Indian-Americans launch new philanthropy initiative for India

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Several Indian-American organizations are partnering to launch a new initiative for philanthropic efforts in India.

Eleven organizations announced the formation of a new India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) to further advance humanitarian and development goals in India through increased collaboration. They made the announcement on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

They came together at the Indiaspora Philanthropy Summit held on the first day of ChaloGive, a week celebrating Indian diaspora philanthropy, according to an Oct. 2, press release.

The partnering organizations include the Akanksha Fund, American India Foundation (AIF), Arogya World, CRY America, Dasra, Ekal USA, Foundation for Excellence (FFE), Indiaspora, Magic Bus USA, Pratham USA, and VisionSpring.

These organizations collectively raise $125 million annually in philanthropic donations, including more than $50 million in the United States, the press release said.

They count among their most generous donors, Indian-American entrepreneurs and professionals as well as companies doing business in both the United States and India.

Together, these 11 organizations have cumulatively impacted more than 67 million people with their evidence-based programs spanning education, health care, livelihood support, and other essential services, the press release said.

The initiative for creating the India Philanthropy Alliance began two years ago, organizers said

“To help India meeting its United Nations Sustainable Development Goal commitments, the organizations that are part of the Alliance will work more closely together in their constituency building efforts in the United States and in their work in India,” the press release said.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review ran an article Oct. 1, on the activities and objectives of the IPA.

“We’re excited about this effort to join forces today as a new alliance committed to the ideal of making a collective impact. Working together, using our combined philanthropic reach and innovative ideas, we can help India in far greater ways than each of us could accomplish working on our own,” Deepak Raj, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur and investor, is quoted saying in the press release.

Raj is the chairman of the newly created initiative, and also the chairman of Pratham USA, a leading education-focused nonprofit in India that has reached more than 50 million children and youth over the last 25 years.

“Organizations working towards the goal of educating all Indians regardless of their family’s wealth cannot work in isolation from others with similar goals, or from efforts of the government,” said Minoo Gupta, vice-chair of IPA and the president of Foundation for Excellence (FFE), which has supported 20,000 low-income Indian scholars to pursue higher education.

“Our generous donors have been telling us for years that greater collaboration among professionally run nonprofits focused on India made sense, and that a narrative of complementarity has been missing from our sector,” said Nishant Pandey, vice-chair of IPA, and CEO of American India Foundation (AIF), a nearly two-decade philanthropic organization that has raised $129 million benefitting more than 5.6 million underprivileged people in India through its work in education, health, and livelihoods, according to the press release.