11 non-profit bodies join to form India Philanthropy Alliance

Washington (PTI): On the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, 11 non-profit organizations on Tuesday announced the formation of a new India Philanthropy Alliance aimed at enhancing collaboration among organizations working to advance India's development.

The organisations comprising the new Alliance include Akanksha Fund, American India Foundation, Arogya World, CRY America, Dasra, Ekal USA, Foundation for Excellence (FFE), Indiaspora, Magic Bus USA, Pratham USA, and VisionSpring. These organisations collectively raise USD 125 million annually in philanthropic donations, including more than USD 50 million in the United States, a media release said. Their most generous donors are 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 pre-launch activities of the Alliance began two years ago and were generously supported by Indiaspora, the media release said. The formation of the alliance was announced during the Indiaspora Philanthropy Summit held on the first day of ChaloGive, a week celebrating Indian diaspora philanthropy. "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," said Deepak Raj, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur and investor.

Raj is the chairman of the Alliance, 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. "Organisations 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 the Alliance 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, non-profits organisations focused on India made sense, and that a narrative of complementarity has been missing from our sector," said Nishant Pandey, vice-chair of the Alliance and CEO of American India Foundation (AIF). AIF is a nearly two-decade old collective platform for philanthropy benefitting India that has raised USD129 million benefitting more than 5.6 million underprivileged people in India through its work in education, health, and livelihoods.