By Pragya Raj Singh
The India Philanthropy Alliance leader on IGD Live, diaspora philanthropy, and the growing movement behind India Giving Day.
For the global community that powers India Giving Day (IGD), the initiative has become far more than a single day of giving. It has evolved into a collective movement connecting non-profits, donors, volunteers, and changemakers committed to supporting social development across India.
At the center of that effort is Meenakshi Mahajan, deputy director at the India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) and director of India Giving Day, who has played a key role in shaping the platform’s growth and deepening engagement across the Indian diaspora. Since its launch, India Giving Day has steadily expanded its reach, spotlighting organizations working across education, livelihoods, public health, climate resilience, and community development.
This year, a particularly exciting feature of the initiative is IGD Live, a livestream experience designed to bring together community leaders, non-profit partners, donors, and supporters for a shared celebration of philanthropy and impact.
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In this conversation, Mahajan reflects on how India Giving Day has grown into a global movement, the inspiration behind IGD Live, and how diaspora philanthropy continues to shape the future of giving to India.
India Giving Day has grown into a major moment for diaspora philanthropy each year. From your vantage point at IPA, what has been most exciting about the way the movement has evolved?
Meenakshi Mahajan: When India Giving Day was initially visualized, the idea was to provide a trusted space where non-profits, donors, and the community could come together. We did not look upon this as a mere fundraising initiative, but rather as a movement providing a common space and fulfilling a need in the community to connect and join forces in support of social development initiatives in India, to scale the philanthropy going to India, and to create an even bigger impact for those who benefit from the humanitarian work supported through India Giving Day.
What has been most exciting is seeing that initial vision, the kindling of an idea, evolve into a definitive and joyous movement where thousands have joined hands. This movement belongs to the entire India Giving Day community: the donors, non-profit staff, volunteers, board members, IGD co-chairs, leadership and the team, and those working on the ground in India to make change happen. In this, we can see Gandhi’s vision of “Be the change you wish to see in the world” come to life.
A particularly exciting part of the initiative this year is IGD Live. What is IGD Live, and how does it bring the stories of India’s changemakers closer to a global audience?
IGD Live evolved from our Executive Director Alex Counts’ initial idea of holding a 24-hour live session during India Giving Day. As with every new idea, there was some initial skepticism, some enthusiasm, and a great deal of brainstorming.
After many conversations, the idea evolved into a three-hour livestream on March 13, India Giving Day, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm ET, in partnership with Digimentors.
As I mentioned earlier, the success of India Giving Day is a product of many people working together. Through IGD Live, we want to shine a light on this community. We want to showcase some of the success stories and the people behind them. We want to inspire, educate, and motivate those who are not yet part of the movement, and we want people to experience the joy of giving.
You could call IGD Live a celebration of American philanthropy to India. It will feature community leaders, IGD ambassadors, special guests, volunteers, youth, and stories from across the India Giving Day movement. Hosted by Alex Counts, Sree Sreenivasan, Manisha Bharti, and Neha Gupta, with special guests including Vijay Amritraj, MR Rangaswami, Deepak Raj, Isheeta Ganguly, and Simi Shah, it will show what is possible when many people join hands in a common mission.
The organizations featured through India Giving Day represent a wide range of impact areas. Are there any stories that capture the spirit of the initiative for you?
I would like to share three stories that capture the spirit of the initiative: one from the perspective of a donor, another from the non-profits that participate, and a third from the field that reflects the impact of the work.
Last year, after concluding a highly successful India Giving Day, we held a debrief session with all the participating non-profits, as is our tradition. There was high energy, frank and growth-oriented feedback, and a great deal of excitement among the participants. Toward the end of the session, several people asked how they could continue having these conversations throughout the year. That moment showed the impact on participating non-profits in terms of the ecosystem created to support them.
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The second story involves a call I received from an Indian American gentleman who came across India Giving Day 2026 through a Google search and really liked what he saw. He was eager to give back, and shortly after our conversation, he mailed a check for $25,000. This speaks directly to our mission of helping donors find trusted organizations they can support, and we are happy to help facilitate that connection.
The third story comes from a participating non-profit organization, H2H, which took part in a physicians’ conference where members of the medical community learned about its work in pediatric and cardiac care, and about India Giving Day. Several physicians became aware of children in need of critical cardiac interventions, and through the connections formed there, the children were able to receive the life-saving heart surgeries they urgently required.
Looking ahead, how do you see India Giving Day and IGD Live shaping the future of Indian
American diaspora philanthropy and engagement with India’s development sector?
India Giving Day has already been making a meaningful impact on diaspora philanthropy. A Dalberg study found that Indian American donors increased their annual giving four to five times in just six years, from around $1 billion to $4–5 billion. This shift was explored by Manisha Bharti of Pratham USA and Alex Counts of IPA in their American Bazaar article on the growth of Indian American philanthropy.
The campaign has brought together non-profits, donors, and other stakeholders in the ecosystem, breaking silos and creating a community. People are eager to help others and give back. In times when there has been some uncertainty, movements like India Giving Day bring hope, reminding us that collective action creates change and that giving benefits the donor as much as those receiving.
IGD Live can be a powerful way of showing how the India Giving community comes together to solve problems and reach broader audiences. Through donor stories, philanthropists, community leaders, non-profit participants, and youth voices, we highlight the impact of this work. Our goal is simple: to continue mobilizing the community and create meaningful impact for India’s development sector.
(Pragya Raj Singh is a next-generation global social entrepreneur dedicated to innovation and grassroots impact.)