The Udaan Foundation
A student-led nonprofit partnering with carefully vetted grassroots organizations across India. We bring them the donors and fundraising reach they can't access on their own, so more children get the support they need.
From the field
Real moments, shared by the partners we fund.
How it works
How a donation reaches the ground.
We sit between donors who want to help and grassroots organizations already doing the work. Here's what happens in between.
01
We find and vet grassroots partners.
We look for small, community-run organizations doing real work with little outside support. Before partnering, we get to know the founders, learn how they operate, and verify their programs through photos, references, and local coverage.
- Community-led
- Verifiable programs
- Clear needs
02
We raise the money they can't reach.
Grassroots groups rarely have the networks or platforms to fundraise beyond their own city. We do. We share their stories and run campaigns that connect them with donors they could never reach on their own.
- Campaigns
- Events
- Online giving
03
Funds reach the ground, and we report back.
Donations go to our partners to cover specific needs, from school supplies to meals. Then we show you what your money did, with updates and photos straight from the field.
- Specific needs
- Regular updates
- Photos from partners
Featured partner
Gurukulamगुरुकुलम
Kanpur, Uttar PradeshFree education for children from the city's bastis
Uddeshya Sachan once couldn't afford his own school fees. Today he runs Gurukulam, where around 150 children from Kanpur's bastis study for free.
Alongside lessons, Gurukulam focuses on values, confidence, and practical skills, and the children get healthy snacks and cricket coaching too. It's exactly the kind of organization Udaan exists for: rooted in its community, doing real work every day, and held back mostly by funding.
- children learning for free
- ~150children learning for free
- in fees for their families
- ₹0in fees for their families
- featured in Dainik Jagran
- 2026featured in Dainik Jagran
In the press“Breaking bad habits, instilling values, and spreading smiles.”
Dainik Jagran, Kanpur · July 2026(headline, translated from Hindi)
Who we are
Run by students. Built on trust.
Udaan is run by high school students, with the guidance of an adult advisor. We started it after seeing how many grassroots organizations in India do remarkable work with almost nothing — not because they lack ideas or commitment, but because they lack funding, and the reach to raise it.
That reach is something we have. Through our schools, our communities, and the platforms we use every day, we can put these organizations in front of people who want to help. Udaan turns that access into funding, and sends it to partners we have vetted ourselves.
We take that trust seriously. Every partner we feature is one we know, and every donation comes with a promise: we'll show you where it went.
The Udaan team
Donate
Help them take flight.
उड़ान, Udaan, means “flight.” A gift of any size helps vetted grassroots partners like Gurukulam give children room to rise.
See where your gift goesFor organizations
Run a grassroots organization in India?
क्या आप एक ज़मीनी संस्था चलाते हैं?
If you're doing real work in your community and funding is what holds you back, we'd like to hear from you. Tell us about your organization and what you need.
What we look for
- 01
Community-led
Run by people from the community it serves, who know its needs firsthand.
- 02
Real, visible work
Programs we can see and verify, through photos, references, or local coverage.
- 03
A clear need
A specific gap, from supplies to staff, that funding can directly fill.