Domestic philanthropic funding in India has reached close to USD 1.8 billion between 2013 and 2017, according to India’s private giving: Unpacking Domestic Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility, a report by the OECD Centre on Philanthropy.

Economic growth, domestic regulation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and global interest in India’s development are transforming the role of domestic philanthropic giving in the country. Education, health and rural development attracted 68% of the funding, while other areas, including gender equality, receive very limited resources. In addition, domestic philanthropic giving is highly concentrated in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – which are among most populated areas but not areas with the highest poverty incidence.

Additionally, the report compares the volume and scope of different sources of funding for development. Domestic philanthropic giving is as important in volume as international philanthropy to India but still modest compared to Official Development Aid (ODA). Health and education stand out prominently as two main priority areas for philanthropy and CSR in India, as well as international philanthropy. The issues of water supply and basic sanitation attract funding from ODA, international and domestic philanthropy, as well as CSR and public spending. There is thus scope for more coalitions to achieve impact at scale between ODA donors, private donors and the public sector.

The report identifies four main areas to improve the impact of private funding in India:

• Strengthen co-ordinated and simultaneous measuring of all sources of private financing for development in India to estimate its importance and role more accurately, compared to other sources of funding for the country’s development.
  
  
• Improve the comparability of data on different types of domestic philanthropic giving in India to target  foundations’ resources in areas where investment is lacking or the most needed.
  
  
• Draw on the convergence of funding from multiple sources to create additional collaboration, in particular through public-private partnerships.
  
  
• Improve research to understand how increased domestic funding towards the non-profit sector translates into development outcomes.

 

For further information, journalists are invited to contact Bochra Kriout (+33 145 24 82 96) at the OECD Development Centre Press Office.

 

About the OECD Centre on Philanthropy

 

The OECD Centre on Philanthropy contributes to the global demand for data and analysis, helping foundations co-ordinate their operations through publicly available information. In 2016, the OECD Development Centre’s Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD) and the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate undertook an unprecedented survey of global philanthropy to complement existing data on financing for development. By applying OECD statistical standards to international philanthropic flows, comparisons with other channels of financing for development – such as

Official Development Assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) – became possible, helping place

the philanthropic sector in a broader context. The Centre will also explore the evidence of the impact of philanthropy to determine which sectors and interventions offer the most promise in the philanthropic sector.

To learn more, please see www.oecd.org/development/philanthropy-centre