“A nation of givers”

"Overall, annual private charitable giving (in India) is estimated to be between $ 5 billion to $ 6 billion, almost tripling from $ 2 billion in 2006. The most popular causes are education, housing and shelter, and food — with an overwhelming 40 percent recognizing education as the top cause,” states the July-August 2011 issue of Philanthropy, the Newsletter by the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy edited by Noshir Dadrawala. The report is based on a study done by Bain and Company titled "Indian Philanthropy Report 2011” which comprised a survey of around 300 high net worth individuals, along with interviews with philanthropists and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations). The Bain report is authored by Arpan Sheth and Madhur Singhal.

"The wealthy are now giving away between 1.5 and three percent of their annual household income. However, the wealthiest of Indians are donating much less than their US counterparts, who contribute about nine percent of their incomes,” notes Philanthropy citing data from the Bain report.

"What is holding India back? More than 60 percent of those surveyed said the two biggest constraints are lack of accountability and transparency in some charitable organizations and tax laws that deter giving. A third major constraint is donors’ lack of awareness about charitable organizations that match their interests and can make change happen…

"Wealthy individuals are giving more and intend to give even more as major obstacles are addressed. As a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), private charitable giving has increased 50 percent since 2006.

"India is recognized as a nation of givers. But we have a tradition of being ‘quiet’ givers. As one prominent US academic observed, Indians are more ‘intimate,’ or private, about their philanthropic activities than their US counterparts.

"Today private giving totals between 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent of GDP. India now is one of the leaders in charitable giving, compared with other developing nations, such as China and Brazil. But we still lag far behind developed countries — in the US, private giving (including bequests) accounted for 2.2 percent of the GDP in 2009 and in the UK, it was 1.3 percent in 2010.”

Individual donors in India constitute 26 percent of all charitable contributions while in the US the figure is 75 percent and UK, 60 percent. India has around 3.3 million NGOs with around 700 NGOs being formed everyday, states Philanthropy.

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