Designing Philanthropy for ImpactHelping philanthropists make effective "where to give" and "how to give" choices

Executive Summary

The article in discussion explores the following pointers in details.

▪ Indian donors provide disproportionate funding to a limited number of popular causes, while many other critical needs attract limited support

▪ Indian donors also tend to prefer direct interventions designed to help beneficiaries immediately, as opposed to more indirect interventions that seek to build organizational capacity at scale

▪ Philanthropy portfolios should to indirect, capacity-building initiatives in order to make an impact

Disproportionate Funding

“ 90% of Indian donor contributions are concentrated in fewer than 10 sectors, including primary education, primary health care, and disaster relief ”

Disproportionate Funding leads to skewness and asymmetric channeling of efforts

In the Health Sector,

Maternal Care

Malnutrition

In the sector of Disaster Management,

Disaster Relief

Disaster Mitigation

Hope for Haiti raised $58 Million for disaster relief in the year 2010.

In 2015, Aadhan.org – an Indian start-up that provides emergency housing solutions made from old shipping containers is still on the look out for investors and donor agencies.

Types of Gaps and Types of Interventions

Quantity Gap• High demand, low supply

Quality Gap• Demand and supply

reasonably close but low quality of outcomesNiche Gap

• Low on demand, but important with almost non existent supply

▪ Category A – Direct Intervention, Tangible Impact, null leverage on money spent

▪ Category B – Partially direct Intervention, partial measurability of impact, medium term

▪ Category C & D – Extremely low control on intervention activities, multiplier leverage (1000x) on money

Identification of Gap Areas

In this study, 12 sectors and 50 sub-sectors were taken into consideration.

The distinct types of gap across sectors has

been observed in the exhibit.

Current Focus and Gap Areas - Comparison

Sectors with heavy donor focus▪ Primary Education▪ Rural Infrastructure▪ AIDS and infection

diseases

Sectors that require immediate donor focus▪ Conservation of tribal

heritage and culture▪ Vocational training and

livelihoods▪ Deaddiction and mental

health counselling

Interventions tend to be direct

Interventions are more indirect

Filling the Quantity Gap – The Akshaya Patra Foundation

▪  Akshaya Patra is a non-profit organisation in India that runs school lunch programme across India. The organisation was established in 2000. TV Mohandas Pai and Abhay Jain were the anchor philanthropists for this noble endeavour.

▪ Leveraging on the right based approach of the UPA Government on the MDM scheme for school children, TAPF tackled the following issues as a part of its endeavour:– Addressing malnutrition– Increasing enrolment and attendance– Giving a multiplier leverage on donor’s money

Plugging in the niche Gap – CIS, Bengaluru

▪ This organization is a great example of how funding in niche gap areas can also help in establishing a design thinking approach towards philanthropy at a macro level.

▪ This agency was the crusader for net neutrality against Telecom majors in India

▪ At an international level, CIS has helped the Government of Myanmar draft its national ICT Policy.

Teach for India – Success story of an indirect intervention

▪ Aims to create visionaries and transformational leaders in the field of education by the way of a 2-year fellowship programme.

▪ Professionals and experts from all walks of life teach a public school classroom full-time for 18 months

In Conclusion..

▪ Donors should build in relevant success factors early ▪ Donors must ensure that at least 30 to 40 percent of

their portfolios are dedicated to more indirect interventions that can drive larger scale

▪ For a multiplier leverage on the money pledged, it is well advised to strategically identify which gap areas to approach and look at undertaking long term pursuits.

Submitted by: Deja VuArisha / Abhishek / Ananya / Avijit / Chirag / Nandini / Rahul /

Sampad