Indian Cancer Society: Innovative Funding of Cancer Treatment More than 10 years and three investment rounds after it had created a new model for fundraising—through which more than 5,000 donors had contributed towards a cause that had impacted 11,054 lives, with a total disbursement of INR 184 crore until March 31, 2022—the Indian Cancer Society (ICS) faced new challenges. The roadblock that had emerged in 2010 had raised its head once again in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Net earnings on a huge amount of corpus were close to negligible, and the dwindling interest and dividend rates had made it challenging to get a reasonable return. Earlier, dividends from debt funds were tax-free for the investor and the Dividend Distribution Tax was payable by the fund. In 2020, these dividends became taxable in the hands of the recipient at their marginal tax rate. Thus, the mutual fund model adopted in 2010 was no longer practical for philanthropy funding. How would ICS continue to generate the funds that were required to not only sustain itself but also treat underprivileged patients with cancer, a disease whose treatment drained the pockets of even relatively affluent people?