First India Giving Day raises $1 million for 25 Indian nonprofits

India-centric community convenes to spur the movement to redefine and invigorate philanthropy

Communities across the United States gathered on March 2 to celebrate the first India Giving Day, a national campaign powered by the India Philanthropy Alliance to celebrate and encourage philanthropic giving towards India.

The inaugural campaign raised over $1 million for 25 Indian nonprofits working across health, environment, and education, according to a press release.

Read: Washington, D.C. to celebrate India Giving Day (February 18, 2023)

One of the largest in-person gatherings took place in Washington DC bringing together a diverse audience of corporate leaders, diplomats, nonprofit board members, and academicians.

The event consisted of a youth panel discussion, networking session, and finally two participatory discussions with industry leaders sharing their insights on the space.

The youth voices panel kicked off with four young professionals, all bringing different perspectives to the important issue of how to get young people involved in social and environmental change.

Alaine Johnson is an agrarian scholar and UN Graduate Fellow. Ashwath Narayanan is founder and CEO of Social Currant, a platform that connects social impact organizations with online content creators and influencers. Kurien Thomas is a podcast producer (Serotunein) and community organizer in the DC area.

Read: First-ever India Giving Day on March 2 (February 9, 2023)

The panel was moderated by Payton Souders, philanthropy specialist and Associate at RoundGlass Foundation. Panelists discussed the importance of paying youth for their work and strategies for how to reach new audiences, both in-person and virtually.

“The passionate interchange of ideas about how to give back to our communities gave me a lot of impetus to be more proactive,” says event volunteer and communications professional Sirat Kaur, “Events like this should be broadcasted on a bigger scale so that young people like me get to know about opportunities in philanthropy.”

After a brief break for chai and samosas, Alex Counts, Director of India Giving Day, sat down with prominent Indian philanthropist Deepak Raj in a fireside chat.

Raj gave some fascinating perspectives on participatory and joyful philanthropy. The event closed with one final discussion among industry leaders Katherine Hadda, Senior Visiting Fellow, CSIS, Brian Jamison, Cybersecurity Specialist, Microsoft, and Venky Raghavendra, social entrepreneur and philanthropic advisor.

This conversation focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how to use cross-sectoral partnerships to scale impact.

“The real power of these convenings is getting so many leaders together in one room,” says event co-organizer Payton Souders from RoundGlass Foundation.

Read: 1st India Giving Day raises over Rs 10 crore for non-profit causes in India (7 March, 2023)

“I would challenge everyone that attended to follow up on the conversations that happened there. Besides talking about paying young people and giving them leadership positions, advocate for it in your organization. Rather than seeing other nonprofits as competition for potential donors, treat them as partners that can help you scale your impact.”

India Giving Day is a campaign with massive potential and will strive to sustain the momentum and strengthen the ecosystem for giving to India in years to come, according to the release.