Bellingcat traces $24.4 million in donor-advised fund grants to two US charities it links to India's RSS
The investigation, published Oct. 6, counts grants from 34 fund sponsors to Ekal USA and Sewa USA from 2020 to 2024, most through Fidelity Charitable, the American Online Giving Foundation and DAFgiving360. Sewa USA says it is not an RSS affiliate.
Houston. Two Houston charities received at least $24.4 million in grants from donor-advised funds between 2020 and 2024, according to an investigation the research group Bellingcat published Oct. 6. Bellingcat says both have past or present ties to India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, a Hindu nationalist volunteer organization, or to groups associated with it.
The charities are the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, known as Ekal USA, and Sewa International, which Bellingcat calls Sewa USA. From Forms 990, Bellingcat counted grants from 34 organizations that sponsor donor-advised funds, 20.7 percent of the $117.8 million the two reported in contributions and grants. It said the total may be higher, and that it found no evidence the grants funded the RSS itself.
What the filings show
By Bellingcat's count, Ekal USA reported more than $48.4 million in contributions and grants, at least $8.3 million of it from donor-advised funds, and made $33.7 million in foreign grants, all toward Ekal Vidyalaya schools in India. Sewa USA reported almost $69.4 million, at least $16 million of it from donor-advised funds, and made $29.7 million in grants to groups in South Asia and about $622,613 in the United States.
Three sponsors, Fidelity Charitable, the American Online Giving Foundation and DAFgiving360, known as Schwab Charitable before 2024, accounted for almost $20 million, or 81.7 percent, of those grants in full reporting years. All three told Bellingcat they review grantees. Fidelity Charitable's grant review page says it "does not limit grantmaking based on political, religious, or philosophical grounds."
Samuel Brunson, a law professor at Loyola University Chicago, told Bellingcat that donor-advised funds get less IRS oversight than private foundations. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said federal law requires no additional oversight of a grant to a 501(c)(3) charity. Bellingcat notes that its US arm also receives such grants.
What the charities say
Rakhi Israni, Sewa USA's vice president of public affairs, told Bellingcat that the organization "does not operate as a branch or affiliate of the RSS," takes no part in political activity and has "no role in Sewa Bharati's governance or operations." Bellingcat cites Sewa USA posts that describe links to the RSS and call Sewa Bharati, an Indian service group, a sister or partner organization.
“Foreign grants awarded to partner agencies in India, including service-oriented NGOs like Sewa Bharati, are strictly project-based, fully audited, and evaluated based on measurable humanitarian impact in education, health, and disaster relief.”
Ekal USA did not answer Bellingcat's questions, including about reports, cited by Bellingcat, that Ekal schools are used to indoctrinate children with Hindu nationalist ideology. Its FAQ says Ekal "does not discriminate based on caste, religious affiliation or linguistic affiliations."
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