According to Ingrid Srinath, director, resource mobilisation at Child Relief and You (CRY) India, the high costs of snail mail and conventional methods prompted them to use the Internet. "The CRY site allows us to expand our reach and spread the message of hope for children in India."

ICICIcommunities.org was set up with idea of taking donations and volunteering for a number of NGOs. Director Venkat Krishnan says, "We started in the heydays of the dotcom era, when the Net was the destination to be."

The response so far has been overwhelming. CRY has received Rs 6 lakhs between November 14 and December 11, 2002. Since its launch in September 2000, ICICI Communities has had 1315 transactions, amounting to Rs 48.96 lakhs. An additional Rs 1.5 crores was raised for earthquake relief.

Such a tremendous response was unexpected. And surprisingly, none of them went in for publicity for online donations. Says Ingrid, "This just confirms our belief that given an opportunity each and everyone wants to make a difference in the lives of children."

Winning the confidence of a surfer is not easy. Especially in case of credit card payments, where security is the top concern. But these sites use the latest encryption technologies like Secure Socket Layer that ensures the safety of data during the transaction.

"The CRY site has a secure digital certificate from Verisign Inc., one of the world's largest secure digital certificates issuing companies, making it safe for credit card payments," assures Ingrid.

Some sites counter this problem by letting donors fill online forms and send cheques by snail mail. Says Krishnan, "We have no reason to believe that people are worried. Our site allows people to donate through 128-bit encrypted secure connections. Surprisingly, more than 90% of our transactions are through secure online methods and not cheques."

Says Kiruba Shankar, an avid surfer, "I have no qualms about Internet security. I have shopped online and making a donation is similar to paying your shopping bills through credit card."

Sameer Gharat, a software professional who often donates to charity, believes that security is an important issue while transacting on the Internet. He looks out for a few things: "Firstly, the online donation site should be hosted on a secure server and have a digital certificate from a valid certifying authority. I would also ensure it takes place through a proper payment gateway. If these security concerns are met, there is no reason not to go ahead."

The Internet is rife with fraudulent sites and skepticism on behalf of surfers is expected. How can surfers know the website is genuine? Replies Krishnan, "The sheer amount of information that we provide on each NGO that a person can donate to, the easy access to information and our high standards of transparency and accountability ensure that we don't face this problem."

"The content on the site is detailed and exhaustive. A fake site will not give such information. We also provide many options through which the user can interact with CRY," says Ingrid.

Despite the low PC and Internet penetration in India, Krishnan is optimistic, "We believe that PC penetration will grow, especially among the audience that is likely to afford donations. Like investments and careers, information is what the customer needs in case of charity. There is no need to touch, smell or feel. A well-developed interactive site that allows a user to customise his experience is likely to do well."

Adds Ingrid, "Online donations will increase, not because of PC penetration but users themselves. They are getting more comfortable about transactions online."

Sameer feels that due to his busy schedules, the Internet is a convenient way to donate to charity. "If the end is a will to donate, either of the means (online or offline) will serve the purpose equally well."

For Kiruba, the Internet is still not his first choice. "I would prefer paying by cheque as there is evidence that a donation has been made. This would be useful in tax exemption. I also believe in visiting the organisation to check out their services. If I'm convinced that the money will be put to good use, it's just a matter of issuing a cheque."

People overseas also benefit greatly from being able to give online. As Kiruba points out, "Expatriates have the money to spare and this gives them an easy way."

Guidelines for donating online:

• Choose a charity that appeals to your interests and is well-known.
  
  
• Ensure the site is not a hoax by looking through important information like its mission, projects and contact details.
  
  
• Check for security on the site. Or email the organisation to check what kind of security systems they use.
  
  
• You can use your browser to check the site's security status. In Netscape, when receiving a secure document the lock icon on the bottom left of the window is displayed closed. In Internet Explorer a lock icon in the status bar shows exchange of data with a secure site.
  
  
• If a URL begins with https:// rather than http:// it is on a secure server.
  
  
• Both browsers can warn you when you send information via an online form that may be a security risk. With Netscape, select on the Options menu, then click the General tab to enable or disable warnings about insecure sites. With IE, select Internet Options on the Tools menu, and press the Security tab. Choose the required options.