Lokesh Todi, 28, has raised over $100,000 in six days using the crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo. He returned to Kathmandu nine months ago after completing his M.B.A. from Yale University with a course on managing global catastrophes. He currently works in his family cement business, Reliance Group Nepal.

How has the earthquake affected your friends and family?

Image Lokesh Todi Credit... Reliance Group

Luckily for me and my immediate family and friends, nothing traumatic happened. We are lucky we are from good backgrounds in safe homes with access to food and drinking water. There’s guilt associated with that; it plays on your mind. People are mentally scarred. My 9-year-old nephew is still afraid to climb the stairs past the first floor in case something happens.

How are you using technology to help in relief efforts?

Indiegogo is a site much like Kickstarter, but people use it for fund-raising. The whole idea was to use me and my cousin Aditya’s network of friends in the United States to raise money. We raised $20,000 within the first 12 hours. Overnight, after I took photos of the destruction and shared them on Facebook, it shot up to $40,000. People are engaging with us because I’m posting video updates, responding to the press and connecting with individuals. (According to the site, in six days, 1,445 people have raised more than $116,000.)

I’m also working with Global Shapers, a network of young leaders, in partnership with Childreach, an NGO working in the Sindhupalchowk district. I’m posting on Facebook what they need and handling the logistics of getting the aid to them. I’m also working with Uber to pick up donations from people’s homes in India. A friend at an Indian airline was able to help me figure out how to get the aid here. I’ve had to tell people only to collect things I’m asking for on behalf of the NGO; we’d rather get cash than donations for things we don’t need. That’s the message the government should be telling people.

In Nepal, we don’t have a good, structured, central way of handling disasters, so we depend heavily on international aid and NGOs. The country needs to be thankful for them, but after they leave, the burden shifts to local NGOs who don’t have international connections to raise money. My aim is to get money for local NGOs to do relief work for the foreseeable future, one or two years. One hundred rupees, or one dollar, goes a long way in a small village in Nepal. That’s two or three big meals.

How do you ensure that your efforts make an impact on the ground?

We’ve identified three areas for the money to go: child care, women’s issues and sanitation. We have another 20 days or so before the funds are released from Indiegogo, but in the meantime we are vetting local NGOs: What is their history and do they have experience with the community and terrain?