UID may be rolled out in August

The much-awaited Unique Identification Number scheme is likely to roll out pilot projects by August 2010, Nandan Nilekani said after receiving the Citizen Extraordinaire Award 2010.

"Cost-consciousness is a critical element for success for non-profits, but itcan only take you so far.We all need to ensure that we look toward thefuture to stay relevant and to grow," she said. Fundraising can be a particular challenge during tough economic times. "Wefielded a combination of tactics from good old-fashioned community outreach todigital media," the Red Cross leader said."We learned that the key was toset our sights high and try lots of different approaches", adding that thesetechniques had yielded $95 million in cash and $15 million in in-kinddonations, surpassing the original $100 million goal. "We must be relentless in demonstrating that their hard-earned money iswell spent," McGovern reported.

She noted that through a strong collectiveeffort, the Red Cross was able to drive down its deficit from $209 million ayear ago to $50 million today -- a 75 percent cut and $86 million better thanexpected. "When times are tough, the country needs us even more, andwe're committed to be at our very best," she said.Non-profit organizations must continually demonstrate that donations are wellspent. Simply put, there'sa greater acceptance to change in a crisis." During the last year, Red Cross responded to eight named hurricanes, a recordtornado season, the worst wildfires in California history, and flooding in theMidwest -- all of which emptied its disaster relief fund coffers.Theorganization faced an operating deficit of $209 million.In addition, thecountry entered into a recession, which led more people to seek assistance ata time when fundraising has been difficult."These are extraordinarily difficult times for non-profits, businesses andfamilies across the nation.I believe that if we focus on our mission, areoutstanding stewards of our donor's dollars, seek new ways to engage donors,leverage new tools and look towards the horizon, we'll weather the storm,"said McGovern. Butit's also providing the impetus for the American Red Cross and othernon-profits to make needed and sometimes overdue changes.