Is India's Social Sector Ready For Its Funding Boom?

1. Post-pandemic, how has the fundraising landscape in India evolved? 

Anu Prasad, CEO and Founder, ILSS: We can talk about it in two ways. One was of course the phenomenal growth in giving - how people came through to pull in money for a critical cause at the time. There was a rise in philanthropy and CSR. Five years since the pandemic, and there's only been good news. The Bain Dasra India Philanthropy Report 2024 states that there are nearly 1.2 lakh crores in the social sector through private giving, which gets catalysed into family philanthropy and retail CSR. Private philanthropy grew by 10%, family philanthropy by 15% and retail by 12%. So, clearly, we've seen a shift. Indians are engaging with philanthropy, whether through structured donations or through digital platforms.

Amit Chandra, Chairperson of Bain Capital in India and Co-Founder, ATE Chandra Foundation: There is definitely reason to be optimistic. There has been a shift in funding priorities. We always joke that education is the cricket of the social sector - a lot of disproportionate amounts of funding go to education. But I have felt that during the pandemic, there was a real focus on healthcare, and rightly so. Overall, too, there's been a diversification of sorts that we are seeing, which is encouraging. We are seeing younger philanthropists now also viewing social causes like mental health as an area that needs dedicated attention and funding. Sectors like art, heritage, culture, and climate are also getting increased attention. So I think unlike earlier when philanthropy was largely centered around health and education, younger donors are more inclined to focus on more underserved sectors. Broadly, this has been the journey in the last five years from the way I see it.

2.⁠ ⁠How are initiatives such as Start-Up India influencing the fundraising ecosystem?

Amit Chandra, Chairperson of Bain Capital in India and Co-Founder, ATE Chandra Foundation: There are two parts to that answer. One, of course, is that we are seeing the emergence of a new wave of donors - the young donors we spoke of earlier - because of the startup ecosystem. The second layer of influence has been an acceleration of the use of technology. There have been massive strides made in terms of tech innovation and digitisation in the corporate world. And now it라이브 바카라 beginning to play out in parallel in the social sector as well. This new generation of young donors and professionals is not only generously giving a percentage of their wealth, but is also reimagining the theory of change. Imagine a future where you are using UPI to do your fundraising; imagine the efficacy of raising money for your cause at the click of a button, having access to feedback reports in real-time - all while being vetted by a SEBI-approved process.

Anu Prasad, CEO and Founder, ILSS: Start-Up India spurred the rise of angel investors, venture capitalists, and crowdfunding platforms. During COVID-19, a lot of them came together to set up ACT, the Action Covid Taskforce – a collective of venture capitalists, tech entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders who pooled their strengths to raise funds and resources wherever needed; or something like GivingPi, which is a network for India라이브 바카라 most philanthropic families. These are all professionals, not business people, but professionals who have accumulated wealth in the last three to four decades. They are now becoming philanthropists. What we are looking at, then, really are some interesting, exciting times for innovation in the social impact sector.

3.⁠ ⁠How transparent is the fundraising environment right now here in India?

Amit Chandra, Chairperson of Bain Capital in India and Co-Founder, ATE Chandra Foundation: In my opinion, transparency within the philanthropic landscape has evolved quite dramatically over the last decade. And, I think it has happened because of a few pivots. One, of course, was the establishment of CSR with all of its prescribed norms. The second big pivot has been the tightening of the FCRA norms. The third pivot has been the automation of tax systems. All of these have made NGOs realise that to access funds from donor pools, they needed to build reporting and compliance mechanics that were of corporate standards. These standards are pretty intense and so the NGOs have had to fulfill a certain set of reporting requirements and inspired tasks. In the last 10 years, we have definitely seen the entire ecosystem evolve and reporting requirements change.

4.⁠ ⁠How significant is the role of tech and AI in fundraising?

Anu Prasad, CEO and Founder, ILSS: The possibilities of AI are endless. India has approximately 732 million internet users, and they spend an average of 90 minutes every day on the net, consuming a wide range of content. Over 5.5 billion people across the world are online for an average of 143 minutes daily.  So there라이브 바카라 a huge potential there for SPOs to scale and attract the right kind of audience and funding for their cause, if they can leverage AI for data-backed storytelling and impact narratives.

AT ILSS, we run a digital transformation for social impact program under our Koita Centre for Digital Transformation. We enable NGOs to foster an environment of digital strategising and scaling and the reason for that is that AI has a lot of potential for elevating and presenting data-driven insights and stories. NGOs collect substantial amounts of data already, but with AI, they can use this data to tell their story better. It also brings a layer of transparency that donors are always looking for when it comes to impact-driven funding.

For example, a global nonprofit advocating for clean water for all, ‘charity: water’, has seen significant benefits to using AI for donor retention. Machine learning algorithms predict exactly when donors may lapse, thus allowing the organisation to intervene with timely and personalised messages. This has reduced attrition rates appreciably.

5.⁠ What are your hopes for the future of the fundraising ecosystem in India?

Amit Chandra, Chairperson of Bain Capital in India and Co-Founder, ATE Chandra Foundation: The philanthropic landscape has shifted for the better. Now, the challenge facing the social sector is the lack of absorptive capacity to utilise the available funds. Research indicates that over 50% of non-profits lack a succession plan, while 90% express a need for dedicated capacity-building budgets (). The need of the hour is enhancing leadership and management capacities in India라이브 바카라 social sector landscape. There needs to be a shift in the fundraising mindset - fundraising is not tactical; it is a strategic function integral to an organisation라이브 바카라 long-term health. I hope that more and more SPOs build this capacity to build long-term relationships, fostering trust and understanding that funders are the co-owners of their cause. Effective fundraising requires a multi-faceted approach that includes stakeholder engagement, compliance, and strategic reporting.