MADsters are awesome. MADsters are the living embodiments of working in a collective and making massive changes in the outcomes of children in shelters. You are a MADster and this page talks about what makes you a true blue MADster!!

MAD Values

Across cities, over so many years, if there is something that brings the collective together, it is the MAD Values. It forms the bedrock of how MADsters think and behave in any scenario. There are various testimonials of the MAD values helping people in their colleges and workplaces as well. In short, the MAD values is a way of life. As you already went through the 3 MAD values in detail during the Volunteer Leadership Circle, here is a quick recap-

• Cause Above Self- This is the value that unites us all behind a singular sense of purpose, and helps us look past our personal challenges to make a difference. Cause above self does not mean that you don’t matter. It just means that we care for something larger than ourselves and because we care, we go that extra mile. We do whatever it takes to support the child.
• Leadership Through Ownership- This is where each one of us takes initiative to solve the challenges we see rather than complain about them. Where we understand that we need to take ownership as a collective if we are ever going to tackle.
• Sense of Family- Here we are talking family in its truest sense of non-judgemental, collective, supportive and tight knit. It ensures we come from a space of caring for each other, instead of a transactional approach. It allows us to be our best and give our best for the cause. Trust is the critical component in sense of family and integrity is key to that trust.

The Underlying Theme of All Values is Care!

Cause above self = WHAT you care about

Leadership through ownership = HOW you care

Sense of family = The SAFE SPACE you create through care

MAD Values define how MADsters think and carry themselves. When MAD values are put into action, they result in Meaningful Participation.

MADsters Meaningfully participate in everything that they are expected to do. By reading the Volunteer HQ, you are already upskilling yourself and therefore participating meaningfully. Take a moment and pat your back!! Now continue reading as to how you can participate meaningfully in everything that happens in MAD-

1. Outcomes- Because long term change can’t be delivered by any single individual given the timeframe involved. It needs a collective. We learnt the hard way that working just as individuals focused on single aspects of delivery, whether class teaching or anything else, eventually just created silos and problems both for teams as well as children, not only during the year, but also much later down the line.

2. Fundraising- Because we want children and outcomes to stay the priority, we can’t afford to become dependent on the whims and agendas of traditional funders. That’s why we have Community Fundraising (CFR), where we all fundraise together from our friends and families.

3. Impact Data- Because neither outcomes or fundraising happens without operational and impact data. That’s why we put so much emphasis on filling in MADApp as a non-negotiable expectation.

Simple enough right? Ensure that you respond to all communications from MAD and acknowledge them too. Now do these consistently for a year and you will see the kind of magic that you will be able to create in the lives of children. It is indeed life transforming for both the child and every volunteer. It gives you skills that are transferable in any field and if you pick them up now when you're still in college/early stages of work, it will definitely help you everywhere you go.