Donations to the Aam Aadmi Party are pouring in from all corners of the world.,Half of AAP's online funding from abroad, AAP, Online funds, AAP News, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi BJP, Congress, latest news, politics updates.

Donations to the Aam Aadmi Party are pouring in from all corners of the world.

NEW DELHI: Donations to the Aam Aadmi Party are pouring in from all corners of the world. The newest contributor is someone from the Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands. Don't worry if you have never heard of this place because neither has AAP. But the party gratefully acknowledges the tiny push that a donor from these islands, under the Kingdom of Norway, has given the campaign.

Since January this year, foreign funds to AAP's campaign have increased manifold. From just about 20% in January, online foreign contributions have increased to almost 50%. The US has been the largest contributor, beaten only once by Hong Kong in September when a single donor from there contributed Rs 50 lakh. Party sources say that Hong Kong could be the largest donor even in October.

"Overall, contributions from India continue to be the largest and form about 70% of our total funds. Online, however, foreign contributions have grown substantially. This has largely to do with dedicated volunteers who are working in various countries and generating funds for us. In September, Arvind Kejriwal held a video conference with around 50 to 60 people in Hong Kong-mostly alumni from IIT and B-schools. This month we have already managed to collect Rs 50 lakh through multiple donors from there and are expecting more donations through the remaining month," said senior party functionary.

While the number of donors from foreign countries is still only a fraction of Indian contributors, their donation amounts are often more than Rs 2,000, averaging Rs 10,000 per person and touching as much as Rs 50 lakh. Till last week, AAP had generated a list of around 56,000 donors of whom only 5,000 or so were foreign contributors. "Indian donors usually stick to small amounts. On Monday, we collected Rs 8.5 lakh from 250 people and the highest amount by a single person did not exceed Rs 2,000," said a source.

Other than the US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong which have a sizable Indian population, other countries from where support for AAP is pouring in include Nigeria, Korea and Congo.

This month itself, one video conferencing with supporters in Singapore and a google hangout for US supporters has been organized. "We usually see a surge in funding from a particular country after we have organized a meeting or event thereArvind usually addresses a group of 50-odd people but other than contributing, they also help in raising funds," said another source.

Himanshu Sharma, handling the AAP chapter in New Jersey, says they have been organizing awareness campaigns every Sunday. "Online contributions were opened up around April so there would be a marked increase since then, but we have chapters all across the world and we are engaging with people regularly. We are meeting people each week here and talking to them about AAP. Fund raising is also happening simultaneously," he said.

source:businessstandard

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