Support

Our initiatives run on your Donations, CSR Funds, Grants, and Commissions

Supporting our initiatives is a win-win for both you, your organization and for us and the craftspeople we work with.

We are forever grateful to our Partners who are our stakeholders — for their contribution in kind or otherwise.

Whether you are an individual, an organization, a foundation or a company — you can engage with and support our programs in the following ways based on what sort of outcome you are hoping to achieve:

1. Donations from Individuals and Groups

We accept donations from individuals and organizations who wish to support us with partial or full funding for any or all of the funding categories* listed below. To make a donation, please click the button below or fill out the form at the bottom of the page. You shall receive a receipt of your donation as well as be listed in our Partners and Donors page.

If you donate funds for an entire Typeface — we shall be including you/your organization name in all our outreach, press and academic articles.

If you have questions about your contribution, please feel free to get in touch or fill out this form.

2. CSR Funds & Grants from Companies, Organizations and Foundations

There are 7 different levels of funding support your company can provide to us as specified in the Funding Categories* listed below.

If your company gives us financial support an entire Typeface — we shall be honored to include its name and contribution in all our outreach, press and academic articles. Additionally, we shall feature your organization profile on our Partners page.

If you have questions about your contribution, please feel free to get in touch or fill out this form.

3. Commissions

Various corporations and organizations have and continue to commission us to develop visual communication systems such as brand identities, logos bespoke typeface/font design, print and online marketing communiation, reports, newsletters etc. based on the cohesion of India's rich and myriad contemporary crafts and design idiom.

Some examples of this are the Atelier Muji Ginza (exhibition in Tokyo, Japan), the Kutch brand identity for Hank Yu (Japan), Make it New Again, poster designs for Bold: design from India, at the London Design Festival; the book cover design for Skin Ink and, the identity for Sangam the Australia India Design Platform.

If you have questions on our working methodology, stages or would like to share details of your project with us, please feel free to email us or fill out this form.

4. Partnerships and Collabrations

The Typecraft Initiative is seeking partners interested in using these typefaces for primary education and adult literacy. If interested do get in touch.

*Funding categories.

While we accept any amount of donations or grants, we would prefer if your funds can be directed to our project expenses as indicated here:

Funding all costs associated with creating a Typecraft Font
This level of funding includes the coverage of all fees and expenses associated with the creation of a complete Typecraft typeface/font — as specified in 2–7 below. In exchange for their support, the funding company/foundation/entity will receive exclusive rights to the usage of the typeface if they so choose.
Funding of Crafts Worskhops
Funds to cover fees for the creation of crafts-based letters for a 10 day workshop with upto 15 craftspersons. Coverage or craftsperson fees, their food, local conveyance and material costs. Here, some of the CSR funds are used to cover the cost of making (the artisan fees and expenses; the designer fees); travel fees for workshop and font design and development fees.
Funds for crafts-cordination fees for a locally based crafts-co-ordinator
Funds to cover fees for a team of designers (upto 2) to visit the craft cluster — travel, board & lodging and salaries for upto 10 days plus 2 days travel.
Funds to cover fees for the coverage of scanning, vectorizing/tracing the letters, cleaning and clarifying for legibility.
Funds for font development fees — where the vector letters are then converted through a series of technical steps (such as setting kerning pairs, assigning ASCII codes, testing and tweaking etc.) into a working typeface.
Documentation and Promotion
Additionally, funds can be made available for:

Documentation of the project: photographs, videos including video interviews with v/o can be made.
Promotion of the project via various social media channels such as LinkedIn and Instagram can be created to promote the impact the CSR funds have made.

*Please note that these rates are subject to change based on various factors such as geographical location within India as well as, the materials and crafts used, the number of people involved as well as in line with fair wages and fees which are updated annually to account for inflation.

How to Make a Contribution?

To make a contribution, please submit the form at the bottom of the page or email us with you name, the name of your company, what sort of funding are you planning to offer and if there is a particular group of craftspoeple you would like us to work with.

We typically work in crafts clusters in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar but are able to accommodate your requests as well.

Outcomes

Our funders are given monthly project reports detailing out the work done, and if a workshop with craftspeople was conducted, then images, outcomes and impact would be shared as part of the reports. A final report is given out once the typeface has been developed. Beyond this, we also share sales reports with our funders who want to know how many fonts have been sold and how those payments were used by Typecraft towards the same or additional initiatives.

At The Typecraft Initiative we recognize that partnerships with corporates are not about mere financial transactions, but instead about working together on shared goals and values between our organization and those the companies place through their CSR initiatives

Our Approach

Identifying value matches for corporates
Reducing the costs of project management

Due Diligence

Execution
Setting up a cross functional teams with both corporates and service providers and/or last mile delivery partners to initiate and develop the project
Gaining the support of management within the corporate towards the project
Selecting the project lead or project champion
Drawing up a clear project plan that lays down goals, scope of work, timelines and responsibilities
Maintaining momentum – ensuring the project remains important to all partners

Measuring and Communicating Results

Assessing impact through accountability by developing Pre-Impact and Post-Impact Reports
Communicating the results of a successful partnership via press releases, blogs, CSR reports and website updates

Partner with us

Our Approach

Mission Alignment
- Identifying value matches for corporates
- Reducing the costs of project management

Due Diligence
- Gathering on-ground knowledge (especially in relatively inaccessible parts of the country)
- Bringing together credible, proven, ethical service providers and last mile delivery partners (where applicable)
- Establishing mechanisms for scaling up operation
- Conducting market research and learning from pilots
- Ensuring all compliance is adhered to – closed loop feedback mechanism, cashless integrated platform, best practices

Execution
- Setting up a cross functional teams with both corporates and service providers and/or last mile delivery partners to initiate and develop the project
- Gaining the support of management within the corporate towards the project
- Selecting the project lead or project champion
- Drawing up a clear project plan that lays down goals, scope of work, timelines and responsibilities
- Maintaining momentum – ensuring the project remains important to all partners

Measuring and Communicating Results
- Assessing impact through accountability by developing Pre-Impact and Post-Impact Reports
- Communicating the results of a successful partnership via press releases, blogs, CSR reports and website updates

For Service Providers

Our Approach

Shared Goal
- Ensuring compatibility between corporate and service provider
- Drawing up mutually acceptable metrics
- Assigning a Project Lead from within the corporate to coordinate with

Become Long Term Partners
- Guaranteeing equal status within the partnership
- Successful partnerships will result in third party endorsement

Transparent and timely execution of projects
- Assessment and reassessment of goals and progress
- Cashless, integrated platform
- Closed loop feedback mechanism

List of Existing Service Providers

We actively seek and build like-minded partnerships with Service Providers across our three focus areas

Sustainable Livelihood and Vocational Skills among craftspeople
Skill upgradation through design workshops especially for craftswomen
The promotion of Literacy

If you would like to support us on any of these areas of focus, please fill out the following form and reach out to us for more questions or to set up an appointment. Thank you for your time.

**While The Typecraft Initiative is not a registered foundation, the organization solely runs on donations and grants we receive from our funders. All our initiatives are done in partnerships with foundations and NGOs who are able to accept CSR and other sorts of grants (including international grants) to support crafts initiatives.

Donate

Funding Categories

Drop us a line (form)

Hetal ben, Mundra, Kutch

Hetal ben a college student and master Soof (suf) embroiderer, shows us one of the most challenging letterforms (due to the diagonal) in Soof — the K.

Nirmala at the Barmer applique workshop

Nirmala is designing a letter, B, using the motifs used in applique, during the Typecraft Design Methodolgy Workshop.

Jeni ben, Sumrasar Sheikh, Kutch

Jen ben finishes her first letter, an 'R', in Dhebaria Rabari embroidery

Hetal ben at the workshop

At the Typecraft Design Methodology Workshop that we use to inspire craftswomen to explore new forms using the building blocks of their craft

Sunita Pavle, Godna artist, Jamgala, Chattisgarh

Sunita worked on one of the three designs of the Godna alphabet. Here she proudly holds a placard with her name in Godna.

Paakko Embroidery, Kutch

Pawan ba focussed on finishing the complex and highly intricate Paakko embroidery, during our workshop in Kutch

Bhammi devi, Barmer Patchwork

Jeni ben, Sumrasar Sheikh, Kutch

Chunni devi, Barmer Applique

Chunni devi creating paper-cut letters, like thiis H. The use of letters, which are alien to the forms they are used to working in them, challenged the women and they were able to come up with new designs for the first time, as they are usually excluded from these processes.

The process of tinching, which is something new for many of the craftswomen

Nirmala, an artisan-design at the Barmer Applique workshop

Nirmala, a master craftsperson working on the applique of her own design of the letter K

Typecraft Design Methodology Workshop

Craftswomen are busy creating paper-cut letters in the initial days of the workshop. The use of letters, which are alien to the forms they are used to working in them, challenged the women and they were able to come up with new designs for the first time, as they are usually excluded from these processes.

The Typecraft Initiative

Support