Setting the Record Straight: Sewa International Responds to Bellingcat
Bellingcat’s October 6 article, titled “Groups Associated with India’s Far-Right Receive Millions Through US Donor-Advised Funds,” concedes a central point. There is no evidence that DAF funds to Sewa have actually funded “India’s far-right,” yet it weaves a web of unsupported insinuations starting with its headline.
Sewa International is a Hindu faith-based humanitarian nonprofit. Our 5,000+ volunteers across the country are proud of that identity, and they eagerly serve people of every faith. Our finances are independently audited every year; our grants to partners are project-based and documented, and independent charity evaluators give us strong ratings, including a 4-star rating on Charity Navigator (2025) and the GuideStar Platinum Seal (2025).
Bellingcat’s figures largely match public filings. What the article leaves out is where the money came from, why it arrived when it did, and how little of it reached the organizations they aim to demonize in this article.
The money followed a pandemic, not an ideology
The article treats 2020-2024 as a single block of time. It never mentions that 2021 was the year the second wave of COVID overwhelmed hospitals across South Asia, and countless families across the world lost someone they loved. In this one year alone, Sewa received 82% of all DAF-type gifts reported during this article’s 5-year period; the other four years together account for only about 18%, averaging about $780K per year.
That spring, Americans of every background and across the country rushed to help India. Sewa’s “Help India Defeat COVID-19” campaign raised more than $7 million from over 101,000 donors in its first 10 days. Twitter, then led by CEO Jack Dorsey, gave Sewa $2.5M for the relief effort. Our total donations rose from $5.6 million in 2020 to $47.2 million in 2021.
The DAF grants and donations saved lives in the form of oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and medical supplies. By early May 2021, Sewa had already shipped more than 2,500 oxygen concentrators to India (Sewa press release, dated May 5, 2021). By year’s end, Sewa had sent almost 10,000 oxygen concentrators and 41,000 pulse oximeters and more than 275,000 health and hygiene kits and 112,000 grocery kits to over 100,000 villages, and started the work towards building greater health resiliency in 14 states across India through oxygen plants. Oxygen concentrators and other essential supplies were also sent to many other countries dealing with crippling conditions because of COVID, including Guyana, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa, Iraq, Suriname, Trinidad, and Colombia.
During this period, Sewa also worked with organizations like the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin to manage a virtual triage service connecting US medical doctors to patients on the ground in these countries. The objective was twofold: 1) keep patients with mild symptoms out of the local hospitals and identify those who need to go to the hospital sooner and 2) to decrease the burden on hospitals by decreasing misinformation and lowering panic.
In the United States, during this same period, Sewa had over 100 volunteers managing 10 helpline centers across the country to alleviate panic. We had over 800 volunteers working with FEMA to facilitate more than 200,000 vaccinations. And 34 chapters donated more than 1,000,000 pounds of food to underserved communities across the country.
Sewa’s extensive service during the pandemic in the United States and abroad was recognized by a number of US Congressmen, state representatives, and elected officials at every level across the country.
Who the donors actually are
The phrase “donor-advised funds” suggests a few wealthy, anonymous donors. Our records show otherwise:
● Nearly half was workplace and online giving. Approximately $7.9 million of the $16.9 million (47%) came through platforms such as Benevity, PayPal Giving Fund, and Network for Good. These carry employee payroll gifts, company matches, and small online donations.
● Many gifts came from ordinary families. In 2021 alone, more than 24,000 DAF donors gave to Sewa. Many of the named DAF accounts in our records gave a few hundred dollars each.
● Employers matched them. When employees at major U.S. companies chose Sewa through their workplace giving programs, their employers often matched their gift. This is corporate America’s giving system working as designed.
Sewa Bharati: about 1% of our total donations
Bellingcat’s main association argument runs through Sewa Bharati. From 2020 to 2024, the years the article covers, grants to Sewa Bharati accounted for less than 1% of the total donations Sewa received during this article’s reporting period, and every grant funded a specific project. All our grants are properly documented and audited.
Our Commitment
Sewa International does not operate as a branch or affiliate of the RSS or any other organization. It does not engage in partisan political activity, and it has no role in the governance or operations of any of our grantees, including Sewa Bharati.
We asked Bellingcat to publish this response, and to correct the impression its headline creates against its own admission. To date, we have not received a response. We further ask DAF sponsors and giving platforms to judge Sewa on its audited record, not on unproven implications and misconstrued statements that ultimately end up hurting Sewa’s beneficiaries – the people in need – who rely on our support the most.
