Going Beyond Checkbook Philanthropy: Indian Americans Should Rethink Their Giving Strategies

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By Alex Counts, Executive Director, India Philanthropy Alliance

Like almost any skill, philanthropy can be improved through practice and study. In the same way that Indian Americans have mastered the disciplines of spelling, medicine, hotel management, and coding, as their wealth increases, they can and arguably must become more proficient at impactful giving that brings them satisfaction and indeed, joy. But business as usual is not going to get the job done.

During the last 15 years, Indian Americans broke through from no political representation at the federal level to having some of the leading political figures in the country. The work of Indian American Impact was crucial to driving this progress. On the philanthropic front, the India Philanthropy Alliance, that I lead, has been providing leadership to grow the size, scope, and quality of American private giving to India. The main vehicle has been its annual India Giving Day campaign, which this year culminates on March 14.

While the 36 participating organizations that were selected due to the quality of their work and their trustworthiness are expected to announce some large grants this month, the emphasis of this third campaign is to encourage every Indian American family to participate by donating at least $100 if that is affordable to them. If we had 100% participation, it would mobilize $125 million and on a single day roughly double the annual budgets of all three dozen participating organizations. That would I turn allow them to dramatically increase the scale of their work to promote education, health care, and livelihoods for low-income Indians while also advancing other worthy causes such as eldercare and animal rights.

But increasing the amount of Indian American giving is only the tip of the iceberg of what is possible. Considering that the community volunteers almost double the number of hours average Americans do, according to a study by Dalberg, the diaspora’s understanding of philanthropic processes and needs is likely to be considerably greater than the typical donor’s. This opens the possibility of turning that practical knowledge into the most effective forms of giving as practiced by IGD’s National Co-Chairs.

I believe that the principles that underlie the most effective and satisfied givers can be summarized as follows:

(1) Focusing more on building institutions than on funding projects.

(2) Giving where the need is greatest (rather than to areas that are easily accessed).

(3) Measure the metrics that matter most, especially those related to impact, and deemphasize crude measures such as overhead rate.

(4) Support efforts of nonprofits to work together to accomplish more than any one charity can do alone.

(5) Support efforts of nonprofits to work creatively with public sector entities.

(6) Ensure the full inclusion of youth in philanthropic activities to ensure fresh perspectives and sustainability over time.

It is important to remember that not only the recipients of philanthropy benefit; the givers do as well. As noted donors Raj Gupta and Deepak Raj wrote recently, “Research shows that people who give the most to charities are, on average, happier, healthier, and more successful than those who give less, or not at all. We can attest to the fact that our own giving has not only had a positive impact on society but made us better and more satisfied people. Our donations will be one of our most important legacies, along with the families that we nurtured and the businesses that we built and ran.”

There are tremendous synergies between potential the growth of big philanthropy ($100,000 and above) within the Indian American community, the broadening of the network of those who give at least $100, the maturation of giving strategies to improve effectiveness, and the continued leadership of the community in terms of its embrace of volunteerism.

India and its 30 million strong global diaspora are providing leadership to the world in many ways in recent decades. Yet the world’s most populous and diverse country is called to develop and demonstrate new strengths. Philanthropy is one such possibility. If it can be fully grasped and realized, millions will benefit through better funded programs. In addition, a growing number of people will be drawn to the meaning and satisfaction that can be drawn through turning their empathy into pragmatic and action-oriented partnerships with leading nonprofit institutions.

(Counts is 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. Previously, he established Grameen Foundation in 1997 and served as its CEO for 18 years.)