SAFP’s Canada office is staffed by 8 full-time employees and 1 part-time employee.  Additional staff are also employed by Save A Family Plan India.

Our Indian partner Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) hire coordinators to implement the Family Development Program.  Program Managers in India are contracted to monitor and evaluate the programs, reporting back to SAFP Canada.

There are 8 voting members and 3 non-voting members on the SAFP Board of Directors. To view a list of our Board members’ names, visit https://safp.org/about/#governance

SAFP’s two core programs are the Family Development & Community Development programs, both of which are implemented throughout various states in India. For more information, scroll to the top of this page.

In December of 2024, SAFP India office’s Foreign Contribution Regulations Account (FCRA) license was not renewed, as it usually is every five years.  This was not, in itself, a concern, as there is no reason to believe it will not be reinstated, only delayed.

Until the FCRA is renewed, the normal funds transfer process from the Canada office to India has been interrupted, and SAFP Canada has restructured the fund transfer process. SAFP Canada now sends funds to individual Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) able to implement SAFP programs. This resulted in a delay in transferring a portion of the program funds, however, the Family Development Program will be fully operational by the end of this fiscal year.

Our staff and partners in India are familiar with the local villagers where SAFP implements its projects.  Families are selected according to the Family Development Program criteria and applications are vetted by SAFP staff to determine which families are in greatest need.  The families that have been waiting for support the longest are given first priority.

You will receive a photo along with information about each family member and the health and housing situation of your partner family.

When you partner with a new family, you will receive information about them along with a photo. You are welcome to correspond with your partner family via the Canadian office of Save A Family Plan.  Please see Contact Us for our postal and email details.  With help from local staff who translate and transcribe letters, many partner families will communicate with their donors, typically with a letter each year and a greeting at Christmastime.

SAFP is currently developing an online donor portal, which will operate much more quickly and efficiently than the postal services of India and Canada.

SAFP has a secure system in place which ensures that your partner family directly receives funds and has access to all the benefits of the Family Development Program. A network of local workers visit families to review their finances and educate them about money management, life skills, and business techniques, some of which may be shared in the letters you receive from your partner family.

SAFP strictly adheres to the Government of India’s laws and uses audits and a variety of financial controls at all levels as a part of regular program management.

Save A Family Plan Canada is a registered charity in Canada and the U.S.A.

The amount is determined and monitored by SAFP staff in Canada and India.  It is adjusted from time to time. The current monthly level in the Family Development Program (FDP) was adjusted to $25 (previously $22) as of the new fiscal year on April 1, 2024. Click here for more information.

While $25 per month is not enough to survive on in North America, in India, this amount is sufficient to encourage families who are interested in starting a small business, accessing available resources, and who are invested in learning life-lasting skills. It attracts families who want to participate in self-development and work hard to make change.

Family Development Program (FDP) field workers offer specific employment and life skills training while connecting families to available local resources and government schemes, as well as local Self Help Groups.

For more details on how our FDP works, please scroll to the top of this page.

We discourage sending significant financial gifts to your partner family. SAFP India staff work diligently to teach families how to work within their budget and how to manage their money based on an income relative to their economy. Extra gifts can actually create issues as they interrupt these budgets and the encouragement to save money. Furthermore, when some partner families receive more money than other participants, it creates inequality within the community. For this reason, partner families will not receive any special gifts during the first and last year of involvement in the program.

Rather than sending special gifts, we ask you to consider supporting another family in the program instead, or supporting one of our Community Development projects.

The month before your next donation is due, you will receive a reminder email or letter.

If your donation date has passed, attempts will be made to contact you via phone or mail to confirm that you would like to continue your support. If you would like to cancel your support, we ask that you contact us directly at info@safp.org or call 1-855-333-1115.

Your partner family will continue to be supported in the meantime, without interruption.

Once a family enters the program, SAFP ensures that they are supported until they have completed the full six years.  This ensures they have enough time in the program to reach the goal of self-sufficiency.

If you need to cancel your support at any time during the six-year term, rest assured that your partner family will continue to be supported.  When possible they will be matched with a new SAFP donor, or supported directly by the FDP Pool Fund.

Yes, you can arrange to visit your partner family if they are interested. Please contact our office for more information on the process.

We are unable to send any additional funds or manage the correspondence to your family once they have graduated from the program.

Once your partner family completes the six-year program, they will have gained self-sufficiency through their small business initiatives, and participate in local self-help groups.

You will receive a final progress report outlining this family’s achievements, as well as an introduction letter and photo of a new partner family that would benefit from your ongoing support.

You have the option to support the Family Development Program while avoiding an ongoing financial commitment by donating toward our FDP Pool Fund.  This fund fills an important need as there are instances when a donor can no longer continue to partner with a family.  The FDP Pool Fund continues to provide financial support to the family until such time that a new donor becomes available for matching.

Save A Family Plan keeps costs to a minimum so that as much of every donation goes to our mission.  In the most recent fiscal year, our audited statements confirmed that nearly 90% of every dollar donated is spent directly on our mission.  Other costs at 10.9% cover essential services including payment processing, data security, phone/email/website, and postage.

Full financial statements, as well as our Annual Report, are posted on this website at https://safp.org/about/#our-results

Help us maximize our impact with a donation toward our administrative costs by selecting “Most Urgent Needs” on any printed or online donation form, by writing a note in the comment field of your e-transfer, or as a Memo note included with your cheque.

If you are eligible for a Canadian or U.S. charitable tax receipt, you will receive one at the beginning of the new year, in time to file your taxes.  If you would prefer to receive your tax receipts immediately following a donation, please contact our office at info@safp.org or phone us toll free, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4 pm Eastern Time at 1-855-333-1115.

We invite you to donate toward our administrative costs by selecting “Most Urgent Needs” on any printed or online donation form, by writing a note in the comment field of your e-transfer, or as a Memo note included with your cheque.

Administrative expenses are a necessary and critical component of SAFP’s goal of helping thousands of families in India break the cycle of poverty.

Click here to donate now!

All Family Development Program donations are pooled centrally and are used to provide the equipment and training necessary for families to initiate a small business initiative. For the duration of the six years, Field Coordinators make home visits and assess the unique needs of each family member, connecting them with local resources and Government funding schemes that they are entitled to. Program Managers offer monitoring and evaluation services, ensuring any issues or concerns of the partner families or coordinators are addressed.

Each donor has the option to “partner” with one of the families, meaning they will receive a partner family’s application once they begin the program, and will have the opportunity to correspond through letter exchanges with this family throughout the duration of the program.