.
The i-Care Awards were awarded to AMAN Foundation, Family Educational Services Foundation, Green Crescent Trust, Patients’ Aid Foundation, Professional Education Foundation, and Rashid Memorial Welfare Organization.
Chairman of The i-Care Foundation, Mr. Farrokh K. Captain, offered his heartfelt appreciation to all partner organizations for their trust and confidence in i-Care and wished that the collaborative relationships continue to grow further, and to reach an increasing number of vulnerable populations in Pakistan. Mr. Farrokh Captain highlighted the complexities involved in managing a donor advised fund, which are necessary for providing protection to the donors and securing resources for the partner organizations in a most transparent manner. Transparency also demands accountability of partner organizations, and reporting back to the donors of the money provided.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former governor of State Bank of Pakistan, former dean of the Institute of Business Administration, and prominent civil society leader of Pakistan graced the occasion as the chief guest. He praised the role played by i-Care as a trusted bridge between civil society and the Pakistani diaspora, so eager to participate in the country’s overall development. He praised i-Care’s mission to improve the quality of life for underprivileged Pakistanis, achieved through increased philanthropic support offered to deserving charities, so that they are able to improve their capacity for service delivery.
Dr. Ishrat Husain exhorted the i-Care partner organizations to emphasize rigorous organizational development, in order to serve the people better and to develop capacities for both innovations and scaling of best practices. He categorized non-profits in Pakistan into three tiers. First, that have just started with great ideas for addressing social problems and have to demonstrate the proof of their concepts by implementing successful projects. Second tier organizations are those that have successfully proved their concepts but require more financial resources to scale or replicate their success. Finally, the third tier non-profits are those that have matured into robust organizations steadily generating their resources on a continuous path of growth.
