By Manisha Bharti and Alex Counts
We are old enough to recall a time in the mid 1990s when it was fashionable to complain about Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ lack of philanthropic engagement. Armchair critics would calculate how a tiny percentage of his net worth could wipe out various societal problems, if only he were generous enough to donate such a sum. Yet it turned out that he simply hadn’t gotten around to big philanthropy yet; he was still cementing his legacy as a corporate titan who built a successful company. Within a few years, he would be on track to become one of the world’s most generous, engaged, and thoughtful philanthropists who recently announced his intention to spend down the entirety of his vast philanthropic capital over the next 20 years.
We see the same thing starting to happen with wealthy Indian Americans. Many of them came to the United States with only a few dollars in their pockets, yet within a decade or two had built or run major commercial enterprises. Raj Gupta, the former CEO of Rohm and Haas, wrote his version of this story in his terrific book “Eight Dollars and a Dream: My American Journey.” During the prime of their careers, professional success and creating a nurturing environment for their children were the top priorities of most Indian American business leaders. In many cases, their spouses donated significant time to nonprofits, but making large donations to mission-driven organizations was unusual until fairly recently.
Given this reality, it was not surprising that a survey conducted by Dalberg in 2018 showed that Indian Americans were prolific volunteers but donated one-third of what one would expect them to contribute based on national averages of giving as a percentage of income. Yet it was at precisely this time that the Indian American community, which we sometimes referred to as the “sleeping giant” of American philanthropy, was beginning to wake up.
Fast forward to 2024: A follow-up study by Dalberg found that Indian American donors had increased their annual giving a whopping 4-5 times in the span of just 6 years—from an estimated $1 billion per year to $4-5 billion. Understanding what contributed to this breakthrough could help catalyze further philanthropic growth among Indian Americans as well as other diaspora populations around the world. We believe the following factors were most important:
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- Timing: Like Bill Gates in the 1990s, up until recently Indian Americans were focused on other priorities. Once they made sufficient progress on those, turning to philanthropy as an expression of the Indian notion of seva (selfless service) was natural, and perhaps inevitable.
- The Need and Opportunity for Impact: While India has achieved spectacular economic growth at the national level, not everyone has benefited. Some regions and groups have been left behind. To take one alarming statistic, some 25% of Indians aged 15-24 are not in any form of education, employment, or training; for females, that figure is almost twice as high. Yet behind this problem (and others) is an opportunity, as India has some of the world’s most effective nonprofits working in education, vocational training, and livelihood development. For example, Pratham’s model to ensure quality education through Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) has been scaled across India, adopted by the Indian and several state governments, and has now been replicated in more than 25 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It was also recently awarded Top 5 Finalist in the prestigious MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition.
- Role Models and Advocates: When the original Dalberg study was released in 2018, Sunil Wadhwani, a respected business leader, stood up and urged the community to triple giving over the next five years. Some were incredulous, but many more rose to the challenge, which was ultimately met if not exceeded. Wadhwani was far from the only one to serve as an exemplar of philanthropic engagement; Lata Krishnan, Deepak Raj, MR Rangaswami, Suri Sehgal, and other national co-chairs of India Giving Day played essential roles. Together with hundreds of others, these leaders inspired millions of people to discover the joy of giving thoughtfully.
- National Campaigns and Giving Circles: The advent of India Giving Day and the adaptation of Giving Pi from India to the U.S. have both helped spur increased and improved philanthropic activity. The idea of a national campaign for giving to India was first proposed in a visionary report by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and taken up by the India Philanthropy Alliance in response to Sunil Wadhwani’s challenge mentioned above.
- Professionalization of Nonprofits: In both India and the United States, many nonprofits are tiny and lack robust systems and impact models. But a growing number of organizations meet the highest standards for efficiency, transparency, accountability, trustworthiness, and impact. Those that meet those standards are invited into groups such as the India Philanthropy Alliance and India Giving Day. Some top Indian nonprofits that have chosen not to create a legal entity in the United States partner with respected intermediaries such as Myriad USA, whose standards are also high. Both authors have worked in other regions of the world and can assert with confidence that India is home to some of the best nonprofits internationally.
- Engagement of the Next Generation: To sustain the growth of American philanthropy to India, second and third-generation members of the diaspora must be inspired to play active roles. Generation Z has a strong inclination to social justice, but its members of Indian origin are not necessarily going to focus on the land of their ancestors without encouragement. Fortunately, organizations such as the Akanksha Education Fund, American India Foundation, Children’s Hope India, Indiaspora, Pratham, the Sehgal Foundation, and the World Food Prize Foundation have gone to great lengths to engage younger volunteers and donors. However, much more is needed.
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Not only has the amount of giving increased, but so has the quality. A growing number of donors have studied what works best and supported the most promising programs with flexible, multi-year funding geared to allowing leading nonprofits to perform well, often in collaboration with local government agencies across India. IPA has gone so far as to define “Philanthropy 3.0” as an aspirational ending point for those who realize that giving is a learned skill that can be improved through study and practice.
We envision a future where the United States and India—as the world’s two largest democracies with vibrant, trend-setting cultures—work together to create a future global order characterized by peace, prosperity, and benign interdependence. For this to come to pass, Indian American philanthropists will need to step up even more to solve problems and bring out the best in these two great nations while inspiring others to do what they can for humanity’s benefit.
(Manisha Bharti, MPH, MBA, is the first CEO and Global Executive of Pratham USA, the U.S.-based organization mobilizing support for Pratham’s global efforts. Manisha has been a leader across a range of global development organizations, including GHR Foundation, where she served as Chief of Strategy and Programs, and at FHI 360, where she served as Chief Strategy Officer. She graduated with honors from Harvard University, earning an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in social studies. She also earned two master’s degrees with honors, in business administration and public health, from Johns Hopkins University.
Alex Counts is the executive director of the India Philanthropy Alliance, which announced its formation publicly for the first time in the Stanford Social Innovation Review; the author of four books (including his acclaimed midlife memoir Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind); and an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He is also the founder of Grameen Foundation and AMC Consulting.)