Amid the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, online crowdfunding platform Milaap has mobilised a whopping Rs 90 Crore in COVID-19-related campaigns alone. Since the beginning of the lockdown, the platform has apparently witnessed a three-fold increase in the number of campaigns. "Considering the magnitude of the lockdown, this was a surprise. We started this initiative a few days before the Janta Curfew," says Anoj Viswanathan, Co-founder, Milaap. "We started out thinking that this will be towards people directly affected by the lockdown and the frontline workers. But there were fundraisers from different categories. There were fundraisers to help the LGBTQIA community, stray dogs, temple priests and circus artists," he says.
 

While around 170,000 people all over the world contributed towards COVID relief, Milaap says that it raised Rs 17,000 every minute and had a COVID-19 fundraiser every 20 minutes. Interestingly, 80 per cent of the fundraisers were from COVID hotspots. According to Milaap, these campaigns helped in distributing more than 4.3 Lakh ration kits, 31 lakh meals, 5,000 PPE kits and 59 ventilators.

While the numbers sound reassuring, Anoj adds that it only reflects a fraction of the real work that is happening on the ground. "We realised the magnitude of this initiative in the first a week or two. The donors varied from individuals to CSR projects. Decentralising fundraisers and campaigns in a way transfer the power to create change, to individuals," he adds.