From Growing Up in a Slum to Building Funding Systems for NGOs

For most people, poverty is a statistic. For Prayas Sarwadhikari, it is a part of his lived experience.

Coming from a humble family and growing up in a slum, Prayas saw first-hand how limited access to education, opportunity, healthcare and basic resources can shape a person's future. It gave him an early understanding of the communities that are often left behind, and a deep belief in the role NGOs play in changing that.

His understanding became more practical during his full time stunt with Magic Bus India Foundation. Working at the intersection of social impact and purpose-led marketing, Prayas worked on initiatives with brands including Himalaya Wellness, Paragon, Ather, Rapido and Kunafa Bytes, along with campaigns such as Saviourthon. The experience gave him an inside view of how social programmes are built, implemented and sustained, and how partnerships can bring resources and visibility to meaningful causes.

It also made one thing clear to him: great programmes need sustainable funding to create lasting impact.

“An NGO can have the right mission, the right people and the right programme. But if it cannot raise money consistently, its impact will always remain smaller than its potential. I want to change that.”
— Prayas Sarwadhikari

That realization led Prayas to focus his digital marketing, performance marketing and fundraising expertise specifically on the social sector.

Today, he is building Blue Moon Digital, a specialised fundraising agency for NGOs, focused on creating digital fundraising systems rather than one-off campaigns. His work with organisations including Magic Bus India Foundation, Satvikdaan Charitable Foundation, Divine Charitable Foundation, WinDivine Global Foundation and Manavseva Bahuudeshiya Gramin Vikas Sanstha has centred on strengthening digital fundraising and building the credibility needed to attract individual donors, CSR teams and strategic partners.

Prayas has also founded Deep Roots Foundation, a personal initiative to give back to his hometown by building educational labs for backward and underserved communities with limited access to business education.

His ambition is to help NGOs scale towards ₹10–50 lakh a month through digital crowdfunding, while building the digital footprint required to unlock larger CSR and collaboration opportunities.

For Prayas, fundraising is not simply about asking people for money. It is about building enough trust, transparency and connection for people to believe in a cause and support it consistently.

His social perspective also reflects in his writing, including Fuck Off Merit, where he questions systems that assume everyone starts from the same place.

His journey has brought together lived experience, social-sector exposure and digital expertise. Today, he is using that combination to help NGOs move from unpredictable fundraising to sustainable digital funding, allowing them to spend less time worrying about survival and more time creating lasting impact.

Prayas Sarwadhikari
Fundraising Consultant & Founder, Blue Moon Digital
+91 7620290895
bluemoonscale.com