FAQ

TEAM stands for Team For Educational Activities in Motherland

We found that in India government run village elementary schools seem to be getting very less aids compared to the high schools. Most of the village elementary schools seem to be neglected condition, poorly maintained and lacking even very basic facilities. Hence we end up in helping them more. The school projects can be carried out at:

* The elementary school where you studied.

* The elementary school in your native village.

* The elementary school of the village from where you have your roots and ancestry.

* Help any government run Panchayat Union Elementary school in your native place (that you randomly choose).

* If you live in a town or city, the Municipality Elementary school or Corporation elementary school can be aided

To promote the development of government run elementary schools in villages namely Panchayat Union Elementary School . To also the promote development of government run elementary schools in towns(Municipality Elementary school)and in cities (Corporation Elementary School)which may lack the most basic facilities.
* To provide basic and essential facilities for the school children in these schools, such as giving stainless steel water drum, plywood screen partitions, steel benches and steel desks, ceiling fans, visual aids such as maps and charts, blackboards, steel racks, steel bureau for the school office.
* To encourage, facilitate and enable Resident and Non Resident Indians of Indian origin to donate essential and basic things to a government run elementary school in India that is situated in their own village / town / city.

Government run schools in India lack the most basic and essential facilities. Few examples are:
1. The children sit on the floor. There are no benches or desks.
2. Three or four classes are conducted in one big hall without any dividing screen partitions. The schools do not have adequate number of blackboards.
3. The teachers do not have adequate visual aids like globes, geography maps and science charts.
4. The school office does not have steel bureaus or steel racks.
5. The classrooms are hot and do not have fans.
6. The classrooms do not have water drums to keep drinking water for the children.

BENCH: In most of the village elementary schools the children do not sit on a bench . They sit on the floor.
* Floors are usually broken and uneven. Concrete, sand, and stones are continuously loosening out from the floor on which they sit.
* On rainy days the school children walk with bare feet in the outside puddles and slush and enter the classroom with their wet, dirty , muddy legs, make the floor moist, dirty, muddy and then they sit on the same floor.
* Its painful and tiring for the children to sit on the rough floor continuously for about 6 hours a day, everyday.
* Sitting down with folded knees and with their bony ankles continuously rubbing against the coarse floor is painful.
* Sitting at a lower level as the floor, their neck gets exhausted when they have to constantly look up at the teachers face who is standing or at the blackboard which is at a higher level.
DESK: Writing in the notebooks without a desk to put the notebooks on is also very difficult. These unfortunate small children keep their notebooks on their laps or in between their laps, or on the floor in front of them when they write, do math, or draw. Plywood screen partition: Majority of village elementary schools do not have separate classrooms for each class. In one big hall, three classes or sometimes four classes are held simultaneously. There is lot of mixing of noises from all the three or four classes. The students are unable to hear and listen to what their own teacher says. The teachers find it difficult to teach .This is a frustrating situation for both the teachers and the students.
VISUAL AIDS: The classroom walls are bare and plain without any charts and maps to be used as visual aids for learning. They do not have globes, world maps , India maps, State maps, Science charts.
BLACKBOARDS: In some schools blackboards are not functional. The teachers adjust for many years with the blackboard that does not write well. Sometimes the number of blackboards is inadequate. For a total of five classes, some schools will have only two or three blackboards. It is difficult for two teachers to share a blackboard.
STAINLESS STEEL WATER DRUM: In most villages there is sufficient water supply, but the village elementary school does not have proper and adequate water drums to store drinking water for the school children. The village school children are very poor to purchase and own a plastic water bottle that will enable them to bring water from their homes. Without drinking water in the school the children remain thirsty, hot and dry for the entire day.
CEILING FAN: Most of the schools have asbestos roofs for the classrooms. Under the asbestos roof the classroom becomes very hot during February, March, April, June, July, and August. It is very difficult for both the teachers and the students to be inside the hot room for about six hours a day.
ESSENTIALS FOR SCHOOL OFFICE: In some schools there is no steel rack to stack school registers. Registers are now piled up on the floor in the rooms corner and on broken benches. There is no steel bureau (with lock and key) to safeguard important school records, visual aids like globe and maps. The Principal’s table does not have 2 more extra chairs for visitors to sit during school visits. Visitors to the school are usually given a wooden box to sit as there are no extra chairs in the school.

Yes, you can provide basic facilities to multiple schools. But make sure you select elementary schools.

FoT means “Friends of TEAM” in India.
• So far, LPC did TEAM projects in member’s native.
• Usually, member’s parents did act as a “LPC – Local Project Coordinator” to execute project in India.
• In the above model, only member’s parents are involved in executing the projects, not the local community in their native.
• TEAM found the way to involve the local community to execute the projects along with member’s parants by the concept of FoT.
• By this new concept, members parent will bring their friends and relatives and form a small group in their native called “FoT – Friends of TEAM”.
• The parent who form that FoT will act as a “FoT Coordinator” to have a communication with TEAM member who sends money.
• Now every TEAM project is executed by FoT coordinated by its “FoT coordinator”.
• Because of FoT, TEAM will have group of friends in every members native place.
• FoT – Coordinator is identified by TEAM member who is sending money.
• Usually “FoT – Coordinator” is members parents or reliable person.
• Every member will guide FoT Coordinator and FoT coordinator will guide whole FoT to execute the project in India.

What is corporate grand and How to get it for my schools?

• Most of the corporates have their own foundation to help organization like us. Apart from the gift match they do, they will do some big grands, if we apply for it. For more speicifc information, you need to check with your employer about the proecure and documents they need for applying. In order to apply, you need to give TEAM details to them. You can get all the details inclsuing 501 (c) 3 details in http://team-education.blogspot.com/2…s-details.html If you get it, you can do projects for that money in your schools.
• Application used by Logu to get grand donation of $ 5000Employee Champion Information
  1. Employee Champion name: Logan Palanisamy
  2. Email address: lpalani@yahoo-inc.com
  3. Phone number: 408-349-3699
  4. Please indicate what involvement you have with this organization: donor,
  volunteer, board member, other (specify). How long have you been involved and in what degree? I have been a donor and an active member of TEAM (Team for Educational Activities in Motherland) since its inception in 2000.
  5. Statement of support (max ¼ page) TEAM is an organization run entirely by volunteers with zero administrative cost. Over the last six years, it has helped nearly 500 under-funded public schools in India by contributing over US$300,000 for their infrastructural development. The membership has grown steadily over the years. Like its 1000 plus members, I have been contributing $120/year since 2001. Last year I got a chance to execute a project for the public elementary school I graduated from in India. Its motto as quoted by Swami Vivekananda is: Society does not go down because of the activities of criminals, but because of the inactivity of the good people.
  I am a strong believer and supporter of TEAM. Applicant Organization Information 1. Organization name: TEAM (Team for Educational Activities in Motherland)
  2. Website URL if available: http://www.IndiaTEAM.org
  3. Phone number: 510-938-4060
  4. Address: 2000 Walnut Ave., # I-202, Fremont, CA 94538
  6. Contact person:
  a. Name: Karthikeyan Easwarmoorthy
  b. Title: Chairman
  c. Email: info@IndiaTEAM.org
  d. Phone number: 510-938-4060
  e. Fax number
  5. Brief mission statement (max ¼ page) TEAM’s mission is:
  • To improve the infrastructure of the poor and neglected public schools in developing countries such as India.
  • To lower the school drop-out rate and eradicate child labor.
  • To bring awareness of education in all the areas.
  • To help the children boost their self-confidence and change their lives.
  6. Who and where is the population served by this organization
  The beneficiaries are under-privileged school children aged between 5 and 17 in developing countries. Since its inception in 2000, TEAM has helped nearly 500 public elementary, middle and high schools in India. Each such school gets $500 for infrastructural improvements such as blackboards, chairs, tables, benches, desks, restrooms, library, water tanks, play grounds, fence and compound walls.
  TEAM currently has around 1000 donor members, mostly expatriates from India in the US. Members, through their local friends and relatives, execute these projects at the public schools of their choice. TEAM also has established a model school. In addition to the donations from its members, it raises funds through annual walkathons at the Shoreline Park in Mountain View.
  Project Information 1. Please indicate which focus area is most associated with your project: Education & Youth
  2. How much money are you requesting and for what project? How many people will be impacted by YEF funding of this project, or what quantifiable environmental impact will be made?
  We are requesting $5,000 for the infrastructural improvement of a public high school in India celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year. (The Employee Champion is a graduate of this school)
  Library: $1,000
  Restrooms: $1,000
  Fence/Compund Wall: $1,000
  Repair/replace old furniture: $1,000
  New furniture for classrooms with no furniture: $1,000
  The school has an enrollment of 1,500 students (600 girls and 900 boys)
  aged between 11 and 17. That many students will benefit every year for at least the next ten years.
  3. What specific community need are you addressing, and how does the project address it? Please be specific. (max of ½ page) Education of the children from poor families in India is what this project addresses. This school is located in a rural area where nearly 40% of students drop out of school and end up as child laborers. Our past experience shows that schools with the basic necessities motivate these children to continue their education.
  4. If there is a selection process for the people who benefit from your services, what is that process? In other words, what determines who is served?
  There is no selection process. All the neighborhood kids who attend this public school will benefit.
  5. What are your main goals, metrics for measuring each of the goals, and how will you determine if you have succeeded in meeting those goals? If possible, please provide data on how you have performed against those goals in the past. Our main goal is to provide the infrastructural necessities for the public schools often neglected by the government. This motivates the teachers, students and the general population. In the schools we have helped so far, we have found at least 25% more students complete high school and go to college.
  6. How do you create long-term benefits that go beyond the immediate provision of services, for instance through enabling self-sufficiency of those served when possible? More students finish high school and many even go to college. Educated youth are more productive. They not only support their families, but also the society as a whole.
  7. What other sources of funding are you pursuing for this project, and for other projects you are involved with? The Former Students’ Association of this school in India organized a special fund-raiser in December 2005. Because of the low income levels, it brought in less than $500.
  8. Regarding this specific project in the proposal, what other organizations are working on projects related to yours? Will you be collaborating with them? Why or why not? We are going to work with the PTA and the Former Students’ Association of this school.

Guidance By Logu who got grand donation from Yahoo

• Mr. Logu who got the Yahoo grand of $ 5000 has written a good write up on what he did to get the grand. So please go through this.
  There are two types of grants.
  The first one, called Quick Grants, is for $5,000. As the name says, the application process is simple. The catch is you either get it or don’t, no partial grants.
  The other one, called Large Grants, is up to $30,000. The application and selection process is very lengthy. Depending on the funds available and how relevant your project is, YEF might give full or a part of the money you are asking.
  As given below, the application contains three sections.
  1. Information about the employee and his association with the charity.
  2. Information about the charity and its mission.
  3. Details about the project for which the employee is seeking funds.
  The following two things should accompany the grant request.
  1. The latest audited financial statement of the charity.
  2. A statement about the charity’s Non Discrimination Policy.
  Once submitted, the applications are independently evaluated by an external agency and the ones recommended by it are finally voted by the YEF board to decide the recipients.
  I applied for Quick Grant and got selected. The money is going to be used for a Govt. Higher Secondary School with 1,500 students.
  Application for Grant Request
  Employee Champion Information
  1. Please indicate what involvement you have with this organization: donor, volunteer, board member, other (specify).
  2. How long have you been involved and in what degree?
  3. Statement of support (max ¼ page)
  Applicant Organization Information
  1. Organization name:
  2. Website URL if available:
  3. Phone number:
  4. Address:
  5. Contact person:
  6. Brief mission statement (max ¼ page)
  TEAM’s mission is:
  * To improve the infrastructure of the poor and neglected public schools in developing countries such as India.
  * To lower the school drop-out rate and eradicate child labor.
  * To bring awareness of education in all the areas.
  * To help the children boost their self-confidence and change their lives.
  7. Who and where is the population served by this organization
  The beneficiaries are under-privileged school children aged between 5 and 17 in developing countries. Since its inception in 2000, TEAM has helped nearly 500 public elementary, middle and high schools in India. Each such school gets $500 for infrastructural improvements such as blackboards, chairs, tables, benches, desks, restrooms, library, water tanks, play grounds, fence and compound walls.
  TEAM currently has around 1000 donor members, mostly expatriates from India in the US. Members, through their local friends and relatives, execute these projects at the public schools of their choice. TEAM also has established a model school. In addition to the donations from its members, it raises funds through annual walkathons at the Shoreline Park in Mountain View.
  Project Information
  1. Please indicate which focus area is most associated with your project:
  2. How much money are you requesting and for what project? How many people will be impacted by YEF funding of this project, or what quantifiable environmental impact will be made?
  3. What specific community need are you addressing, and how does the project address it? Please be specific. (max of ½ page)
  4. If there is a selection process for the people who benefit from your services, what is that process? In other words, what determines who is served?
  5. What are your main goals, metrics for measuring each of the goals, and how will you determine if you have succeeded in meeting those goals? If possible, please provide data on how you have performed against those goals in the past.
  6. How do you create long-term benefits that go beyond the immediate provision of services, for instance through enabling self-sufficiency of those served when possible?
  7. What other sources of funding are you pursuing for this project, and for other projects you are involved with?
  8. Regarding this specific project in the proposal, what other organizations are working on projects related to yours? Will you be collaborating with them? Why or why not?

In addition to car you can also donare any vehicle like trucks, trailers, boats and RVs

Yes, your donations are tax exempted.

IndiaTEAM believes in IndiaTEAM effort. Since you are the one to execute your project, IndiaTEAM is sure that you would do your project in your native place as great as possible through your parents. So you and your parents only do and monitor the project when your turn comes. So everyone of us take care of our native project, we don’t need any third person to monitor. So *YOU* are the one to monitor your native school project.

Maximum you can receive from IndiaTEAM is 500.0$ when your turn comes. That is not others money. It is yours. If you don’t do the project, your native place is only the looser. So we are all educated and matured enough to make sure that we would spend the money properly. Not only that after doing your project, you have to submit the receipts, photos and other evidences for IndiaTEAM records since it is 100% tax exempted organization.

Members get receipts at the end of every tax year. All other donors get immediately after IndiaTEAM receives your money.

Send the money to your coordinator when he informs you.

When you leave IndiaTEAM, there are three options. 1. You pay remaining money of total 500.0$ and can keep your membership. So you receive your money when you will get selected by the lot process. Even though you are not virtually in USA, you can track what is happening by IndiaTEAM egroups or you can keep in touch with your coordinator. So it is guaranteed that you would receive your money within 50 months.
2. You can recommend some person from your relative or from your native place to replace you to your coordinator. So he can start to pay on behalf of you. Since he is from your native or from your relative, the new person gets the money of 500.0$ when the new person gets selected. Since the person you recommended gets selected, that money will be spent your place only if he is from your native. It is like you and your friend shared to do the project for your native place.
3. If you don’t recommend, the coordinator will replace with some other person. Even if some third person gets selected, that money will be spent for a school which was referred by that new person. So even though your village is not getting benefited directly, somehow you helped some other village school indirectly. That means you did share the money with the new person for some noble cause.Assume if the selected person wants to leave IndiaTEAM, he has to pay remaining money in 500.0$ since he already got 500.0$ from the IndiaTEAM.

1. Each IndiaTEAM consists of 10 coordinators. Each coordinator in turn manages another 10 members. Coordinators take responsibility of collecting money and contact them on regular basis. Since other ten members are most friends, it makes the chain work informally very well and lot of things are discussed in open manner.
2. Everyone gets a chance to take up a project. Each member will get an opportunity to decide where and how the money is contributed to a project.
3. Funds are disbursed to SCHOOL in batches of $500. It is possible to disburse funds to same project if needed but every time it is $500.
4. Funds are deposited to a bank account and are managed by treasurer. Each chapter has its own bank account.
5. There are 0 overheads
6. They have well developed online system to track SCHOOL, people
7. They have a 5 member technical data center which manages the website
8. Each chapter gets to meet once in 3 or 4 months. All members meet once a year. Everyone gets to participate equally in the activities.
9. Funds are mostly collected through checks. Contributions are $10 per month per person.
10. communication is mostly managed through yahoo groups.
11. For every school project, they work with a local person who is a relative or friend of the IndiaTEAM member who gets the funds. This enables proper utilization of funds.

– IndiaTEAM encourages coordinators not to remove members, but Replace. Why ?
– IndiaTEAM has a strong asset of 1000 members!
– LOSING A MEMBER IS LOSING THE ASSET!
– IndiaTEAM has 100 coordinators! You are one among them!
– If every coordinator loses just one member, we lose 100 members, $1000 per month, $12000 per year.
– Total school SCHOOL get effected is 12000/500 = 24 schools.
– Total kids lose the benefit is 24 * 250 Students = 6000 Kids!
– So, losing a single member will effect the life of 6000 kids every year!
– Yes, sometime it is harder to find a member!
– But it is not that much difficult for us! Because…
– We accomplished the most difficult task of forming the IndiaTEAM!
– IndiaTEAM has many challenges and practical difficulties!
– Members leaving due to personal reasons is one among them!
– Lets face and overcome the practical difficulties, together!
– For that, Need your help! IndiaTEAM needs desperate help from you!
– Yes, IndiaTEAM is requesting you to help IndiaTEAM to replace your member!
– Your helping hand will encourage every one of us!
– Shall we prove the world that…
…DOING IS THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING!
– Yes, TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

IndiaTEAM needs your Favor

– It runs based on the volunteer work from every one of you.
– IndiaTEAM operations will be more effective if process are simple and not time consuming.
– In that, IndiaTEAM needs all of your help as usual
. – From this year onwards, thought of collecting $120.00 in the beginning of the year, that is during Jan and Feb. time.
– But it is not mandatory to pay 120.0$.
– For any volunteer organization can’t have rigid policies.
– It is just a request and guidance from IndiaTEAM.
– You can work out a plan with your coordinator.
– Any doubt, please forward a mail to info@IndiaTEAM.org for contacting finance division of IndiaTEAM.

1. Right now IndiaTEAM has 1000 members.
2. Every check we receive, IndiaTEAM finance division has to make an entry in the database and deposit the check.
3. If we all pay 120.0$, finance division has to deposit just 1000 checks and 1000 entries in the database per year.
4. If we write N number of checks, they have to deposit 1000 * N checks and 1000 * N entries in the database.
5. Not only that, IndiaTEAM grows continuously every year.
6. So paying yearly, saves lots of man power in terms of deposits and entering into the database.
7. Another thing is, IndiaTEAM has around 130 coordinators to collect money.
8. If we make money collection easier, we can use 130 coordinators man power for further development of IndiaTEAM.
9. We have the plan of distributing money to all the selected members within a week of the school selection. If every one pays for an year, we will have enough fund to distribute in the account.
10. If you pay 120, it is easier for you to apply for gift matching in your companies also. Just yearly once.
11. So It would be great if you can send 120.0 $ during Jan to Feb of every year to your coordinator.
12. Thanks a lot for all your cooperation.

1. Joining IndiaTEAM is not for just donating, it is for doing! That is why, IndiaTEAM asks, Are you interested in *doing* something for the nation? It gives every individual an opportunity to coordinate a project.
2. IndiaTEAM collects & gives the same money back to you to execute and coordinate a project in your native place. Not only that your own native school gets benefited, you know where and how your money is spent.
3. Since you do your project with help of your parents, they are happy and they also care for that school in that future. So doing one project in your native place will bring you, your family, your kids, your parents and in fact, whole of the people around your native place closer to that school. So IndiaTEAM directly touches the heart of the people you know of. This is a positive proof that we as a IndiaTEAM can influence the society in our own little way.
4. The ultimate benefit of any charity is to get changed ourselves for some good cause. This happens easily in IndiaTEAM since you are one doing the project in your native place. Since you are known to your local community, the local community tries to get involved in one way or other with your school project.
5. Your project in your native place will inspire lots of people in your native place to do something to the school in their own small way. In order to do something in a small way, we need a change in mind set. So, your project changes the mind of many people. So we as a IndiaTEAM touch the society.
6. The benefits to yourself and IndiaTEAM because of your donation!
– Most of the companies do $ – $ match.
– Check with your HR about this gift match programs.
– Already Sun, HP, Cisco, Netscape, Intuit are matching the gift already.
– That means, if you donate 500.0$, the company will donate 500.0$.
– Basically, if you help a school, your employer will help another school and you can do the project of your employer also.
– Your donation is 100% tax exempted.
– So your 500.0$ donation will get 150.0 dollar back to you as a exemption while filing the tax.
– So effectively you pay just 350.0$ after filing tax, But we will generate total of 1000.0 $ as 500 $ before tax from you and 500 $from employer.
– So totally your effective 350 $ generates 1000.0 donation for your school.
– THIS MONEY GOES TO OUR MOTHERLAND.
– That money is spent by you. Not by any one else.
– You are the deciding authority that where your money is spent.
– Government schemes like “Namakku Namey” can be utilized properly.
7. Other benefits to you because of the outside donation!
– Lots of individuals and corporate people donate to IndiaTEAM.
– Those money also will be spent by you only.
8. Above all, we get the satisfaction that we have helped our native place kids in one way!

1. Is it taking too long to identify a school?
– Input from parents, friends and relatives will help.
2. Identifying school needs.
– Get input from IndiaTEAM members who executed SCHOOL before.
3. To decide on the things to buy.
– Talk to the school headmaster/teacher(s). Ask them
– What are the essential things that are missing in the school?
– What would be nice to have or very helpful to students?
– Visit IndiaTEAM website and take a look at the SCHOOL that are executed so far,
4. Execute the project during your visit to India.
– Project execution will be faster.
– Will understand the importance of the project being done.
– Will get a chance to speak with the teachers and students in the school and can get a feedback from them

The coordinator is the person who brings 10 of his friends to IndiaTEAM to help 10 more schools in our society.
– Reply from a coordinator for the above qeustion after he had formed his group.
I was introduced to IndiaTEAM by one of my friend some time back and started to donate $ 10 to IndiaTEAM for building better schools in Tamilnadu/India. By donating 10.0$ per month, I have a chance of helping only one school. But India and Indian society is so huge and almost every government school is in need of help. I just started to think that helping one school will have very minimum/negligble impact on our huge society though it has a huge impact on a school. Not only me, lot of other people in the IndiaTEAM thought in the same way. So we started to discuss how to help more schools? HOW TO LIFT THE HUGE SOCIETY BY LIFTING EDUCATION? After very long detailed discussion, we came to the conclusion that, in order to lift the society as a whole by lifting education, our IndiaTEAM itself should be a big society. That means, IndiaTEAM should become a big movement. 1000 member IndiaTEAM organization should be transformed into a “STRONG, SOCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT”. So we started to work towards that. We have to do it! Doing is the solution to all the problems around us. So we have decided to identify and promote more coordinators to form their 10 member group as I formed my group. If more and more coordinator come, more and more member will come and in turn, IndiaTEAM grows towards becoming a strong social movement to LIFT SOCIETY BY UPLIFTING EDUCATION! Now we are in the process of identifying coordinators for 2004. As you know, Doing is the solution to everything!
Not only that, if we just donate, we can help only one school. If we bring our friends, it is like helping more schools. That means, by spending money, we can help only one school. But by spending our little time, we can help more schools. So spending time has more impact on the society compared to the money we spend.
Join us to LIFT SOCIETY BY UPLIFTING EDUCATION!
Join us to transform our IndiaTEAM TO STRONG SOCIAL MOVEMENT!
Please let me know your interest and I will forward some more details.
“Together We Can Make It happen” by just start DOING!
SOME STATISTICAL FACTS IF YOU BECOME THE COORDINATOR:
1. Poor school has minimum 100 students.
2. One member will do project in one school.
3. That means he/she helps 100 poor students per year.
4. Min Life time of our project = 10 years.
5. So Total kids got benefited = 100 * 10 = 1000 Kids!
6. If you bring one member, that is, you are helping 1000 Kids.
7. So… Number of Poor Kids you helped = 1000 * Number of members you brought.

IndiaTEAM is organized as IndiaTEAM chapters and top level IndiaTEAM.
– Every chapters day to day activity is coordinated by the president.
– The president is selected by their chapter coordinators.
– All the things which are common to all the chapters like web site maintenance, IndiaTEAMSoft development, Dream School project, Community Center SCHOOL and IndiaTEAM data center are managed by top level IndiaTEAM.
– Top level IndiaTEAM has board of directors and they select the chairman.
– All the chapter presidents are coordinated by the chairman.
– In turn, the chapter president coordinates the secretary and treasurer.

IndiaTEAM have an online option of paying by paypal.
– This facility can be accessed from Details @ Click Here
– As it is charging $ 5 for $120 per year distribution, members need to pay $5 more, that is, $ 125 per year to cover the paypal transaction fee.
– So this is not the recommended way to pay for time being as it is costly.
– Right now IndiaTEAM is exploring the possibilities of having credit card facility for members to pay their yearly subscriptions.
– Till that happens, please send your contribution to your cord by cheque. – Thanks a lot for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.

FoT – FoT is a group people including parents, friends, students and teachers in every member’s native place. That will be coordinated by your parents or some reliable person. Every member’s place is our ultimate aim. After forming FoT, your projects will be done by your FoT, not just by our parents to give the feeling of doing schools projects with community involvement. So your native FoT will be built by you and your parents/relatives/friends. Every FoT will have a coordinator and he/she will be in touch with the corresponding TEAM member who donate.

• Pease visit your school when you go to India with video camera.
• Take video in the school and the items donated.
• Interview the school headmasters/teacher(s).
  • About the school – location, students, number of teachers etc
  • About that village.
  • Who did project in that school?
  • What do they feel when TEAM approached for doing project in their school?
  • What are the facilities provided by the project?
  • Is it useful? How?
  • Did they receive any other donation for the project?
  • Do they expect anything more from TEAM?
  • What village, parents, teachers and students feel?
  • How do they safe guard the things TEAM provided?
  • Did district educational officer know about this project?
  • Do they want to convey something to TEAM?
• Interview schools students
  • How the facilities were useful?
  • Are they happy?

• This video may be played in one of the future TEAM meetings and it may be used in the Team Informational Films we create in future.
• • Interview LPC (parent or person who executed the project in the school).
  • What do they know about TEAM?
  • How did he/she felt when TEAM approached them to do the project?
  • Why did he select that particular school?
  • Is there any difficulty to execute the project? If yes, what are they?
  • Do they expect anything more from TEAM?
  • What are the opinions about TEAM from
  • Teachers and students in the school.
  • People in the village.
  • Friends and relatives.
  • What are the other things TEAM can do to the village?
  • If more than one, what is the most important thing?
  • Do they want to convey anything to TEAM?
  • Make a video CD out of the video and forward to
  • Details @ Click Here
  • This video may be played in one of the future TEAM meetings and it may be used in the Team Informational Films we create in future.

Why to reimburse from FSA when company matches?

• The $ 500 given by TEAM when members are selected is different from the money you have in your FSA account. In the FSA account, we keep your company contribution. But this will be given after you spent and submit the receipt. Because that is not your contribution. Since your company has paid for you, this is your company’s donation. For that, you need to submit the receipt for that $120. US tax law is very complicated. If we give that money and you don’t provide the receipt, this will complicate the things and end up TEAM answering to IRS. So please provide the receipt for your spending of $ 120 and TEAM will reimburse you immediately. This is the rule imposed by IRS and TEAM has to follow that. Otherwise, TEAM will be in trouble. For example, some people have $10K in their FSA. TEAM can not give the $ 10K unless otherwise member provides the receipt. We are all working together to help our schools. But we need to follow certain procedure as far as money of company is used. Hope this helps.

• Identify TEAM-FSA Projects!

  1. Members have complete control over how/where their TEAM-FSA money will be utilized and they can do any charity work other than school infrastructure for their passion using TEAM’s exemption status. Note: Member’s monthly contribution is strictly for building school infrastructure.
  2. Some example projects can be done using this TEAM-FSA money by members.
  – Adopt a kid to educate.
  – Provide scholorship to lower/higher education.
  – Plant trees in their village.
  – Adopt a village to bring awareness.
  – Help local hospitals.
  – Help needy people for their any developmental activities.
  – This list keeps growing based on member’s passion.
  2. So please identify a project based on your passion and interest.

What is TEAM’s FSA?

• 1. TEAM member’s TEAM-FSA (Flexbile Spending Account) will get opened with TEAM when they:
  – Get corporate gift match.
  – Get corporate grand donations.
  – Donate their car to TEAM.
  – Donate his own personal money. (Members can claim tax)
  2. Members have complete control over how/where this FSA money will be utilized and they can do any charity work other than school infrastructure for their passion using TEAM’s exemption status. Note: Member’s monthly contribution is strictly for building school infrastructure.
  3. Some example projects can be done using this TEAM-FSA money by members.
  – Adopt a kid to educate.
  – Provide scholorship to lower/higher education.
  – Plant trees in their village.
  – Adopt a village to bring awareness.
  – Help local hospitals.
  – Help needy people for their any developmental activities.
  – This list keeps growing based on member’s passion.
  4. Just like corporate FSA account, members have to reimburse from FSA after completing the project and submitting receipts & pictures.
  5. FSA can be claimed any time and any number of times.
  6. No time limit to utilize FSA and keep accumulating.
  7. Member’s monthly membership contribution won’t be part his/her FSA and that will be given to the member when he gets selected in a normal way.
  When this will be effective?
  – It is effective from March 2006!
  – It means, the members who got gift match before March 2006 can’t claim.
  – Because, we didn’t have the concept of individual FSA account and all the money went to common TEAM account and being SPENT for adopted schools.
  – Which was the policy we discussed by then and went ahead with that.
  – After this new policy change effective from March 2006, the donations of members who got gift/grand match after March 2006 will be put up in his own FSA instead of common pool so that members have complete control over his money to help in a way they want instead of always going to adopted school.
  – In one line “The money generated after March 2006 will only be available in member’s FSA and eligible for reimbursement”