Chitrapur Heritage Foundation, USA

The CHF is not a Sabha of the Shri Chitrapur Math(SCM) Bhanap community.

To date, the funding provided by CHF has been directed towards CSB’s, SCM and our Math’s projects in India. However, going forward the CHF Board may choose to fund suitable US charities if their goals are in concurrence with CHF’s mission.

CHF funds may be used to offset certain costs of Satsangs, social functions and Prarthana Varga classes at the discretion of the CHF Board. If certain funds are specifically donated for a cause aligned with the direction of CHF then such funds could be used for those specific purposes.

Our CHF website at www.chfusa.org has member specific content available for you. Such specific content will be of use for any and all Bhanaps in the US. The benefits of enrolling in CHF USA website are many fold:

1. Eligible members will automatically receive newsletters, and get invites to CHF arranged special and community events
2. You could order (download) your receipts of donations etc.
3. You can process your donations with minimal data entry (BTW, we do not store your credit card history online but process payments via secure agencies such as Paypal etc).
4. You can search for other members from our community all across US (will be made available soon).
5. Membership is restricted to Bhanaps so that you know your details are secure.

Since CHF is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) not-for- profit organization (EIN 20-2738955), donations to it are tax-deductible. However, please check with your tax consultant for the specific deductions that would apply in your specific case.

Yes. Since the Vantiga is also paid as a donation to CHF, it is also tax-deductible and the same conditions apply as stated in the previous answer (see (6) above).

Our revered H.H. Shrimat Anandashram Swamiji said – “If all paid vantiga at the rate of 1% of their income, the daily as well as occasional services at the Maths could be performed without any anxiety and the sadhana contemplated by us could be accomplished with peace of mind”

CHF recommends that you consider donations at the following suggested levels. Support A Student at $250/year per student supported. Vantiga at 1% of your annual revenue or at a minimum of $1/day. Further, Donations for special projects in any amount are welcome.

CHF remits Vantiga collections at the end of each quarter to Shri Chitrapur Math (SCM) along with the names of the vantiga payers. Unless explicitly specified by the payer, his/her name will appear in the Directory published every 4 years by the Math Publications department.

Giving Vantiga is a right extended to only members of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins by the Integrated Scheme approved by the District Court of Karwar. A CSB lady is entitled to pay Vantiga after her marriage outside the CSB community, while her husband and children cannot pay Vantiga but can offer padapuja, perform sevas and seek mantradiksha. Ladies from other communities who marry into the CSB community are considered as Chitrapur Sarawats and can pay Vantiga in their own right. Any family member can donate to any SCM charity or give a general donation to the Math.

Technically, such a donation does not count as a vantiga. However, any non-bhanap can donate to the Math through CHF. CHF will provide the donor with a receipt for tax purposes.

The donation page on the CHF website allows you to specify the manner in which you want to split the donated amount between various projects, support-a- student, vantiga or general fund.

If the project specified is not currently supported by CHF, the CHF Board will need to make a decision about whether it should be on its grantee list. The decision will be based on whether the project is in concurrence with CHF’s mission or not.

We provide receipt(s) electronically if an email address has been provided (during login) or updated later. If you desire a physical receipt, Please send us your details to contactus@chfusa.org with a postal address and a hardcopy receipt will also be mailed to that address.

Please contact any CHF Board member and we will be happy to help you with suitable support such as list of members in the area and ideas for best way to conduct the event. Email id and contact details for each CHF Board Member are provided on our website.

Please choose the location on our website where you would like your details to be published. We will work with the website editorial team to get your content published. Please send the details to webmaster@chfusa.org and volunteers from the web team will get in touch with you right away.

Please confirm the date, location and time of your event and provide us the details you would like to publish on our website. We will work with the website editorial team to get your event details published. Please send the details to webmaster@chfusa.org and volunteers from the web team will get in touch with you right away.