Prior permission This is a provision for nonprofits to receive a one-off foreign donation. Organisations that are younger than three years old, do not have an FCRA registration, or have had their registration cancelled or suspended, can apply for a prior permission certificate. They need to specify their purpose, names of donors, and the amount of donation they are expecting. They must also submit a letter of commitment from the donor, specifying the same details. If there is a change in the purpose or the donor midway, the permission lapses, and has to be re-validated. Prior permission can often be more difficult to get than the FCRA certificate, because in this case even the donor organisation is scrutinised. Any connection found between the Indian nonprofit and the foreign donor (for instance, a common board member or employee) is a red flag. The time taken by the government to give a decision on prior permission is usually between eight and 15 months. This leads to the additional difficulty of ensuring that the donor stays committed while the application is processed. The number of nonprofits applying for prior permission has been at a continuous decline—from 604 nonprofits in 2003 to nine in 2017. Prior approval This is a list on which the central government can place a foreign donor. Those on this list must seek government approval for every donation to an Indian nonprofit. There are about 20 donors on the prior approval list. Research has found that progressively fewer nonprofits get funded by donors who are on the list. Also, the quantum of donations made by these donors has fallen from INR 327 crore in 2012-13, to INR 49 crore in 2016-17.