OneStage
OneStage is a New Delhi-based not-for-profit established in 1998, formerly known as CAF India (Charities Aid Foundation India). It sits between donors and the ground: corporates, foundations, and individuals bring their CSR or philanthropic budgets to OneStage, and OneStage identifies, vets, funds, and manages programs through a network of NGOs across India. It also runs its own thematic programs directly. Over 25+ years it has mobilised approximately Rs 5 billion in donations, worked with 300+ donors, and partnered with 5,000+ NGOs across 17 states and 54 districts.
Headquarters: New Delhi (World Trade Centre, Barakhamba)
OneStage plays two roles that are worth understanding separately.
The first is as an intermediary for donors. Corporates and institutions come to OneStage to design and deliver their CSR programs. OneStage offers advisory, due diligence on NGOs, program design, grant management, monitoring and evaluation, payroll giving, employee engagement, compliance support, impact assessment, and audit. This is the backbone of the organisation, built over two and a half decades of handling philanthropy for large multinationals, public sector companies, and Indian corporate giants.
The second role is as a direct program implementer. OneStage runs its own programs in five thematic areas: jobs, skills and livelihoods; education; healthcare; early childhood development; and environment. Gender is treated as a cross-cutting lens across all of them, not a standalone program.
Thematic programs
- Jobs, Skills and Livelihoods: Skill development, job placement, and entrepreneurship, with a focus on getting women into the workforce and retaining them. Separate tracks exist for persons with disabilities.
- Education: STEM education for girls in college, support for marginalised students in government and NGO schools, and strengthening teachers, labs, and curriculum.
- Healthcare: Supplementing public health infrastructure in remote areas, facilitating access to preventive and curative care, referrals to specialists, and work on non-communicable diseases including cancer.
- Early Childhood Development: Nutrition and responsive caregiving, delivered through anganwadis, caregivers, and creches in construction sites (which house large numbers of migrant families).
- Environment: Afforestation, water body rejuvenation, and community-led transitions to clean energy and a green economy.
- Wings4Her: A women's skilling and livelihood initiative run in partnership with Rolls-Royce.
OneStage maintains long-term relationships with NGOs, spanning three to eight years per partner. Beyond funding, it provides payroll and staffing support, branding and communications, backend reporting, compliance and accounting, policy development, and leadership advisory. This NGO strengthening function is what distinguishes it from a simple grant-maker.
Corporate supporters
The donor list includes Rolls-Royce, Hyundai, PNB Housing Finance, SRF Foundation, Rio Tinto, GL Hitachi, EXL, Huawei, Aon, Decathlon, Intuit, Walmart, HDFC, and others. The organisation has FCRA registration, which allows it to receive and channel foreign contributions.
OneStage operates across a wide range of functions: program management, CSR advisory, monitoring and evaluation, strategic partnerships, NGO due diligence, grant management, and communications. People who want to work at the intersection of corporate philanthropy and on-ground development will find it relevant. The organisation's intermediary position also means exposure to a wide variety of sectors and geographies rather than deep work in one issue area.
