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NCEF
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you would like to submit a question that is not listed
here please mail it to 
Q: How
do I submit an article?
Q: How
do I become a member?
Q: Should
I reply to every email that I get?
Q: Do I have
to pay anything to become a member?
Q: Do I
have to renew my membership?
Q: When
I read the archives, I notice that there are some people who seem to be dictating
what is going on. I thought NCEF was open and flat?
Q: It
seems like NCEF has a culture. What is it?
Q: What
if NCEF can't function because of these features?
Q: What
is the goal of NCEF? How long does it seek to last?
Q: Is NCEF's goal reasonable?
Q:
So many things go into the "development of the child". NCEF is simply
giving scholarships whose very effectiveness might be undermined by other more
important factors.
Q: You
do fund other projects, like the zoo trip or health checkup.
Q: Aren't
there other organizations that do the same thing? Why not just work with them?
Q: Who
answers the emails?
Q:
How are donations handled?
Q: Are donations
tax deductible?
Q: I don't
have a bank account in the United States of America. Can I sill donate?
Q: I
want to transfer money to Nepal. Will NCEF do it for me if I promise to donate?
Q: I want
to help raise money for NCEF at my school or college. What should I do?
Q:
I would like to be a volunteer in Nepal. What should I do?
Q:
Do you have internship opportunities for students from other countries to visit
Nepal?
Q: I
am very excited and have lots of ideas for NCEF! What should I do?
Q: How
do I become a board-member ?
Q:
I want to help NCEF expand to a new region in Nepal. I know people who can help.
What should I do?
Q:
How do I submit an article?
A: Write the article, then send it to the everyone list asking for comments. Give a reasonable amount of time for comments to come in. Make the changes and submit it again to the list asking for final comments. Send the article to the everyone list with the subject: "Attn: Annul, final version of "article title" Do not include any photos in your emails, instead, mail them to the webmaster who will put them up in a temporary location and send you the link. Include this link in your email.back to
questions
Q: How do I become a member?
A: First, you should go through the web site: www.nepalchildren.org.
Then you should email stating your interest. Include
in this email a short bio describing what you bring to NCEF, and why you are
interested. You will get a reply, and you can work with the member to develop
a project, or think about the nature of your participation (whether you want
to simply listen in, or take part in the conversations, or have a particular
project idea in mind). It is very important that other people know what to expect
from you and what not to expect from you.
After it is decided that you definitely want to become a member, your biographical
information is sent to everyone involved with NCEF asking for a second vote.
Then after you have received a second vote, you are officially a member and
can begin work!
You name and information will be listed on the members page:
http://www.nepalchildren.org/members.html
and you will be added to our mailing list. back
to questions
Q:
Should I reply to every email that i get?
A: Not if you don't want to. As a member you will be responsible for knowing
what is going on by reading every email, taking part in discussions which interest
you, and following up your suggestions with action. You are free to reply to whichever ones you want, though it would be nice if you could reply to the ones addressed to you.back to questions
Q:
Do I have to pay anything to become a member?
A: Not monetarily. But you will be required to pay attention to the discussions
and help out when you can. back to questions
Q:
Do I have to renew my membership?
A: Yes. Every year, there is an email sent out to check who is still online. If you fail to reply to this email, you will be considered offline and you will no longer be a member. You can always become a member again when you are ready.back to questions
Q:
When I read the archives, I notice that there are some people who seem to be
dictating what is going on. I thought NCEF was open and flat?
A: By design, NCEF is flat, and open. But there are some human factors that
create the impression that it is not flat.
First, not everyone is as vocal about their ideas, although they should be.
Second, not everyone has time to take part in all the discussions. Third,
not everyone expresses their ideas in the same way. Naturally, most people tend
to give different emphasis to what is said depending on these factors. This
results in not every idea getting equal consideration by everyone. It is largely
dependent on the attitudes of members, rather than the NCEF philosophy. However,
this doesn't mean that people are trying actively to impose hierarchy. On the
contrary, the goal of NCEF is to keep it flat and open.
There is also something else that is going on: those who have been with NCEF
for longer, and who hold legal posts tend to be considered more authoritative.
Although legal positions are exactly that: a legal formality, we have to actively
work to make sure everyone feels that they are just as equal as everyone else,
and their ideas should stand on their own. Positions don't give any authority,
except where NCEF needs to officially interface with other people, organizations,
or the law. back to questions
Q: It seems like NCEF has a culture. What is it?
A: It is always hard to define a culture. NCEF stands for transparency,
openness and complete honesty. Whether we do this or not is always in question,
but this is the goal meaning that we try to make everything we do known,
every idea is considered independently of the person who suggested it and subjected
to a vote, and we don't try to hide our flaws.
Furthermore, everyone should be able to say what they feel regardless of who they
are. Of course, people are responsible for what they say. This is a difficult
way of working and takes some getting used to, but we feel it is the most efficient
in the long run. It also helps us maintain trust. back
to questions
Q:
What if NCEF cant function because of these features?
A: The members will decide what to do, it will be discussed on the list
and decided by vote. back to questions
Q:
What is the goal of NCEF? How long does it seek to last?
A: NCEF is an experiment. Out of principle, we commit to the child through secondary school , and we will certainly do as much as we can, but NCEF does not
exist for its own sake. In this sense, it may be paradoxical to realize that
NCEF seeks to not exist. But that is indeed the goal of NCEF. This means that
NCEF wants to reach the point at which it is no longer needed- that is, every child
in Nepal goes to school. Since it is a voluntary organization and nobody is
gaining anything monetarily from it, reaching this point will be a relief to
everyone involved. There is another way NCEF will cease to exist, and that
is if the members think that it is not doing any good. Every year, we have asked
whether we are still useful, and it has been positive so far. But this doesn't
preclude a negative answer in the future. back
to questions
Q:
Is NCEF's goal reasonable?
A: Sure. We are not committing to make revolutionary changes, but simply proposing
to do what little we can as long as it is useful. back
to questions
Q:
So many things go into the "development of the child". NCEF is simply
giving scholarships whose very effectiveness might be undermined by other more
important factors.
A: First, we guess that there is a large population in Nepal which simply needs a small financial push to enable them to go to school. Second, out of principle, we want to focus on one particular thing and work with that. There are many organizations which have grown out of merely providing scholarships and started doing community development. We insist on providing scholarships because we have no idea what "Community Development" means. Perhaps other organizations will emerge which will do a specific community development task, and we may be able to work together with them, however, we want to be able to answer a question about what we do in one sentence, simply as a point principled focus. The philosophy of NCEF doesn't pay significant attention to any projects other than scholarships. Should this change, we would still have limited labor and probably wouldn't be able to do so much without diluting our resources.
We would also like donors to know what they are paying for. So if we do other things, we will raise funds specifically for that task.back
to questions
Q: But you do fund other projects, like the zoo trip
or health checkup.
A: As mentioned before, if donors want to fund specific projects, or members
would like to raise money for specific projects that would help the NCEF children
we have tried to help the members implement them. The zoo trips and health checkups
are examples, but these are projects that are quite closed: they begin and end
in a fixed time with fixed resources. They are optional projects that are not
part of NCEF's main project and in that sense are done by members individually
under the auspices of NCEF. An important point to make here is that we insist
that if money is to be spent on anything that doesn't fit exactly with the NCEF
goal, we raise money specifically for that purpose. The zoo trip is a good example:
the donor specifically donated $25 for a zoo trip. back
to questions
Q: Aren't there other organizations that do the
same thing? Why not just work with them?
A: There are many organizations doing community development work, and few do provide
scholarships. But none do it in the manner that we propose. Therefore, NCEF
is a unique experiment; though we would be willing to work with other organizations
that share our goals and principles. That is always welcome. back
to questions
Q:
Who answers the emails?
A: A desginated officer from the executive committee.back to questions
Q:
How are donations handled?
A: Donations are received either by check or online. In both cases, the treasurer
is informed, as well as the secretary. You are added to the official list by
the fundraising manager, our webmaster adds your name to the web site on the
donations page: www.nepalchildren.org/donate unless you have asked to change
your name to anonymous. Our secretary then sends you a letter of thanks, and
acknowledgement. This should serve as a receipt, and should be used for any
tax purposes. back to questions
Q:
Are donations tax deductible?
A: Yes. On July 11th, 2003, NCEF was approved as a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization
by the IRS. This makes all donations tax deductible, and is retroactive. Therefore,
even if you donated to us before July 11th, 2003, you can still claim tax
benefits for those donations. However, if you do not live in the United States,
your donation may not be tax deductible in your country. In this case, you should
check with your local tax authority. back to questions
Q:
I don't have a bank account in the United States of America. Can I sill donate?
A: Yes. Please donate online using a credit card at : www.nepalchildren.org/donate
.
Online donations are handled by an online payment system operated by Paypal Inc. (www.paypal.com), a subsidiary of eBay, www.ebay.com, (NASDAQ: EBAY) the famous online auction site. So we do not handle any of your credit card information. When you donate online, we are charged a small transaction fee by PayPal.
However, your donation may not be tax deductible in your country. back
to questions
Q:
I want to transfer money to Nepal. Will NCEF do it for me if I promise to donate?
A: No. If you give money to NCEF, it will be considered a donation. back
to questions
Q:
I want to help raise money for NCEF at my school or college. What should I do?
A: Let us know at back
to questions
Q:
I would like to be a volunteer in Nepal. What should I do?
A: Let us know at back
to questions
Q:
Do you have internship opportunities for students from other countries to visit
Nepal?
A: No. But once NCEF establishes a framework in Nepal, these opportunities are
sure to emerge. And we could certainly use any help. However, these would be
volunteer internships, so you would have to look for ways to fund your stay.
back to questions
Q:
I am very excited and have lots of ideas for NCEF! What should I do?
A: This is great. We would love to discuss them. Let us know at
back to questions
Q:
How do I become a board-member ?
A: There is an annual board
meeting in which the outgoing board elects
the board for the upcoming year. Send your candidacy statement (a
brief bio with what your plans are and what you did the past year if
you are an existing board member) before the board meeting. The date
for the board meeting with be publicly announced on the web site. A
good way to ensure you get votes at this meeting is to join the
organization as a member and surprise us with your energy and
dedication and earn our praise. back to questions
Q:
I want to help NCEF expand to a new region in Nepal. I know people who can help.
What should I do?
A: This is great. Send
us an email at to start the process. Keep in mind
that in order for NCEF to be able to expand to any area, there will have to
be a way to meet the basic needs of NCEF:
(1) collect enough applications on time.
(2) visit the students at least twice a month.
(3) File monitoring and financial reports twice a month.
This
usually means a school, needy children, reasonable internet access (at least
once a week), and dedicated volunteers to do monitoring. We would love to hear
from you. back to questions
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