Smarinita Shetty points out the much-hyped but underwhelming contribution to philanthropy by the ultra-wealthy and CSR. Instead, Smarinita argues for greater attention to ‘smaller-ticket individual giving or retail giving’ to enable it to grow and develop appropriately so as to be able to support Indian civil society. India has no shortage of billionaires. We added…
The Philanthropy in India report by Caroline Hartnell, published in October 2017, notes that the most promising aspect of new philanthropy in the country is the rise of giving by middle-class individual donors. However, the report also notes the lack of philanthropy infrastructure is hindering the growth of philanthropy in India. While ‘large philanthropists are supported by…
While mainstream development practices are failing and problems of poverty, conflict and inequality endure, what alternatives are there that work? In this article on IDR Anshu Gupta talks about the importance of leveraging local agency in social change processes. By Anshu Gupta There’s a recent image that will remain etched in our collective memory for…
While philanthropy in India (and elsewhere) is focusing on efficiency such as due diligence paperwork, what tools are needed to make NGOs more effective and impactful? In this article on IDR, Nimesh Sumati of Caring Friends, India talks of the importance of trust, understanding the vision and context of the founders of grassroots organisations and…
India is said to be the world’s second most unequal country, after Russia. Despite tremendous progress in reducing absolute poverty in the past two decades, and despite India’s promising economic growth, 97 per cent of the country would still be considered poor or low-income by global standards. What can developed countries with high levels of poverty like the UK learn…
By Swarna Rajagopalan I founded and run a small nonprofit, Prajnya, far from the capital city and off the radar of foundation offices; our work features neither in CSR schedules nor in government schemes; we have no FCRA or marketing genius. All I had when I started off was a decent slate of academic and interpersonal skills,…
By Jerome D’Souza Philanthropy, in its broadest sense, is love for humanity. A philanthropist has to make an ‘active effort to promote human welfare’. This means that a philanthropist is not only someone who donates a lot of money to humanitarian causes; they must also make a significant effort to change a societal problem. Because, philanthropy is not…