What types of projects are implemented by ASIA through the Long Distance Sponsorship?

Through the Long Distance Sponsorship (LDS) ASIA provides support to:

1. Children in mandatory school in the most disadvantaged and remotest areas of Tibet and in tibetan refugee settlements in India and Nepal.
2. Elders in retirement homes in Tibet's exile community in India.
3. Monks within monasteries and in traditional colleges for the studies and practice of Buddhism and Bonpo.
4. High school and university students in Tibet through  scholarships providing them all it is needed for a dignified living - books and school materials, medical care, food, heating, etc.
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What is the donation for a Long Distance Sponsorship?

For Long Distance Sponsorship of one child, elder or a monk in a monastery, 25 E/month (80 cents/day) are needed. To support a monk in one of the traditional colleges, 16 E/month are needed. With 41 E/month you can support a student in high school or in a university.

You can choose to pay your support biannually, annually or monthly using a bank transfer (we would prefer a bank transfer order), credit card or postal transfers with paying-in slips.
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Which are the different ways of payment?

The different ways of payment:

*Bank transfer in the name of ASIA Onlus
  IBAN code: IT 06 F 01030 72160 000000562272
  BIC/SWIFT code: PASC IT M1G99
*Credit card: Circuiti Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Carta Si
*Paypal
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May I state preferences as per country, sex and age of the supportee?

Yes. If you wish, you can state your preference: we will do the utmost to comply with your request, keeping in mind intervention priorities.
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How is the contribution utilized?

80% is sent to the beneficiaries to cover school expenses, living expenses for children in school, monks in monasteries and in traditional colleges, medical care and living expenses for elders in retirement homes, project management and improvement of living conditions within each structure.

20% is kept by the headquarters to cover management expenses - personnel and office costs, and to compensate for unpaid contributions until a new supporter is found.
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For how long is a distance adoption?

To guarantee continuity in the support, we ask a minimum commitment of 3 years. Obviously, the supporter has the opportunity to stay with the beneficiary until the end of mandatory schooling and can then choose to continue thru an eventual scholarship.

To give substance to our interventions, it is best to guarantee a non-stop commitment. However, this is not a constraint but a choice. If you need to stop the support, you should inform us with a 6 months advance notice, to give ASIA the opportunity to find a new supporter.
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How do I start a Long Distance Sponsorship?

- Online. Click here, fill in the form and start now your Long Distance Sponsorship
- by Fax: download here the form in pdf format and send it to +39.0644347220
- by email: download here the form in pdf format and send it to adozioni@asia-ngo.org
- Call us at +39.0644347220

After we receive your first installment, you will receive the documentation for your new Long Distance Sponsorship.
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What will I receive as a supporter?

We will send you an envelope containing an information card with the picture of the child, elder or monk you distance adopted and information on the supported project.
NB. All the documentation will be sent thru postal services.

During the year you will receive:
• 2 mails and one photo of your beneficiary
• an annual review of the work in progress in the school
• our biannually online newsletter ASIA NEWS with news on our activities
• updates through our internet site
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May I write to the beneficiary?

Yes. Through an exchange of mails and photos it is possible to establish a (rapport) relationship with the beneficiary that at times could become deep and gratifying. The mails, written in english, must be sent to the local representative, details of whom will be sent at the beginning of the support.

Your name and Sponsor Code and the name and roll number of the beneficiary must always be clearly specified in the correspondence, the frequency of which can vary depending on the type of project - geographical location, lack of technological supports, inefficiency of local postal services affect significantly times and frequency. We suggest you send postcards, drawings or short messages. We are at your disposal for free translations if needed.
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Can I visit the project and meet the beneficiary?

Yes. Trips to India, Nepal and Tibet are possible, to meet the Long Distance Sponsorshiped and to become familiar with the local reality, and we are available for related advice and suggestions.

An invitation to come to Italy on the contrary is not possible, because it is against the spirit of Long Distance Sponsorship of permitting the communities receiving the benefits to acquire locally tools and knowledge needed to become artificers of their own development. We therefore do not share a choice of bringing to Europe a person (especially a very young one) whose culture, totally different, could encounter a conflict with the western way of living and cause problems of various kinds.
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Can I send gifts?

Yes, but we recommend limiting the items and choosing them well, for example selecting collective games, so as not to create disparities between beneficiaries, nor to create excessive expectations in respect to an unknown "parent" or far away "benefactor" whose tenor of living is different from the one of the supported.

To avoid considerable shipping costs or the delivery of gifts not suitable to local conditions, we suggest you consider sending some money - together with the LDS fee or even separately - and asking the local representative to buy the gift locally. The money sent will be delivered in full, without any administrative deduction.
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Which are the payment modalities and dates?

In follow-up payments, when the originator of the payment is not the designated owner of the Long Distance Sponsorship,  it is necessary to always include the Sponsor Code specified in the letter initiating the LDS.

The payments must be made at dates mandated according to 3 solutions:
a) 2 semiannual payments of 150 Euro for LDS, 250 Euro for Scholarship and 96 Euro for traditional colleges, with deadlines of 30 june and 31 december.
b) a single yearly payment of 300. Euro for LDS, 500 Euro for Scholarship and 192 Euro for traditional colleges with deadline 31 december.
c) monthly payments with a deadline of the end of the month preceding the one covered by the payment.

It is essential that payments be made regularly, continuously and within the deadlines to avoid delays in the overall shipment of the fees to the local counterparts.
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Are donations in behalf of ASIA deductible?

For donations done in Italy:

As ASIA is both NGO (Non Governative Organization) and ONLUS (Italian Non-Profit Organization), donations for Long Distance Sponsorship are:

• for INDIVIDUALS, deductible from the taxable income for all the donations up to  10% of the income declared, and a year maximum of 70.000 Euro.

• for COMPANIES, deductible from the declared business taxable income up to 10% of the declared business income and up to a year maximum of 70.000 Euro. The maximum deductible of 70.000 Euro can be exceeded as the DL 35/05 provides (only for IRES subjects) for the applicability of pre-existing dispositions, that is the deductibility of 2% of the declared business income.

For donations done abroad:

Tax deduction is possible for suscribers paying trough ASIA's offices in their countries according to national tax laws.
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Which documents should I save for fiscal deductability?

If you are paying through a bank transfer or a credit card, save the credit card statements or the receipts of the bank transfer (if they specifically name ASIA Onlus).

If needed, you can always ask ASIA for a receipt certifying the payments made during the year in question.
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Is there a national coordination in this sector, guaranteeing better
information, transparency, validity and continuity of projects?

Yes. La Gabbianella is the national organization that coordinates associations active in the area of Distance Support. Its aim is the promotion, protection and development of distance support.

ASIA Onlus is one of the founders and a member of La Gabbianella.

Associations in La Gabbanella have subscribed to and implement the Charter of Principles and Charter of Criterions for Quality.

La Gabbianella Onlus offers a toll-free number (only for Italy): to private citizens, supporters and associations in order to implement the principle of transparency stated in the Charter of Principles, to which the member associations have subscribed. The service can be reached only via land phones, is free and available monday to friday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
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Questions and Answers

What types of projects are implemented by ASIA through the Long Distance Sponsorship?
Answer

What is the donation for a Long Distance Sponsorship?
Answer

May I state preferences as per country, sex and age of the supportee?
Answer

How is the contribution utilized?
Answer

For how long is a distance adoption?
Answer

How do I start a Long Distance Sponsorship?
Answer

What will I receive as a supporter?
Answer

May I write to the beneficiary?
Answer

Can I visit the project and meet the beneficiary?
Answer

Can I send gifts?
Answer

Which are the payment modalities and dates?
Answer

Are donations in behalf of ASIA deductible?
Answer

Which documents should I save for fiscal deductability?
Answer

Is there a national coordination in this sector, guaranteeing better
information, transparency, validity and continuity of projects?
Answer

THE BENEFICIARIES

• STUDENTS

• BONPO MONKS

• MONKS IN COLLEGES

• ELDERS