Expanding your horizons: Pandju Merali

NOVEMBER 9, 2009 – By ANJALI CORDEIRO – Expanding Your Horizons – For donors looking to target specific causes overseas, the old standbys don’t always do the trick

Americans have shown a growing interest in philanthropic causes overseas in recent years. But giving abroad can be complicated for those who want their money to go to a specific cause in a particular region—say, education in Southeast Asia or health care in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ensuring that such donations reach their intended target and are used effectively, are tax-deductible and don’t violate anti-terrorism laws or any other U.S. government restrictions can be a daunting task.

— snip — Pandju Merali, an 80-year-old retired businessman in Seal Beach, Calif., says he turned to intermediary groups after he wrote to education departments in developing countries about his interest in funding women’s education and received no response. “I was having a difficult time [giving] money,” he says.

Now, he works with a handful of intermediary charities to identify and donate to universities and young women in need of funding. He established a foundation named for his wife, the Shirin Pandju Merali Foundation, that has funded more than 700 students in India, Afghanistan and elsewhere by making donations through GlobalGiving, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C.

Article at Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/
Pandju Merali and his book featured earlier at Ismailimail: Africa 2 America, by Pandju Merali
Shirin Pandju MERALI Foundation: http://www.karimmerali.com/pandju/Letterhead_Numbers.pdf