Rao Family Trust (RAFT)

Choosing the right route

• RAFT's website describes no application route for an open call.
• The projects it lists are with partners it already funds.

A call reported by third parties

• Third-party funding listings have reported a call titled "AI for transformative social impact", with a deadline of 30 September 2026. That deadline has passed.
• RAFT's own website does not list this call, so its terms are unconfirmed. A reposted listing says it prefers Maharashtra.

What the trust says it values

• Its approach is evidence-based, with a focus on measurable, sustainable results.
• It describes trust-based partnerships, flexible funding and sustained collaboration.

Before you rely on it

• The trust was set up in November 2025. Its first audited financial reports were promised for mid-2026, and we did not find them on its website.

The Rao Family Trust (RAFT) is a private family trust set up in November 2025. It makes grants to nonprofits through long-term partnerships, and its projects are in Maharashtra, Assam and West Bengal. Its home page sets out five pillars, among them education and technology for good.

How RAFT works

RAFT describes itself as a private family trust that provides patient capital through long-term partnerships. It says it works through trust-based partnerships, flexible funding and sustained collaboration. It describes its approach as evidence-based and focused on measurable, sustainable results. Each partner leads one or more projects that RAFT funds.

Funded projects

RAFT's project list shows nine projects: seven in Maharashtra, one in Assam and one in West Bengal.

In Pune, one project supports girls from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, with a grant running from 2015 and ongoing. The trust itself was set up in 2025, so that start year is earlier than the trust. Two other Pune projects, both running from 2025 to 2026, are for incubated startups, and one of them covers the wider startup ecosystem.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, a 2026 to 2027 project supports women farmers in Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Pune districts. Another supports tribal and marginalized communities in Mahad taluka, Raigad district, and a third supports residents of M/E Ward in Mumbai. In Ratnagiri, a 2025 to 2028 project focuses on three hornbill species: the Malabar pied hornbill, the great hornbill and the Malabar grey hornbill.

In Assam, a 2025 to 2029 project supports children from the Mising tribe in Majuli. In West Bengal, a 2026 to 2027 project in Jhargram is for boys from hunting communities and wildlife.

Reach and reporting

Partners publish their own reach figures on the project pages. We have not verified those figures, so they are not repeated here.

The trust said its first audited financial reports would be published in mid-2026. We did not find them on its website when we checked.