(Photo by iStock/Sasiistock)
The global humanitarian movement is under siege. With the dismantling of USAID, it has become clear that we need new paradigms and modalities if we are to resuscitate—or even invigorate—the global humanitarian enterprise. Current models of private philanthropy alone can’t make up for the sudden reduction of American development assistance (which itself follows on a more gradual reduction in aid from the United Kingdom), and we need to acknowledge that effective organizations as well as entire sub-sectors, such as the work to control and eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases, may collapse in the months ahead.
However, those of us involved in international solidarity need to look past the current retrenchment to search for new ideas and sources of resources. One of the most promising new ideas is to improve the amount and the quality of diaspora philanthropy, while concurrently ensuring that younger generations of those whose parents and grandparents immigrated from the Global South engage in this important work. The growing wealth and influence of diaspora populations around the world can become a vital new resource for solving vexing transnational problems.
Take the case of India. There are an estimated 30 million people of Indian origin living around the world, including 5 million in the United States alone. In America, Indian Americans are now recognized as the wealthiest ethnic group in the country with growing political influence. Its members lead major companies such as Google, Microsoft, Adobe, YouTube, and IBM. If they can engage in institutional philanthropy as deeply as they have impacted high tech, finance, hotel management, medicine, and academia, they could radically increase the resources and talent available for philanthropic ventures in India and the United States while also serving as a model for other diaspora groups around the world.
Some may ask, why donate to India, the fifth largest economy in the world, which by 2030 will be the third? India remains a country of contradictions. While it has, by far, the largest number of poor people in the world, India has arguably pulled more people out of poverty over the last 20 years than any other country in history (with the possible exception of China). And while India’s is the fastest growing of the world’s large economies, 25 percent of its youth, ages 15-24, are neither employed nor involved in any form of training or education. India is also home to some of the most effective, efficient, and innovative nonprofits in the world today, with unmatched abilities to scale their innovations through public sector entities.
Growing Indian-American philanthropy—and, more generally, American private philanthropy to India—offers three major opportunities: To increase the volume of resources, to improve the quality of aid, and to ensure that second- and third-generation Indian-Americans embrace not only philanthropy, but also giving to the land of their ancestors. If these opportunities can be seized, a new model of private giving will emerge that could impact the living conditions and ecosystems throughout the Global South and reinvigorate the notions of charity and cross-border solidarity in the Global North.
Serious efforts to study how to increase the amount of Indian-American diaspora philanthropy have been underway for nearly a decade, as a variety of studies explore (see the Gates Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Bridgespan, and others). A 2018 survey by Dalberg and Indiaspora pinpointed two seemingly contradictory findings: India-Americans volunteer their time at nearly double the rate of typical Americans, but they donate their money at one-third of what their non-diaspora peers do. When this study was released, noted philanthropist Sunil Wadhwani challenged the community to triple their giving within a decade, which would have amounted to an incremental increase of $2 billion in donations annually (roughly the equivalent of adding a second Gates Foundation).
Since then, Indian-American giving increased dramatically, if momentarily, in response to the COVID second wave in India in 2021—demonstrating what is possible when there is a compelling need. Another factor spurring more giving has been the establishment of a new annual tradition in 2023: India Giving Day. Launched by the India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA), which I lead, it adapted the relatively recent innovation of "giving days"—which have catalyzed increased philanthropy in many mid-sized American metropolitan areas, small states, and universities—to a national campaign focused on a single country. Other noteworthy initiatives to energize diaspora philanthropy include Giving Pi by Dasra and ChaloGive by Indiaspora. Dalberg is currently resurveying the Indian-American community to measure how much these efforts to spur more Indian American giving to all causes have accomplished over the past 7 years. But there are already indications they are beginning to pay off; according to a 2023 study by Bridgespan, Indian American giving to India alone was estimated to have reached $200 million annually.
Perhaps spurred in part by the growth of diaspora philanthropy, there has been a proliferation of new initiatives in India around giving that have sought to institutionalize the time-honored tradition of seva, or service. For example, there is Daan Utsav (formerly the Joy of Giving Week), Accelerate Indian Philanthropy, and Living My Promise. Philanthropy appears to be one of those things that can be contagious and influence communities across national boundaries.
Increasing the amount of diaspora philanthropy is important and relatively easy to measure, but improving the quality of giving is at least as important. Towards that end, IPA developed guidelines to help realize the potential of diaspora philanthropy for India.
Many Indian-American donors begin their journey with what I term "Philanthropy 1.0": They give to causes very close to them and which in some cases result in increased prestige for the donor. In the diaspora, this includes funding schools and temples in one’s ancestral village in India. Giving in this model is often focused on things that are visible and that address an immediate and visceral need, and where the theory of change is easy to understand (e.g., Smile Train). Gala dinners are often used to mobilize donations.
In the 2.0 version of giving, there must be an increased focus on projects, efficiency, and partnering with strong brands, whether Ivy League universities or venerable humanitarian charities addressing basic needs such as education and health care. The emphasis on efficiency has a tendency to get reduced to measuring overhead rates and giving more to those who claim the lowest ones. Outputs are rigorously measured, and strict oversight of nonprofit partners is typical, but there is a cost to this: projects tend to be implemented in easy-to-reach locations, since it makes frequent visits to ensure accountability more convenient.
While the second version is generally an improvement on the first, it does not represent the final destination for the most sophisticated givers. In "Philanthropy 3.0," donations are made with few if any restrictions over multiple years, are focused more on building resilient institutions capable of learning and adaptation rather than on projects, work in the areas of highest need, and above all focus more on effectiveness (outcomes and impact) than on efficiency. Most fundamentally, this means having Indian Americans buy into the notion of supporting institutional philanthropy run by professionals, as opposed to channeling resources through family and business networks, or setting up new Indian nonprofits under their direct control.
Resources channeled to India can have significant impact due to some unusual aspects of the Indian landscape. For example, many state and local governments in India have shown great interest in scaling up innovations developed by NGOs, which stretches each donated dollar. But in order to sustain that impact, a third element is needed: Nonprofits channeling American donations for effective work in India need to better engage second- and third-generation members of the diaspora in their work.
For many otherwise outstanding organizations, being youth-friendly does not come easily or naturally. Decades of focusing on cultivating businessmen (and a few women) in their 50s, 60s, and 70s has shaped fundraising practices to a large degree. As a result, many young Indian-Americans, despite being aware and active on social and environmental issues, feel limited affinity for India and charities working there.
To this end, IPA developed detailed guidelines for becoming a youth-friendly nonprofit, based on a year of study of the literature and nonprofits that excelled in this area (see our summary in a two-part series in the Chronicle of Philanthropy). We recommended more youth-friendly marketing and events, greater board representation (by having at least one person under 35 on each organization’s governing body), giving young leaders autonomy and appropriate recognition, encouraging them to see and even participate in social impact projects in India (often by integrating them into summer visits to see family there), and decentralizing organizational decision-making. IPA also launched a national youth essay competition focused on second- and third-generation Indian Americans in middle and high school that allowed the winners to donate $1,000 to the cause of their choice and receive speaking roles at a major diaspora philanthropy conference held each year.
As recently as twenty years ago, the US-India philanthropy corridor was dominated by organizations such as the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and the Omidyar Network. Today, they are being matched if not overtaken by philanthropies such as the Rural India Supporting Trust (established by the entrepreneur Manoj Bhargava), the S.M. Sehgal Foundation (founded by the crop science innovator Suri Sehgal), the Wadhwani Foundation, the Neera and Deepak Raj Foundation, the Ujala Foundation, and scores of family foundations started by Indian-Americans that are operating just below the media’s radar.
On the periphery of the traditional philanthropic sector described above are social enterprises and impact investing in India that benefit from growing diaspora involvement. There are also nonprofits in the United States founded by Indian Americans that address local needs in innovative ways, such as Hunger Mitao, which addresses food insecurity, and Boys Who Write, which attempts to inculcate empathy and communication skills among preteen American males of all races.
Other diaspora groups—whether living in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, or East Africa—can study and hopefully improve upon these approaches to spurring more, better, and more sustainable cross-border philanthropy. It’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to rescue the global humanitarian enterprise. Growing and improving diaspora philanthropy must be a part of any effective and lasting response. And what better place to start than India, the world’s most populous and diverse nation?
Read more stories by Alex Counts.